Henkel and Leading Shanghai Region Academia Form Joint Electronics Research and Failure Analysis Center

Committed to promoting electronics material advancement in the burgeoning China region, Henkel and Shanghai University, in conjunction with several leading research universities, have 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, indeed, due to strategic partnerships with educational institutions,” commented Dr Horst Eierdanz, Corporate Vice President, 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 percent of our research and development expenditure is earmarked for cooperative efforts with universities and technology institutions. We are very excited about the broad scope of this latest endeavor with this highly regarded group of universities.”

Under the project management and executive committee leadership of Dr Michael Todd, Henkel Vice President of Product Development and Engineering, Dr Tim Chen, Henkel Electronics General Manager of China and Hong Kong, Dr Tom Lim, 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 Dr Xinyu Du, R&D Manager of Henkel Huawei and Dr Daniel Lu, Henkel Senior Technical Manager of Product Development and Engineering, the roadmap of the three-year project includes five key areas of research to be carried out at various universities. The fields of study include:

Study of the 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

Advanced microelectronic thermal solutions

“Henkel’s significant investment in this project is further proof of our commitment to advance technology, expand the success of this region and promote cost-effective, anticipatory materials solutions to the global electronics industry,” says Henkel’s Dr Michael Todd.

“Indeed, the sizeable resource Henkel has budgeted for this project and the universities’ investments of equipment, time and talent will certainly yield materials solutions that will benefit the entire electronics marketplace,” concurs Dr Tim Chen.

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.

www.henkel.com/electronics