The D-Code Podcast

What a fun conversation! Usually sitting in the backseat for conversations about reflow, Elias had the opportunity to sit down in person with Miles at KIC after seeing some live demos. Fresh and bubbling with his knowledge, he gets to sit in the driver's seat a bit and guide the conversation, bringing in Daniel and Sean's expertise with the actual products in use along the way. There is a lot of quality discussion along the way. We pruned the chapters down to the following

Many thanks to our latest guest, Juan C Frias, for sharing his time and expertise with us. With 20 years of experience, Juan is an excellent source of all sorts of design knowledge. From "What is a component engineer?" to "Why would you put a via THERE?" we get a great overview of basic to more advanced and recurring questions Sean and Daniel find themselves asking regularly in assembly.

Hayden Lee of [REDACTED] has extensive knowledge of AI tech for his ripe old age of 17. Starting at 12 with Python, Hayden hit the perfect timing for growing up with modern AI and LLM architecture as an extension of his natural inquisitiveness and tech interest.

When we interviewed Gayle our first time at a tradeshow, the second the mics went cold, the first thing to be said was "We need to get you on for a full episode!" At long last, the Gayle Towell episode. When you spend your life thinking about physics, the SMT industry is highly welcoming and a logical place to land. Gayle demonstrates here that it isn't the number of years under your belt in your current position - it's about the knowledge you bring with you. From meta-analysis to quantifying the area ratio relationship to ALL forces acting on solder, she shares a lot of wisdom in this one.

he folks at Essemtec are always a blast to talk with, and they usually bear gifts! One of those gifts was a Swiss Army knife, which is probably the best way to describe their Fox platform with its ability to jet paste and place components, all within a space-saving footprint. We are all equipment nerds here at The D-Code Podcast, so being able to get hands-on with some of Essemtec's innovative platforms was a real treat!

Author, business owner, multi-podcaster, and one of the most recognizable faces in the SMTA... Mike Konrad is all over the place, and killing it. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, depending on the day, he has become a huge part of The D-Code Podcast origin story and gets a front row seat to how the sausage is made. He still joins us on set anyway!
Thanks for the mentorship Mike!

How clean is clean enough?
If you answered  1.56 µg/cm2 of NaCl equivalent, it's time to update your version of IPC J-STD-001!
Class 2 and Class 3 assemblies now require "Objective Evidence" of cleanliness. Bobby Glidwell from Magnalytix stops by the set to explain how obtaining Objective Evidence doesn't have to be a pain, in fact they've put everything you need into a box!
 

We get it—if you hear the word "AI" one more time, you might lose it. But a couple of us recently headed up to Massachusetts to check out Parmi’s new SPI and AOI tech, and it actually lived up to the hype.
It’s more than just the cool laser visuals and heat maps (though those are pretty slick). The real kicker? Seeing these machines practically program themselves. We threw a board with over 100 line items at it—something the machine had never seen before—and it handled it right out of the box. No gimmicks, just results.
In this episode, we’re sharing our conversation with Juan Arango at APEX and geeking out over what this means for your line. We also take a second to poke some fun at Mike Butler’s unique way of moving "R's" around in words.
Stick around as we track the improvements SPI brings to the floor over the next few months. Huge thanks to Parmi for sponsoring the show and keeping these deep dives coming!

What to say about Gene that hasn't already been said? Some of the best stuff you won't hear because it happened the night before the interview, but we still saved some great conversation for the cameras! We all look up to Gene for his passion, his longevity, and we were thrilled to see him get the award for 70 (yes, that's seventy) years in EMS at the MWA dinner!
Don't forget to take out the trash when you get home. :)

Our good friend Bill stops by the set to discuss the nuances of equipment selection and validation. An absolute must listen for anyone in the process of making PCBA related equipment decisions!
We also discuss the SMTA STAR Event in Kansas, a truly unique and valuable annual conference that Bill Champions.
 
Enjoy!