BANNOCKBURN, Ill., USA, April 7, 2014 — The second IPC Hand Soldering World Championship at IPC APEX EXPO® on March 27 drew 11 competitors from around the world. Victors from IPC hand soldering competitions in China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Germany and the United States were challenged with building a functional electronics assembly within a one-hour time limit. Completing in record time and with a nearly perfect score, Brian Wade, CAMtek Inc. (United States), was crowned champion, earning him a $1,000 cash prize, a new Metcal soldering station and bragging rights as the world’s best hand solderer.

Also with a nearly perfect score, Zhao Hongyan, Avic Xi’an Flight Automatic Control Research Institute (China) earned second place in the championship. Le Van Duc, Spartronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. took third place. Assemblies were judged by IPC Master Trainers in accordance with IPC-A-610-E Class 3 criteria, overall electrical functionality and production speed.

Wade qualified for the World Championship by winning the IPC APEX EXPO Hand Soldering Competition. The regional IPC APEX EXPO competition took place on March 26, where Katie Chanla, Imperial Electronic Assembly (United States) took second place with a $250 prize, while Sarah Yan, Loop Technologies (New Zealand), earned third place and $100.

“Those who cheered on the competitors got a first-hand look at the best-of-the-best hand soldering talent across the globe,” said Kris Roberson, IPC manager of assembly technology and coordinator of the competitions. “This year’s competitions at IPC APEX EXPO were a great success and we look forward to the upcoming hand soldering competition and World Championship in San Diego in 2015.”

Roberson added, “IPC thanks Premier Sponsors, Metcal, PACE, Hakko Corporation, JBC Tools USA, and Indium Corporation; as well as our Supporting Sponsors, Balver Zinn Cobar, Vision Engineering, and BOFA Americas; and Contestant Sponsors, Japan Unix,

I-SAC Electronic Co., Ltd., and IPC China for their support of the hand soldering competition and World Championship.”

IPC hand soldering competitions are planned for Europe, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam and Russia in the coming months. For more information, visit www.ipc.org/hsc.

About IPC

IPC ( www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 3,400 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China.

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