Will Your Product Meet its Life Requirement? CalceSARA Can Help!

Tuesday, December 9, 11 am US Eastern
Dr. Michael Osterman

Electronics have become ubiquitous in our society, with a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smartphones, personal computers, and wearable electronics. Additionally, safety systems such as fire alarms, toxic gas sensors, automatic vehicle braking systems, vehicle stability control systems, and engine control systems have made electronics essential for protecting people from potential injury or death.

This webinar will introduce virtual qualification of electronics and the calceSARA (Simulation Assisted Reliability Assessment) Release 8.6.6. Various modules within the  software will be presented, along with examples of their applications.

Scan for course syllabus

Design for Reliability - A Course for Industry Professionals

Reliability is a fundamental pillar of engineering that transcends mere functionality; it is the promise of consistent performance, safety, and trust over a product's entire lifecycle. From preventing catastrophic failures in aircraft and medical devices to ensuring the daily dependability of a car or smartphone, reliability has a direct impact on user safety, brand reputation, financial viability, and environmental sustainability. This class on reliability provides a systematic methodology for building quality in from the start, moving beyond simply fixing failures when they occur.

The course is open to industry professionals (as Advanced Special Students) to attend in person or online.

Contact Dr. Diganta Das if you have any questions regarding the admission and registration process.

Prof. Patrick McCluskey of CALCE Named Interim Chair of UMD Mechanical Engineering

Prof. McCluskey joined CALCE as a research staff member in 1994 and was instrumental in developing research areas in high-temperature and high-power electronics at the Center and within the Department. A. James Clark School of Engineering Dean Samuel Graham made the selection announcement in October. The department is a top-20 program known for innovative research in electronic products and systems, industrial AI, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, risk and reliability, and quantum applications.

Seminar on Advanced Experimental Characterization of Heat Generation Rates of Lithium Ion Batteries

Prof. Song-Yul Choe, endowed professor at  Auburn University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, presented an  overview of approaches for lithium-ion battery research, including modeling,  experimental and theoretical analysis, and advanced controls, in this seminar.  The presentation focused on the principles of thermal behavior in lithium-ion  batteries and showed examples of how heat-generation rates of pouch and cylindrical cells, including the entropy coefficient, were characterized.

Prof. Patrick McCluskey Receives 2025 IMAPS Outstanding Educator Award

Dr. Patrick McCluskey, Professor and Interim Department Chair in UMD’s Mechanical Engineering Department, has been named the 2025 recipient of IMAPS’ Outstanding Educator Award. Prof. McCluskey has taught courses on mechanical design for electronic systems and design for reliability to graduate and undergraduate students, and developed a new course on high-temperature and high-power electronics. In addition to university courses, he offered professional development courses at various conferences and directly to companies. He is a member of the board of governors of the IEEE Electronic Packaging Society and a fellow of IMAPS.

Flip-Chip Microbumps Reliability Study: Enhancing Defect Features of Vibration Signals Using Dual-Drive Adaptive Reweighted Sparse Framework

The effective extraction of weak defect features is crucial to the reliability analysis of flip-chip microbumps. A novel dual-drive adaptive reweighted sparse (DDARS) framework is proposed, which can skillfully realize the time-varying noise suppression and unsupervised feature stabilization of flip-chip vibration signals under large-scale environmental disturbances. …

The Impact of C-Rate, Float Charging and Temperature on Pouch Lithium-Ion Battery Swelling

Swelling in pouch batteries poses reliability issues and safety hazards, resulting in product damage, fires, and explosions. This study examines swelling based on the impact of C-rate and temperature during charge–discharge tests, and upper voltage limit and temperature during constant voltage/float charging tests. Internal cell dynamics related to swelling are analyzed using equivalent circuit model parameters from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests, and correlations with thickness are established. …

Analyzing Boeing’s Supply Chain, Quality Control, and Certification Issues: Lessons from the 787 Dreamliner and 737 MAX

This study analyzes the impact of Boeing’s outsourcing strategy on aircraft safety and production efficiency, focusing on the 787 Dreamliner program. The intended benefits of cost reduction and accelerated production are examined against the realities of risk-sharing arrangements and documented issues like faulty materials from suppliers such as Kobe Steel. …

Reliability Analysis of a Microinverter Prototype: A Case Study On SAC Solder Under Thermal Fatigue For Encapsulated GaN Packages

A single-stage dual-active-bridge DC-AC micro-inverter prototype with Gallium Nitride (GaN) primary switching devices was assembled and subjected to environmental reliability testing. Testing consisted of an unpowered temperature cycling with an amplitude ranging from -40°C to 105°C. Electrical performance characterization was performed during the accelerated testing at regular intervals until a failure was observed. …

Low-Cycle Fatigue of Printed Sintered Silver in Extreme Environments: Mechanical Shock at Multiple Temperatures

This study considers the response of printed hybrid electronic (PHE) assemblies to extreme mechanical shock (50,000 g base excitation) at multiple elevated temperatures (25–125 °C). Passive components were recessed into milled cavities in injection-molded polysulfone beams using a unique ‘mill-and-fill’ method. The components were interconnected to printed silver traces using printed solder, with circuits then formed from the silver traces. …