Electronics manufacturing will have a major impact on future products. Almost all automobiles, appliances, computers, and telephones contain printed circuit boards, chips, or electronic modules. In the future, significantly more electronic components and modules will be required. Many of these assemblies will be designed in the United States. However, if past trends continue, a large portion of these electronics assemblies will be produced overseas. There are many reasons for this, one of which is that most undergraduate engineers never learn about the processes required to produce electronic assemblies. They do not understand the processes and are therefore less likely to fight to keep them local. This project is continuing to develop an existing Electronics Manufacturing Laboratory by developing laboratory exercises and acquiring equipment to allow engineers in all disciplines to study electronics manufacturing processes. All industrial engineering students and a portion of the other engineering undergraduates benefit from this project. Two introductory experiments have been introduced in IE 115/116, a required junior-level course in the major. A new senior level course with five laboratory experiments has been developed and is open to all engineering students. Specifically, the equipment provides students with the opportunity to perform experiments such as thick-film hybrid production, printed circuit board production, printed circuit board assembly using surface mount technology and through hole technology, and inspection and testing. Students familiar with these processes are to enter the workforce and persuade their employers that more electronics manufacturing should be performed in the United States.
