Eoin O'Riordan - Marketing & Technology Manager, Chomerics Division Europe, Parker Hannifin - talks about changing approaches to shielding and thermal materials technology, opportunities in the current climate, and the materials technologies having the most impact in electronics design...
1. Describe your business & technologies in 2 sentences.
Chomerics, a division of Parker Hannifin's Seal Group, is a global manufacturer & provider of EMI shielding & thermal management materials. We serve OEM & CEM electronics companies in the traditional telecommunications, information technology, consumer, transportation, & defence markets, as well as emerging markets such as renewable energy & life sciences markets.
2. Has designers' approach to shielding and thermal materials technology changed?
In the past decade designers have become much more knowledgeable about our technologies & solutions. This has led to our increased involvement earlier on in the design of the application, with greater emphasis being made on the product performance, integrity, reliability, and service life. Cost of ownership plus design &commitment to new, high performance products are also key to customers, who historically saw EMI shielding & thermal management as post-design fixes rather than upfront critical system factors when designing new equipment.
3. Can you identify any positives or opportunities in the current climate?
In the transportation sector, electronics content to improve safety, fuel economy & environmental factors increases year-on-year. Along with high specification vehicles, low and mid-range models are now adopting these technologies as standard. Gestation period &program life cycles are also longer than in other markets.
We also see similar trends emerging in the medical electronics market. Here, as electronics content increases, so too does the need for compliance & conformability. This not only refers to equipment specific regulations such as EN & FCC, but also to stipulations relating to the environments in which the equipment is operated, e.g.: hospitals, offices & laboratories.
4. How can thermal materials technology be used to improve energy-efficiency?
Our products are enabling technologies for more energy efficient designs across many markets. In the transportation sector, electronics used in cars can mean reduced weight. A good example being electronic power assisted steering (EPAS) v traditional rack & pinion and pumps.
In the fast moving telecommunications market, the use of thermal materials in conjunction with more energy efficient electronic components can help reduce energy use and the overall running costs of the system. Thermal materials also allow greater component density meaning smaller PCBs can be used without impacting the performance of the system.
In other markets such as solar power & LED Lighting, thermal management is being used to great effect to eliminate expensive, space consuming and heavy heatsinks & fans. The result of this is to make such energy saving technologies more accessible and affordable to the general market.
5. What materials technologies will have the most impact in electronics design in the next few years?
Higher thermally conductive dispensable gels & compounds are fast being adopted as standard solutions in a wide range of markets.
Designers & production teams are getting access to the latest high specification materials which can be used with dispensing equipment. This reduces the overall cost of ownership, repeatability of application, and provides a lean approach to both the manufacturing & supply chain complexities.
Shielding technologies such as our Premier shielded conductive plastic help to provide greater design freedom versus traditional metal screens. They can also often eliminate the need for secondary operations such as plating, shielding & machining. Premier also gives considerable benefits in terms of weight saving versus traditional approaches helping to make equipment more portable.
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