Jun 20, 2013 
Nihon Superior Co., Ltd., a supplier of advanced soldering and brazing materials to the global market, announces that Keith Sweatman was invited to speak at the SMART Group European Conference on behalf of its UK distributor DKL Metals Ltd. The conference is scheduled to take place October 2-3, 2013 at The Spread Eagle Hotel in Thame, Oxfordshire.
This presentation will review the factors that determine the performance of solder joints in service and identify ways in which the challenges the electronic industry is facing in solder-based assembly could be met cost-effectively. Topics will include:
Evolution of lead-free solder alloy formulation
The developing understanding of failure mechanisms in solder joints
Manipulating solder alloy microstructure for cost-effective enhancement of reliability
The next generation of solder alloys
Keith Sweatman is a graduate in metallurgical engineering who has been involved in the solder industry and soldering technology for 40 years. His first exposure to solder technology was with the International Tin Research Institute and he took the expertise he acquired there to Multicore Solders where he had a series of technical, marketing and management roles that culminated in the position of Asia Pacific Region managing director. After Multicore Solders was purchased by the Henkel Group, he started working with Nihon Superior Co., Ltd as Senior Technical Advisor assisting them in the development of their global business in lead-free solder and assisting customers in the implementation of lead-free assembly. Keith has been an active participant in several HDPUG and iNEMI consortia projects relating to lead-free solder performance and reliability and is a regular speaker at IPC and SMTA conferences. In connection with the establishment at University of Queensland, Australia of the Nihon Superior Centre for the Manufacture of Electronic Materials, he has been appointed Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Mining Engineering.
Nihon Superior was founded in 1966 when it began marketing unique flux products imported from the US. The company made its mark on society by gathering the most advanced soldering and brazing technologies and products from around the world, and supplying them to companies in the metal-joining industry. A turning point for the company came when it started developing its own soldering materials and with the success of its unique SN100C lead-free solder alloy Nihon Superior has become a major player in the global market. To support the growing demand for its products, Nihon Superior has established manufacturing and sales centers in Japan, China and other Asian countries, and the United States, and formed business partnerships with companies in other markets.
