Professional Profile

In the 24 years before his retirement in 1990 from AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories, Werner Engelmaier dealt with many of the aspects involved in electronic packaging and interconnection technology. His efforts within the Bell System/AT&T ranged from R&D at Bell Labs to 'fire-fighting' at Western Electric and included the development of specifications and guidelines as well as the technology transfer to production facilities.

Since founding Engelmaier Associates, L.C. nineteen years ago, Werner Engelmaier has consulted on applications ranging from medical implants to computers, aircraft, automobiles, satellites and down-hole drilling.

Werner Engelmaier has a unique multi-discipline background which enables him to address the issues underlying electronic packaging from a system's point-of-view dealing with the synergistic interdependence of material behavior, processing aspects, thermal design, and functional and environmental requirements. He utilizes interdisciplinary concurrent engineering to integrate life-cycle criteria into an effective, efficient design process. He emphasizes practical solutions and recommendations that can be implemented. In case of failure, he renders a complete determination of the underlying root cause(s) together with solution options. He provides professional support as an expert witness in litigations.

Werner Engelmaier has been very active in industry organizations. He established the Product Reliability Main Committee of the IPC (formerly The Institute of Packaging and Circuitry) and has been its chairman since its inception. Under his leadership, such industry documents as IPC-SM-785 "Guidelines for Accelerated Reliability Testing of Surface Mount Solder Attachments," IPC-D-279 "Design Guidelines for Reliable Surface Mount Technology Printed Board Assemblies", and IPC-9701 "Performance Test Methods and Qualification Requirements for Surface Mount Solder Attachments" were developed. He is the vice-chair of the IPC Plated-Through Hole/Via Reliability and the IPC Plated-Through Hole/Via Post Separation Task Groups. He is the past chairman of the IPC Metal/Copper Foil Committee, and has been an active member of the IPC Technical Committees on Flex Circuits, Molded Printed Boards, Surface Mount Land Patters, Soldering, Test Methods, as well as the Technical Activities Executive Committee. He is a member of IEC Technical Advisory Groups TC 52, Printed Circuits, and TC 91, Surface Mount Technology. He is a Past Director of the International Electronics Packaging Society (IEPS), and served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Electronic Packaging & Production Magazine. He also served as Past Chair of the ASTM Ductility Testing and Definitions Committees and Past Secretary of ASTM Main Committee E-28 on Mechanical Testing.

He is the author of over 180 technical publications and holds two patents. He has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including the IPC President's Award in 1988, the Electronic Packaging Achievement Award, jointly awarded by IEPS (now IMAPS) and Electronic Packaging & Production Magazine in 1987, and the Distinguished Technical Staff Award from AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1986. He further received Best Paper Awards at IEEE ECC Conference in 1971, IEPS Conference in 1990, and Surface Mount International in 1991; the IPC Outstanding Committee Service Award in 1997; and an IPC Special Recognition Award in 1997. He was inducted into the IPC Electronic Packaging Hall of Fame in 2003 and is a Fellow of the International Microelectronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS). For two of his developments he received R&D-100 Awards in 1978 and 1981 from Research & Development Magazine.