Bannockburn, IL. In cooperation with productronica 2017, IPC-Association Connecting Electronics Industries held its Hand Soldering Competition at the trade fair in Munich earlier this month, with a regional competition from November 14-16 and the World Championship on November 17.
In the world championship competition, 16 competitors, representing their countries and companies, came from China, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The competition was vigorous for the grand prize of €1,000 and the title of IPC Hand Soldering World Champion.
Taking the title of hand soldering world champion was Zhang Yi, China, Chengdu #10 Institute, with a functional board and score of 473 out of a possible 500. Second place went to Vu Thi Xuan, Vietnam, 2 UMC, with a functional board and score of 458, and third place went to Hasrol Mizom Hosson, Malaysia.
“The world championship hand soldering competition required the competitors to hone their best skills and focus on a very complex board,” said Kris Roberson, IPC director of certification. “Of the 16 competitors only six completed a functional board to give you an idea of how difficult the board design was. Normally, the competitors are given 60 minutes to complete the board; for the championship round the time limit was 75 minutes,” Roberson added.
Assemblies were judged on soldering in accordance with IPC-A-610F Class 3 criteria, the speed at which the assembly was produced, and overall electrical functionality of the assembly. IPC-A-610 Master Instructors from IPC licensed master training centers served as the judges. The judges were from China, Estonia, France, Holland, and the United States.
“The best-of-the-best hand soldering talent came from around the globe to compete for the world championship being held for the first time at productronica,” said David Bergman, IPC vice president of standards and training. “The competition was tough, and each competitor rose to the challenge. We look forward to hosting these popular hand soldering competitions across the globe in 2018.”
IPC thanks Hand Soldering Competition Gold Sponsors JBC Tools, Kurtz Ersa, and Weller; Silver Sponsors Almit GmbH, Balver Zinn GmbH, and NCAB Group; Bronze Sponsors IFTEC, PIEK International Education Centre, Optilia, MicroCare, ULT, LICO, MicroCare, and Weidinger; and Contest Contributor Sponsors Microsolder and RONDO.