(July 1, 2008) IRVINE, CA. — To promote electronics material advancement in the burgeoning China region, Henkel and Shanghai University, in conjunction with several leading research universities, entered into an agreement to form a Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center. The official signing ceremony marking the commencement of the partnership took place on June 10, 2008 at Henkel Asia-Pacific and China headquarters in Shanghai, China.
“Much of Henkel’s growth and that of the advanced electronics industry is due to strategic partnerships with educational institutions,” said Dr. Horst Eierdanz, corporate VP, Henkel R&D engineering adhesives, in his opening address at the agreement signing. “One-third of Henkel’s Shanghai-based 150-person research and engineering team is dedicated solely to technology development activities and over 3% of our R&D expenditure is earmarked for cooperative efforts with universities and technology institutions.”
The joint center targets five key areas of research to be carried out at various universities. The fields of study include interfacial bonding mechanisms between metals and organic polymers, new latent curing systems for advanced electronics polymer applications, fundamental studies of the rheological behavior of microelectronic assembly materials, nanocomposite microelectronic packaging materials, and advanced microelectronic thermal solutions.
The roadmap of the three-year project is under the project management and executive committee leadership of Michael Todd, Ph.D., Henkel VP of product development and engineering; Tim Chen, Ph.D., Henkel Electronics GM of China and Hong Kong; Tom Lim, Ph.D., director of Shanghai R&D Center of Henkel Corporate Research; and Professor Johan Liu, Shanghai University, China; and Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; as well as the on-site supervision of Xinyu Du, Ph.D., R&D manager of Henkel Huawei and Daniel Lu, Ph.D., Henkel senior technical manager of product development and engineering.
The duration of the Shanghai Region Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center project is currently scheduled from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2011. For more information, visit www.henkel.com/electronics.