We recently flew to the Burn-in and Test Strategies (BiTS) Workshop in Arizona to do some networking and listen to a presentation by Analog Devices that featured our Burn-in boards.
The BiTS event is one of the biggest conferences for the industry and the focus this year was on ‘what’s now and what’s next’ in the testing of packaged integrated circuits (ICs). Now in its 18th year, the conference provides an excellent platform to discuss the latest trends in the industry and to showcase new products. Topics discussed this year ranged from wafer sort to burn-in.
The 2017 event was the biggest to date and attended by over 240 test engineers and managers from around the world. Over 100 companies were represented and it was a great opportunity to meet new people in the industry, from across the globe.
Burn-in Technical Presentations
A total of 32 technical presentations, over the course of 9 separate sessions, were delivered by some of the industry’s leading figures.
Analog Devices presented their research paper which featured technology produced by Abrel during their presentation on Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) Burn-In.
The presentation was very well received by the attendees and it was great to be able to chat with everyone afterwards and get immediate feedback on the findings of the research.
We also took the opportunity to sit in on a number of other very interesting talks including one on “Qualifying A Process for Higher Burn-In Voltage Application” and another on “Addressing the EOS on legacy burn-in boards with over Voltage Protection through a Modular Design.”
The presentations followed the BiTS 2017 theme of test fundamentals applied to leading edge applications and legacy challenges.
Keynote Speaker
We thoroughly enjoyed the excellent keynote presentation that was given by Thomas Sonderman this year. Sonderman gave us an insight into some of the challenges around trust and collaboration that are likely to arise with the advancement of the fourth industrial revolution; the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing, often referred to as Industry 4.0.
Tutorials
The first day of the BiTS Workshop was a Tutorial Day and covered some innovative thinking across a variety of areas including socket contact element fundamentals and printed circuit board (PCB) & hardware requirements. The Tutorial day also addressed electrical, system design and test requirements.
Workshop Networking
The event was a great opportunity to network, meet new people and to catch up with some long-standing clients and friends in business. BiTS 2017 was a truly international event – although this workshop was based in the U.S. – over 36% of participants had travelled from other countries to attend and there was a really good buzz at the venue.
Ira Feldman, Chair of the Burn-in and Strategies Workshop addressed the crowd saying, “the strong and growing presence of the international group of professionals travelling to the conference underlines the strength of the workshop.” It also demonstrates the truly global nature of this market sector.
We’re already looking forward to next years event and if you are thinking of going – let us know and let’s meet up at the Workshop – if not before!
Contact Us
Abrel is a leading specialist provider of Burn-in Boards, Burn-in Systems, Burn-in Testers, IC Socket Test Probes, BIB Racks and related products. We’ve been in business for over 23 years.
Contact a member of our team for more information.
