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Minutes of U-1 Passive Components Steering Committee
April 16, 2002
Sheraton Old Town Inn, Albuquerque, NM

1.0 Committee organization and procedures

In the absence of the Chairman Keith Siemonds, Acting Chairman Dave Richardson called the meeting to order at 8:00AM.

1.1 Membership and attendance
1.1 Welcome by Dave Richardson and self- introduction of all members. Attendance was taken, and it was determined that a quorum was present. A special "Thank you" was bid to the EIA/ECA for organizing another outstanding meeting.

1.2 Agenda approved.
A report from the P-1 Resistive Devices working group was added to the Agenda and the agenda was approved unanimously. It was also requested that Ron Gedney's "NEMI Technology Roadmap" presentation from the previous meeting be added to the web site.

1.3 Approval of U-1 minutes from October 2001 in Philadelphia.
Minutes approved unanimously.

1.4 Correspondences
Ed Mikoski, from the EIA/ECA, gave highlights from the last QRE (Quality, Reliability, and Engineering) Committee meeting. Ed also informed the attendees that the IECTC 40 plenary meeting will be held June 4th - 6th in Berlin, Germany. Ed thought that it would be extremely helpful to have a representative from the US at that meeting. ACTION ITEM: Ed Mikoski will check with Caddie Greenidge to see if he is attending.

2.0 Guest Speaker
Bill Serjak, from H. C. Starck Inc., gave a very informative presentation on passive component material supply issues. The presentation was entitled, "Tantalum Availability: 2000 and Beyond". The paper associated with the presentation is printed in the March/April 2002 issue of "Passive Component Industry" magazine. An excerpt from Mr. Serjak's presentation is attached to these minutes.

3.0 EIA Environmental Issues Council Presentation -- Ed Mikoski
Ed delivered a presentation on the environmental issues potentially affecting the membership internationally, nationally and in individual states. The presentation was prepared by the EIA Environmental Issues Council (EIC). Ed encouraged the participants to contact their environmental experts within their companies and to encourage them to learn more about what the EIA is doing. The Council has a regulatory tracking tool that contains a wealth of information regarding environmental legislation, labeling requirements, and materials requirements in markets throughout the world.

4.0 Subcommittee and working group reports
P-10 - Mike Griffith gave P-10 IPD committee reports . Formed Subcommittee to work on application guide.
P-14 - Diane Bicknese gave report for Over current Protection Devices. Surge fuse document PN out for ballot.
G11 - No Report. Ed Mikoski suggested we have G-11 representative attend at least once per year.
P2.5 Tantalum and Niobium Capacitors - Dave Richardson reported that Draft specs for polymer cathode, 150C, moisture sensitivity, and niobium capacitors are a few of the topics to be discussed in the committee meetings.
P2.1 Ceramic Capacitors - Dave Richardson gave report on Ceramic working group meeting. Will be adding lower rated voltages along with specs and parameters in EIA198 (EIA 198 Section I, II, and III all being updated). Also discussing RF microwave requirements for MLCC's. Dick Thompson will be updating VCC section in application guide.
P-4 Mechanical Outlines - PDP-100 Brian Piscitelli reported for committee. Moving PDP-100 to an electronic data base system. Carl Lindquist demonstrated how the new system will work. The group has started with fuses and will be working to expand the data base to include resistors, capacitors, and inductors. They will need inputs from all of the Subcommittees.

P2.2 - Plastic and Film Capacitors - Dan O'Brien reported for committee. Will need to elect replacement for Chairman Michael Mosier. Due to difficulty in assembling a quorum, it was suggested that P2.2 and P2.4 may be consolidated into one group. This will be discussed in Subcommittee meeting.

P2.4 - Aluminum Capacitors - Dan O'Brien reported for committee. Have started working on an Aluminum Polymer spec. Will need to elect replacement for Chairman Michael Mosier. Due to difficulty in assembling a quorum, it was suggested that P2.2 and P2.4 may be consolidated into one group. This will be discussed in Subcommittee meeting.

P-9 - Test Methods - Laird Macomber elected new chairman for the Subcommittee.

P-1 Resistive Devices - Brian Piscitelli reported for the committee. Adding 0402 and 0201 to the spec.

5.0 Report on other meetings held during this summit. Ed Mikoski encouraged attendance at Soldering Technology Committee meeting, Connector Committee meeting, Automated Component Handling Committee, and Information Handling Services presentation.

6.0 Administrative Issues

6.1 Improving the Structure: Committees, Subcommittees, Working Groups, and Task Forces.
Ed Mikoski stressed the need for the committee to consider the best structure for getting the work done in the future meetings. If a couple of groups need to combine because the amount of work has changed from a past cycle, then it should be considered. He also encouraged the use of teleconferencing with documents for discussion to be posted on the ECA website. This would facilitate work progressing between face-to-face meetings.

6.2 EIA Legal Guide -- refresher on policy
Ed Mikoski stated that the EIA legal guide content is printed on the reverse side of the sign-in sheets. He stated that at the next meeting he anticipated having a brochure that covers the subject.

6.3 Awards and Recognition -- Establish a process
Ed Mikoski would like to establish a formal Rewards and Recognition Process/Program for the ECA Engineering Summits. Ed will work with Dave Richardson on this.

6.4 Integrating speakers into the program
Ed Mikoski highlighted the speakers that are presenting during this week of meetings. He asked that the members of the committee begin to identify potential speakers that they would like to have at the future meetings.

6.5 Teleconferencing, Web conferencing, and Website features
Aluminum Capacitor Group (P2.4) had a teleconference between Fall and Spring Meetings. They had a very positive experience, so more groups will be getting together ahead of time. This should allow more things to get finalized sooner.

6.6 Recruitment. Dave Richardson and Ed Mikoski will get list of User members (and associated contact names). Will begin actively recruiting user attendees (Dick Thompson to assist). It was suggested that we add New Member Recruitment to future agendas. Also, a task force will be assembled at the next meeting to develop new member recruitment plans.

7.0 Old Business.

7.1 More documents are being posted on the web site.
7.2 Engineering Summit P-Panel schedule for meetings will be rotated for next meeting.

8.0 New Business
No new business.

9.0 Future Business Meetings
9.1 Jennifer Watson, from the EIA, covered meeting schedule and location topics.
The schedule for next meeting will be rotated, but will follow same core schedule.

The Fall 2002 meeting will be October 7th - 10th at the Downtown Marriott in Charlotte, NC.

The Spring 2003 meeting will be in Phoenix, AZ (hotel and dates will be determined by next meeting).

San Antonio, TX was chosen as the site for Fall 2003 meeting (New Orleans was the alternate (2nd choice)).
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5.0 Meeting adjourned at 10:15 am.

This meeting was conducted in accordance with the EIA Legal Guidelines and the Manual of Organization and Procedures.

Dave Richardson, Acting Chairman
Signature on file

Dave Holmes, Acting Secretary
Signatures on file

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