Nov. 18-21, 2025
Course Overview
An intensive 4-day course on Failure Analysis of Electronics is being offered by CALCE. The four day course will cover specimen preparation and materials analysis techniques applicable to electronic assemblies, components, and devices. The course consists of a combination of classroom instruction, demonstrations, and hands-on laboratory training. Lecture topics include physics-of-failure root cause analysis, guidelines for selection of analytical tools, and practical instruction on laboratory techniques. The laboratory portion of the course includes demonstrations and step-by-step hands-on sample preparation using metallographic techniques on the latest failure analysis equipment. In addition, a number of important non-destructive and destructive analysis techniques will be demonstrated.
Each course attendee is invited to submit one sample to CALCE at least three weeks before the course starts. Several of the submitted samples will be prepared and analyzed in advance for use during course demonstrations. Some of the other samples will also be used for hands-on training sessions during the course, to illustrate specimen preparation procedures and analysis techniques. All unused samples will be returned. However, no guarantee can be offered that any specific sample will be used during the course.
Course Outline
- Failure mechanisms of electronic products
- Root cause analysis
- Physics of failure
- Failure analysis techniques
- Non-destructive analysis techniques
- Destructive analysis
Course Instructors
Dr. Michael Azarian | mazarian@umd.edu
Dr. Michael H. Azarian is a Research Scientist at CALCE. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master's degree in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon, and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University. His current research interests include failure mechanisms in electronic components and assemblies and the effects of solder joint degradation on the reliability of RF electronic products. Dr. Azarian has been leading CALCE's efforts in developing a methodology for reliability capability assessment of electronics manufacturers and suppliers.
Dr. Michael Osterman | osterman@umd.edu
Dr. Michael Osterman is a Research Scientist and the director of the CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Consortium at the University of Maryland. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, and he currently heads the development of simulation-assisted reliability assessment software for CALCE and simulation approaches for estimating the time to failure of electronic hardware under test and field conditions. Dr. Osterman served as a subject matter expert on phases I and II of the Lead-free Manhattan Project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research in conjunction with the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technical Panel (JDMTP).
Dr. Robert Utter | rgutter@umd.edu
Dr. Robert Utter is a member of CALCE technical staff. Dr. Utter brings a wealth of experience in electronic product development, ranging from material analysis to software development. Dr. Utter is a chemist with a doctorate from the University of Texas. He has held positions in contract manufacturing at Kimball International and material analysis at Alliant Techsystems Operations. His expertise includes in-depth knowledge of spectroscopy and microscopy, essential for understanding electronic product reliability.
Contact
Dr. Michael Osterman
301-405-8023 | osterman@umd.edu
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
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