Professor Sabuj Mallik delivers inaugural lecture on Advancing Reliability in Electronic Packaging on National Engineering Day

On National Engineering Day, Professor Sabuj Mallik gave his inaugural lecture, Advancing Reliability in Electronic Packaging: Navigating the Shift from Lead to Lead-Free Soldering, to an audience of industry professionals, colleagues and students in the Gateway Lecture Theatre at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU).

The lecture, opened by Professor Paul Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) at BNU, delved into Sabuj's career journey, motivations, and research.

Sabuj recounted the support of his family as a driving force for success in his early career, particularly his parents who he counted as 'inspiring him to think big' and their 'advice playing a key role' in his achievements to date, before moving on to his research on advancing reliability in electronic packaging.

Sabuj explained the history of electronic packaging and the advancement in its reliability over the last 60 years as a result of the development in technology, commenting: "Reliable electronic packaging is important for the normal operation of any electronic device, and there are many ways in which reliability can be measured.". As such, Sabuj and his research team could only replicate a smaller number of these scenarios for research testing.

Most electronics use solder to attach components to printed circuit boards. In recent years, there has been a move from lead to lead-free solders, with the main difference being the change in materials and percentage of metals. Lead solder is a mixture of 60% tin and 40% lead (or 63/37). It is popular thanks to its low melting point (183°C) and that they are easy to work with, that they flow well, and form strong bonds with other metals. Lead-free solder formulations have a varied percentage of metals. Components can include tin, copper, silver, nickel and zinc. The most common lead-free mix is tin copper, which has a melting point of 217°C.

Sabuj discussed its drawbacks, including the high melting point and high cost, before moving on to the continuation of this research with his PhD students. stating: "It goes without saying that this research is not about individuals, but it is a collaborative effort where my students and I can work together to achieve the most effective results.".

Supervised research included: Formation and Growth of Intermetallic Compound (IMC) Layer and Shear Strength of Lead-Free Solder Joints - Dr Peter Kojo Bernasko; Reliability Study of Subsea Electronic Systems Subjected to Accelerated Thermal Cycle Ageing - Franziska Kaiser with Texel Technologies; Quantitative Evaluation of Voids in Lead Free Solder Joints - Dr Jude Njoku; Thermo-mechanical Reliability of Lead-free Solder Interconnects - Dr Joshua Depiver.

Sabuj Mallik is Head of School of Engineering at the Built Environment at BNU and has previously acted as the Head of Discipline for Engineering and the Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Derby. Prior to that role, Sabuj held various research and academic positions at the Universities of Greenwich and Central Lancashire and was honoured in 2016 with the 'VIRA Outstanding Scientist Award'. Sabuj has received numerous accolades for his pioneering work in soldering materials and electronics packaging research, an area that is critical to the advancement of technology and innovation, and has nurtured collaborations with Rolls-Royce and JCB.

If you would like to learn more about Sabuj's research, please get in touch with Sabuj on [email protected]