San Diego Calling: Your Complete Guide to the IMAPS Symposium

The IMAPS International Symposium returns to the Town & Country Resort in San Diego from September 29-October 2, 2024, featuring restructured technical tracks, new Monday panel discussions, and exciting networking events including a special reception aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier. General Chair Benson Chan and outgoing IMAPS President Erica Folk share what attendees can expect at this premier microelectronics packaging event.

• Expanded program with six focused technical tracks for better attendee experience
• New Monday afternoon panels on thermal challenges, HIR roadmap, and co-packaged optics
• Co-location with the new Thermal Management Conference (Wednesday-Friday)
• Special reception on the USS Midway aircraft carrier (requires RSVP during registration)
• Student engagement through high school tours, university booths, and the Posters & Pizza session
• Leadership transition as Erica Folk hands the presidency to Dan Kruger
• Multiple networking opportunities throughout the week including the Exhibitor Happy Hour
• Volunteer opportunities that provide valuable professional development and career connections

Register now at imaps.org to secure your spot at the symposium and don't forget to RSVP for the special Midway reception.

Chapters

• 0:00 IMAPS Sponsorship Introduction
• 22:36 ] Leadership Transition and IMAPS Impact
• 28:37 ] Upcoming Episodes Preview

Transcript

Francoise von Trapp: 0:00

This episode of the 3D Insights Podcast is sponsored by IMAPS, the premier global association for microelectronics advanced packaging enthusiasts. A membership in IMAPS helps your company grow its advanced packaging workforce through professional education and networking, advances your brand and supports building relationships. Imaps helps you learn, connect and collaborate. Learn more at IM imapsorg. Hi there, I'm Francoise von Trapp, and this is the 3D Insights Podcast. Hi everyone. Well, we've had another trip around the sun and it's time for this year's preview of the IMAP International Symposium, which happens September 29th to October 2nd and, as it does, alternate years. This year's event takes place at the Town Country Resort in San Diego. So here to tell us all about it are Benson Chan, this year's General Chair, and Erica Folk, outgoing IMAPS president. So welcome to the podcast. Thank you, glad to be here. So how's your summer been? It's been great.

Erica Folk: 1:12

We had lots of travel. We finally took the trip that we planned for 2020 and got postponed and then canceled. So now it's happened for real and we're super excited about it, had a lot of fun there, there was lots of soccer for us and yet, with all that crammed in the summer, it's really hard to believe that it is time to send everybody back to school.

Francoise von Trapp: 1:30

Right? Well, they've already gone back to school here in Arizona, because they have year round school here. So they went back at the end of July, believe it or not, but it's hot, so you might as well stick kids in an air conditioned building and teach them Benson. How about you? Have you had a good summer?

Benson Chan : 1:46

It's been a crazy summer. It's been fast, Definitely looking forward to the time-maps. Unfortunately, I also have to have my own symposium. That's going to happen the first week of September, so I plan for both. So after that we'll take some breaks.

Francoise von Trapp: 1:58

Right, so you're general chair of this year's event, but year's event. But you also, in your day job, are at Binghamton University.

Benson Chan : 2:05

Yes.

Francoise von Trapp: 2:07

And so every year you have your own symposium.

Benson Chan : 2:09

Exactly, it's from the Trinx Packaging Symposium. It's one of the few symposiums that's dedicated to the Northeast and it has the same kind of topics, same kind of people. But I think really, what's nice about it? It's a smaller conference. We basically hold it to 250. And you know, a lot of the topics we have are similar. We have a great panel this year on co-packaged optics, which I think will be fantastic. Jan is going to have one at IMAPS this year.

Francoise von Trapp: 2:38

Okay, yes, she is. So now you've both been on the podcast before and, benson, you just started, but can you just remind us of your roles both at IMAPS and the microelectronics industry? Erica Sure.

Erica Folk: 2:51

Currently I am the president of IMAPS. I stepped into this role in October 2023 at the conference when it was at San Diego Town and Country last time, and I will be handing over the torch to Dan Kruger at that conference, coming up here in the next few weeks. Microelectronics I started in that industry when I was in grad school, working on LTCC. That was where I had my first exposure to IMAPS. I met folks at my current employer there. My advisor got us into it. We had student booths at conferences. From there I continued into semiconductors, both in fabrication and design at Northrop Grumman. Imaps has been a great way for me to stay informed of what's going on in the industry beyond just aerospace and defense.

Francoise von Trapp: 3:40

And Benson at Binghamton University. What is your role beyond doing the symposium? I'm sure there's much, much more that you do.

Benson Chan : 3:48

So at the university I'm the associate director for the S3IP, which is a small-scale systems integration package. It's a center of excellence sponsored by New York State. We basically are an umbrella organization for about six research centers within Binghamton that mainly focuses on electronics six research centers within bigington that we mainly focus on electronics. There'll be pieces looking at reliability, materials development, uh modeling. We have another center looking at energy efficiency for data centers. We have a center looking at transport hybrid electronics, so they're tied in with xbox, uh. We have another center that's looking at heterogeneous integration but respect to advanced thermal solutions, and then we have another the last lab really's looking at heterogeneous integration but respect to advanced thermal solutions, and then we have another. The last lab really is looking at how to create solar cells and supercapacitors using multi-materials versus using amorphous silicon. You know wafers and building subscrides on. So it's really a way to generate those functions in a way that we can actually translate that into a rotor manufacturing line to make really cheap solar cells and supercapacitors.

Francoise von Trapp: 4:52

Yeah, I always forget how much is going on in New York State. I mean, there is a lot happening in the advanced packaging space. Even so, that really probably is good for people coming to the university because there's a lot of options for them from there.

Benson Chan : 5:06

Oh, definitely, definitely. I think you know we have all the major topics in it. You know engineering as well as you know science, physics and chemistry. We actually get all these groups involved in packaging. You know we have projects involving physics where they're doing, uh, ab initio modeling of atoms in the structure, like create a model of inner metallic, understand how that behaves. If I throw in different elements into that solder, what is it going to do to the mechanical properties, the thermal properties? So it's not just physics, it's really.

Benson Chan : 5:37

How do you get, you know, materials that developed using modeling, using AI, and say what can we do with this? Can we try now to get someone to actually synthesize it, actually test it? That's in play. And also, we have a big effort in energy storage. We are a MSF engines for energy storage as well as a large center that was just put in place two years ago. We're actually going to be building prototype lines for building batteries in either cylindrical or prismatic, so anyone could come to the line and say I have a new formulation, I'm going to build this. You know, build prototypes that now they could go and ask for money.

Francoise von Trapp: 6:18

So a lot's happening there. Yes, so let's talk IMAPs. You have a very busy fall coming up. I understand I mean you're mostly going to talk about the symposium, but there's other things happening before the symposium.

Erica Folk: 6:30

Absolutely so. Next up on our list is the on-shoring event which is coming up here just in a couple weeks. It is in Pentagon City in that area. So if you're anywhere near DC and you have an interest in supporting onshoring fabrication of microelectronics and being part of that effort, please look into that and attend. It's a great event. It was originally scheduled for April and got pushed back into September, so this is a new time slot for us, but it is a great event. Also, there is a new event that's going to be happening in Silicon Valley.

Erica Folk: 7:05

This is the IMAPS Executive Summit. This is something that has been pulled together, actually rather quickly, so you will have seen announcements come out just recently about it, but this was a grassroots event that started from that local chapter. They surveyed their members, they were trying to get their chapter revitalized and folks said, hey, this is something we think would be of value to us. It's got a fantastic program. Anyone should consider attending, but especially if you're local, you should take advantage of this.

Erica Folk: 7:35

It is the week before the IMAP symposium, so I recognize schedule-wise that might be challenging, but it has a great lineup and it does focus a lot on the marketing and the strategy. So if you're somebody that's looking at things kind of at that 30,000 foot view, this would be a fantastic opportunity for you. Again. If you're somebody that's local, it's a great opportunity to network and meet the folks around you that you may be working with and can make those connections, be working with and can make those connections. And then, of course, after that comes Symposium, which again starts September 29th. This is a packed fall season for us, but we've got on-shoring in its new time slot of the year and then this Executive Summit that's coming up, so please pencil those in and consider them on your calendars.

Francoise von Trapp: 8:21

I'm actually very excited about the Executive Summit because I was asked to moderate a panel on market trends semiconductor packaging as a strategic differentiator and that's happening at two o'clock on September 24th, so I hope to see you there, and then, of course, I will see you all at the symposium the following week. So it's going to turn out to be a pretty busy fall for me as well, because the week after that it's Semicon West. So, as far as the symposium goes, benson, what's new for this year?

Benson Chan : 8:53

Sure, I think one of the things that we're really proud of is that you know we have a track system where we basically focus on different topics within packaging, and what we did this year was we basically shuffled everything together and tried to make tracks make more sense and more focused. So now, instead of the five we used to have, now we have six. It's evenly spread so people can actually say I want to go to track one versus track five because it makes more sense. So we hope to give you a much better experience in presenting the materials that people want to put out there. But one of the things that we also added to this symposium is, instead of having the first day being just PDCs and the welcome reception, we basically filled in the gap between the end of the PDCs and the reception and we're basically hosting panels right. So now we've got an extra opportunity to actually bring more topics to our attendees by giving the chance to interact with presenters and panelists. The first panel is going to be thermal and thermomechanical challenges and opportunities in advanced packaging. We're going to talk about what are we going to do to try to understand how to take care of the heat, how are you going to do the modeling. What's the role of simulation, of multi-physics as well? As you know, ai designs Things that will help you understand how things are going to behave and make sure that whatever you're going to design is going to be reliable and be able to function at the temperatures expected at the hologramy that's going to put out.

Benson Chan : 10:24

We have a HIR, which is the Head of Junior Simulation Roadmap workshop. That's going to be split in two. One is going to be more a panel talking about what are the challenges to roadmap, what's going to be expected? One is going to be introducing Ravi Mahajan. That's going to be replacing Bill Chen as the head of HIR, so that's going to be exciting. Chen as the head of HR, so that's going to be exciting. He brings a different formula to this thing but, I think, equally driven as far as understanding what's going to happen and how to help companies understand and prepare for the future. The last piece is going to be a panel on co-package optics and also co-design efforts. How can we improve the design methodology to actually create better packages?

Francoise von Trapp: 11:07

This is new, that we're having the panels. I saw the keynotes that are happening. I think you've got three on Tuesday and one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. When are the panel discussions happening?

Benson Chan : 11:18

This is all happening on Monday.

Francoise von Trapp: 11:21

All the panels are on Monday.

Benson Chan : 11:22

All the panels are on Monday.

Francoise von Trapp: 11:24

Oh, I thought it was professional development courses on Monday.

Benson Chan : 11:27

Right after the PDCs. So PDCs run from eight to three. Right after that is going to be the first panel. So we're going to fill from three to five.

Francoise von Trapp: 11:34

With panel discussions. Right, I better get my butt there, because I was going to drive out on Monday.

Benson Chan : 11:41

I think that's going to be.

Francoise von Trapp: 11:42

The exciting part is really no-transcript, because you might want to come in on Sunday so that you're there to hit the ground running on Monday, or make sure you're flying Monday morning so that you don't miss those panels because there's something new. It's not something they've had in the past. Yeah Well, I'm glad we had this conversation.

Erica Folk: 12:27

So the extra plug there, francoise, is not just the panels, which are great, right, and folks should totally consider the PDCs if that's something on their list, because we've got a great group for that as well. But again, get in early and RSVP for the midway reception. Yes, I am super excited about that. This is something that staff has been working on. It was an idea they had, because we're in a location that has that feel and that availability, and to be out there on the aircraft carrier, I am just so super excited about that. As we've been going through the planning. There's going to be tours, there's going to be a demonstration. A VR like this is going to be awesome. You have to RSVP, though, so make sure that when you register that you also RSVP.

Francoise von Trapp: 13:14

I did that before I even registered for the conference. When that? Email came out and I was like I'm going on that, except I've been on the midway before and you will see me above decks because I discovered that I am a little claustrophobic. And I discovered that on the midway because I remember going through the tour and you go down and down and down and then when you, when I came out, I was suddenly took a big breath.

Erica Folk: 13:39

It makes you really appreciate the folks that serve our country and have to be on ships like that for many months at a time.

Francoise von Trapp: 13:47

Yeah, and they're huge. It's huge. But then when you're down inside, everything is designed for efficiency. Everything has its place. It's very, very cool to go through.

Erica Folk: 13:57

I'll also say at the mid-ray reception there is a special surprise and a photo op. If folks want to just keep that, that is the only hint you're getting from me right now.

Francoise von Trapp: 14:09

Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the keynote.

Benson Chan : 14:13

The topics for the keynotes are really what's going to be driving the industry. You know, hopefully in the next couple of years we have some great keynotes. I mean we've got, you know, subu's going to be talking about worker chips, we've got Glenn Davies, we've got Tariq Ibrahim from Intel and Hamer from AMD. I mean these are all great topics, right, talking about all the challenges and see what's coming, what's going to be, you know, pushing the industry. What's pushing packaging? You know whether it's materials or even just designs, materials or even just designs. So, again, this, this is going to be a great opportunity to talk to the, you know, the leaders in industry and hopefully, you know, out of the Q and A's, you'll get something useful out of it.

Francoise von Trapp: 14:53

Lots of stuff happening beyond just the technology tracks, lots to learn about of you know what's driving the industry, what people can expect going forward, which is, I think, something we've all been looking forward to learning. I feel like we've been on hold a little bit, so hopefully this gets things moving. This year's IMAPS symposium is co-located with the Thermal Management Conference, so how has that worked?

Benson Chan : 15:18

This is a new event that's going to be put together for IMAPS, focused solely on thermal. The symposium is going to run from Monday to Thursday and they're going to run from Wednesday to Friday, so what's nice about it is you got a way of, if you're attending, you can also just, you know, add a couple of days and say I can learn more things about you know what's really focused on thermal? What are you doing as far as removing heat from a one kilowatt device? Right? Those are the challenges.

Francoise von Trapp: 15:48

Now we've covered like the content, and let's talk a little bit about my favorite topics, which is the student involvement and the networking, oh, and also the exhibit. So one of the things I know about the San Diego event is that there's generally high school students coming to the show and taking everything in, and there is a big commitment with IMAPS to promote the next generation. So what can we expect? This?

Erica Folk: 16:15

year. I would expect something very similar to what we've done in previous years. We've had a high amount of engagement and success with the high school students that have come in and success with the high school students that have come in. Typically, we've got a program where we've brought in technologists and folks that have been volunteers within IMAPS to speak to the students and then take them out on the exhibit floor. So please be prepared, if you're exhibiting, to engage these students Know that they are excited, but maybe a little shy and awkward because they haven't been in this type of environment before.

Erica Folk: 16:48

So ask them questions or be prepared to show them how great your technology is. You'll be surprised. I know that I'm blown away all the time by the new applications and resumes that I'm seeing from students out there. They're absolutely phenomenal. So you can expect to see things like that. But again, please make them feel welcome and engage them while they're here, because you will see them on the exhibit floor and again, we will probably have a handful of speakers lined up to kind of give them just some indication of what they might expect, as they're looking forward to both getting advanced degrees and then also going through and just joining the workforce.

Francoise von Trapp: 17:26

I always have so much fun talking to them and we usually get them on a podcast and it's probably the highlight of the podcasting because they have so much energy, they love to talk. Usually Adrienne brings me somebody who is not so shy and then they like to talk about. You know why? They're interested in microelectronics and all of the cool stuff they're seeing on the floor.

Erica Folk: 17:47

Absolutely, and you know I focused Francoise on the high school students in that portion of the program. But we do have a fair amount of university students that are attending both undergrad and graduate students, and you can see where they're from on the program. There's lots of them that do the posters and they absolutely love having folks from industry engage them and ask them about the work that they're doing in school. So please don't miss the pizzas and poster portion of the event as well. And that's thursday, uh thursday at lunch.

Benson Chan : 18:16

and then the other thing I want to bring up is imaps is going to be doing what they did last year, which is actually offering universities a booth right right In the exhibit area where the school can do whatever they want in that booth. But I think a lot of them will actually show research that's being done at universities, or even just the students presenting their own posters. I think what's nice about it is to get an opportunity to talk to the industry right gives a better meaning to what their research is really about, because a lot of times the research it's a topic that maybe the faculty decided on and then now they see, well, oh, this is where it can lead to and maybe it can guide their research a little.

Francoise von Trapp: 18:53

Yeah, I talked to a student at IMF's device packaging who that was exactly it. How he got into advanced packaging was, you know, his undergraduate degree wasn't specific in advanced packaging, but he found that path and it might have been something to do with thermal, I can't remember. But anyway, speaking of student involvement, you mentioned the posters. Talk a little bit about the annual posters and pizza session. That usually wraps things up on.

Erica Folk: 19:26

Thursday? Right, it does, and so it's one of those things too. While you're planning your travel and planning to come early on Monday so that you get to see all the panels, please try to stay around for lunch on Thursday, because that's when all the posters are displayed. Years ago, we started this portion of the conference as a way to go display things that you know maybe didn't quite fit within a topic, based on the way the sessions were put together, maybe because somebody preferred to do a poster to have that engagement with folks that way as opposed to presenting in a session. But it's turned out that that event has been so successful that we actually have people that present in sessions that go.

Erica Folk: 20:07

Can I put a poster up too? Right with my work, Because it is so engaging? So, again, there's food, that's there. That's part of that event, but it's an opportunity to really have a little bit more intimate conversation with folks about what they're working on, Ask questions, have it be conversational as opposed to folks kind of speaking at you while that's happening. Again, I've always enjoyed that. There are a lot of students, like I say, that participate in that, Typically at the Town and Country. We've had it out on the lawn, so the weather, of course. You're in San Diego, you need to take advantage of it. It is a fantastic venue and on the other networking topics.

Francoise von Trapp: 20:45

We've got the Exhibitor Happy Hour, which is on Wednesday before the panel, which generally leads to a very exciting panel discussion because people are a little loosened up. Some of my favorite IMAPS memories are from those panels. What about Tuesday? Is there anything going on Tuesday evening that?

Erica Folk: 21:05

has a full program listed that day, but that does appear like the evening. That night is a little bit more freed up from the standpoint that because so many people are traveling to the event, it's a good opportunity that if people want to have separate kind of break off meetings, it looks like that Tuesday evening is a good opportunity to do that. We've got keynotes that happen, you know, in the morning of course, and then sessions all afternoon.

Francoise von Trapp: 21:33

So Tuesday is the night that you plan to have your customer meetings and customer dinner. Yes, which is good to know. You know we've got Monday. There's the big party on Monday on the Midway. Tuesday is a free night. Wednesday is the exhibitor reception, followed by the panel discussion. Thursday there's the poster session and the golf tournament, which I'm sure still has some openings. Maybe I know I'm playing golf.

Erica Folk: 21:57

I plan, but I just realized as we were having this conversation that I need to make sure that I'm booked and signed up. But it is always part of my plan to go play, in that, while I don't play often or necessarily well, it is always good company and lots of fun.

Francoise von Trapp: 22:11

I'm not a very good golfer either, but it is that best ball. It's a fun, fun event and I played last year was for the first time at DPC, so I'm excited to play this time. And we mentioned earlier Erica, we kind of touched on the fact that you're the outgoing president and Dan Kruger will be coming in. What is that going to be like for you, Like when does the handoff happen and how does that all go?

Erica Folk: 22:36

The handoff actually happens Tuesday at the symposium, and so I will move into the role of past president and Dan will step in. That is when everybody starts their new terms that are coming into office, but the election's closed recently. This has been a fabulous two years as president but it was two years before that as president-elect. The people that I work with are great. All of us that are part of that executive council are volunteers, so we're giving of our time because we believe in IMAPs and we want to create value for those members. I'm very humbled to serve in that role and I can just tell you how blessed I feel that I've had somebody like Beth Kesser as a role model and a mentor for me. She really paved the way and put some good structure in place and taught me some things and still leans in at points and helps me delegate tasks where maybe I may not get to them, and I think that is a great skill to have somebody who's willing to poke you and push you to do things that are actually good for you, and so Beth has done that for me. But Dan is going to come in and he's going to do a great job.

Erica Folk: 23:37

A couple of things that have happened during my presidency. That I'm just. I'm lucky that they happened during my term. It was more to the other great volunteers. I'm lucky that they happened during my term. It was more to the other great volunteers. Imaps Academy rolled out. Mark Gerber did a great job trying to pull that together, but there's lots of folks that went into being the instructors. Staff was absolutely involved in every step of that and making it happen.

Erica Folk: 24:00

So, with the heightened visibility to workforce development, but us also acknowledging the microelectronics and packaging industry and how much that's needed to go educate people at all levels. So if you haven't checked out the IMAPS Academy, please go do that. Again, it's out there. Habib Hirschi is now taking over that as well and pushing that. So if you've got ideas and things you want to see, kick us a note. Let us know.

Erica Folk: 24:23

Foundation has only continued to grow over the years. Scott Hayes is now running that as part of his strategic objective. Thank you to 3D Insights again at the donation that was announced last March at DPC of the scholarship funds that have rolled into that. But we keep on looking for the right ways to use that money to engage students and bring them in because, again, they are our future. So I'm very proud of those things and what's happening, but the credit doesn't go to me. The credit goes to all the volunteers and everybody that has been part of this and it's just been great for me to have exposure to so many great people that have really made my job easy, because everybody has such a commitment to what we're doing and wanting to give back to the members of IMAPS.

Francoise von Trapp: 25:10

I'm always happy to remind people that involvement in IMAPS, while it's enriching for your career, it is a volunteer role and IMAPS wouldn't exist without all of its great volunteers who all, by the way, have day jobs, so be sure to look into it. We've had many conversations about how IMAPS helps to grow your career and the contacts and the people that you meet and the networking that happens, and it's really been for me. Even at 3D Insights, I learned everything I know. I can honestly say it all started at the first IMAPS International Symposium back in 2005. I had to be at Advanced Packaging Magazine for three weeks and that's how I learned about the industry, and then also when I first started 3D Insights in 2009,. Imaps BPC was the first event that I went to as an independent journalist, so it's yeah, it's been a ride.

Erica Folk: 26:08

That's a great plug too, because volunteering I've picked up skills that I wasn't maybe necessarily getting in the workplace quite the same way, right, whether it be developing your skills, working with people, doing interviews, I think there's a lot to be said for, you know, learning some of the behind the scenes thing that you might want If you have aspirations of being a leader within your company.

Erica Folk: 26:30

You started at the volunteer level and I've plugged this many times, it's that say yes if you get asked to volunteer, if you've got the bandwidth, step up and do it, because it really is an opportunity for you.

Benson Chan : 26:42

I totally agree with what Erica said. I think being part of IMAPS is really one of the things that helped me along my career. You learn a lot about how to do things, how to organize things and, with the experience that I had early on in IMAPS putting together the Mid-Atlantic conference, that I think this is where I met Erica. We worked a lot in how to put a local conference together, so we had to understand about hotels and understanding about programs and who to call and what to do and set up things. Those are things that not many people get a chance to see, but they help you in your life. When I came to Binghamton the supposedly I have here they were in the 70s 80s I have here they were in the 70s 80s and I came in I basically the first year I got it. I got it over 250 and I got it up to like maybe 400, right. Then I realized that's a little too much right, but I think the fact that you can do it really is saying something.

Francoise von Trapp: 27:40

Right. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you have to, though. That is a really important lesson to learn. It is. I'm super excited to see you both. What are we four weeks away? So we'll see you soon. And, people, if you want to go learn more, go to imapsorg and navigate to the imap symposium 2025. You'll find everything you need to know, and there's also a really nice little video at Town Country so you can get a glimpse of what the environment looks like and who's there, and we'll be putting that on our homepage for a week or so. Thank you both for joining me today. It's always a pleasure.

Benson Chan : 28:21

Thank you.

Erica Folk: 28:23

Thank you. It's always good to work with you, friends, boss, thank you, thank you.

Benson Chan : 28:26

It's always good to work with you. Prince Paul, thank you for giving us a chance to talk about this.

Francoise von Trapp: 28:37

We'll see you soon Next time on the 3D Insights Podcast, we've got another event preview for you. I'll be speaking with Joe Stakounis, President of Semi Americas, to learn all about the changes coming to Semicon West 2025. We've got a new time of year, a new city, a new venue, a new program, and it's taking place the week right after IMAP Symposium. So buckle up, folks. It's going to be a ride. There's lots more to come, so tune in next time to the 3D Insights Podcast. The 3D Insights Podcast is a production of 3D Insights LLC.