2006-1038: TEACHING RELIABILITY CONCEPTS TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS – AN NSF CCLI A&I GRANT S. Manian Ramkumar, Rochester Institute of Technology Prof. Ramkumar is a faculty in the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology department at the Rochester Institute of Technology and is currently serving as the Director of the Center for Electronics Manufacturing & Assembly. He teaches courses in surface mount electronics packaging, robotics and manufacturing automation. He was instrumental in developing the Center for Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly at RIT. This Center is equipped with production scale equipment, used for training and applied research projects for companies. Prof. Ramkumar has been the principal investigator for several applied research projects performed for JPL, AMTX, TRW, Asymtek, Universal Instruments, KIC, Entegris, Loctite and Eastman Kodak Company. He has presented technical papers at the SMTA and APEX conferences. He has also taught SMT and Advanced Packaging courses at the APEX and SMTA shows and for various companies on-site. Scott Anson, Rochester Institute of Technology Scott J. Anson, PE is an Assistant Professor, in the department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Prior to joining the faculty of RIT in 2003, Scott held several positions in Process Engineering and Failure Analysis, at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, IBM Microelectronics, Universal Instruments SMT Laboratory and EMS Technologies. He has been involved in electronics manufacturing process development, reliability testing, component qualification, failure analysis, materials characterization and new product/process introduction since 1994. He has several publications related to solder paste evaluation, soldering processes and failure analysis techniques. Scott holds the following degrees; AS, Engineering Science, Broome Community College, BS and MS Mechanical Engineering, Binghamton University, NY State licensed Professional Engineer, and is currently pursuing a Ph. D in Systems Science at Binghamton University Charles Swain, Rochester Institute of Technology Prof. Swain received an MSEE from the Pennsylvania State University in 1984. He has been a professor of Electrical Engineering Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology for the past seventeen years. Prior to that he was an electronics design engineer for two years and a college professor for several years before that. While at RIT, he has taught in the areas of analog electronics, digital electronics, and microprocessor applications. The last few years, he has taught primarily in control systems, circuit analysis, and automated data acquisition. During the last seven years, he has done consulting or contract work with industries; including a couple of years in automated testing and control of various electrical and mechanical systems and a few months on the testing of communication systems. Page 11.1221.1 Page © American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Teaching Reliability Concepts to Undergraduate Students – An NSF CCLI A&I Grant Prof. S. Manian Ramkumar 1, Prof. Scott J. Anson, Prof. Charles Swain and Arun Varanasi 2 Center for Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly Rochester Institute of Technology 78 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY. Abstract To be successful in the global marketplace, U.S. electronics industries must adopt a systems approach to product and process design. Reliability is an integral part of this systems approach. Undergraduate engineering and engineering technology programs across the country, including those at RIT, do not provide the hands-on reliability training students need in today’s manufacturing environment. Using the University of Maryland’s program in Electronic Packaging and Reliability as a model, RIT is in the process of creating the Reliability Education and Analysis Laboratory [REAL], a cutting-edge program that will integrate reliability concepts and laboratory experience into its undergraduate courses in electronics packaging. REAL is being developed by applying the multidisciplinary principles of failure analysis and reliability to enhance traditional engineering and engineering technology courses. Undergraduate students and working engineers will understand reliability theory, gain experience and be able to apply it in today’s complex workplace to qualify new products and processes. RIT has included an industry- input mechanism in every phase of development and implementation to ensure its applicability to today’s engineering workplace. REAL will enable the development of a highly skilled workforce that will increase industry competitiveness while reducing training costs. Introduction The electronics industry has experienced major technological innovations in the past decade. The result is the proliferation of electronics in products, increased miniaturization, high power requirements, increased functionality and lower prices. New materials and processes are constantly being introduced and the demand for innovation continues. To be successful in the competitive global marketplace, U.S. electronics industries must adopt a systems approach to product and process design. A systems approach requires a versatile workforce with a comprehensive understanding of product design, material selection, manufacturability, cost, environmental impact, safety and reliability. In this new work environment, engineers have more diverse responsibilities than ever before in implementing new processes, using new materials and analyzing product/process reliability. They must perform sophisticated life cycle testing and product reliability studies in a short amount of time in order to understand processes and the yield for new products. Page 11.1221.2 Page 1 Corresponding Author – Phone:585-475-6081, Fax:585-475-7167, Email: [email protected] 2 Graduate Research Assistant Therefore, engineers must have multi-disciplinary skills that allow them to understand design for excellence concepts. Industry needs new graduates who can contribute to design teams and all aspects of manufacturing, including assembly inspection, testing and reliability analysis as soon as they are hired as product or process engineers. However, almost all new graduates and many working engineers have limited or no skill in these areas. Most undergraduate curriculums in engineering and engineering technology today incorporate several aspects of design, materials, manufacturing and cost but pay little attention to environmental, safety and reliability issues. This is true at RIT. A 1997 University of Virginia report 2 states that integrating reliability into engineering education is critical to implementing a systems approach in U.S. industries. Research also confirms industry’s need for new graduates with reliability skills. In 2001, the Center for Research on Education in Science, Math, Engineering and Technology at Arizona State University found that design for reliability and reliability skills ranked 8 th among the top 20 skill sets needed for engineering and engineering technology graduates by employers 3. Top companies such as Flextronics, Solectron and Celestica, which are multi-national contract electronics manufacturers with employees worldwide, require entry-level engineers to have reliability skills. However, hiring people with these skills is extremely difficult and providing on- the-job training is too time-consuming and costly for employers. As a result, efficiency is reduced and American competitiveness suffers. Recent graduates of RIT’s Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology department, employed in electronics manufacturing companies such as Solectron, Delphi Automotive Systems, Kodak, Universal Instruments, Cookson Electronics, Symbol Technologies, etc., report that they were not prepared in the critical area of reliability when they started their jobs. Since RIT is equipped with state-of-the-art process equipment, students are well trained in the electronics manufacturing process knowledge, but have little exposure to failure analysis and reliability studies. As process engineers and new product introduction engineers, they need to understand failure mechanisms, failure occurrences, inspection and testing and be able to design processes that produce reliable products, and conduct reliability analysis to predict product life. Currently at RIT, undergraduate courses do not include reliability in theory or in practice. Some graduate courses include reliability theory but they do not have any hands-on laboratory activities. The project being carried out using the NSF grant will fill this need, namely providing undergraduate reliability theory and hands on experience. Project Goals and Objectives The goal of the development effort - REAL - is to prepare students for comprehensive engineering careers by integrating the reliability knowledge and skills that are in demand by the electronics manufacturing industry into undergraduate education. To the best of our knowledge, RIT still maintains the distinction of being the only University in the US, teaching electronics manufacturing as part of its undergraduate curriculum. Of the few schools that teach electronics manufacturing, most of them teach electronics manufacturing primarily as part of their graduate 11.1221.3 Page and doctoral degree programs. The primary objectives of REAL are: 1. To seamlessly integrate concepts related to failure modes, failure mechanisms and failure detection, into the existing Advanced Concepts