The D-Code Podcast

THE FINAL BOSS - Mike Konrad, Author, Podcaster, Narrator, Business Owner, SMTA Talking Head... Final as in, last SMTA International 2025 Interview, folks! Thank you for tuning in to each one along the way. 😀 Mike Konrad has been one of our largest supporters and we are not exaggerating when we say that we are only here because of him. We are here because of many reasons, but one will always be Mike. From guiding us through the...

If you've ever heard of Zestron, then you know they are pretty serious about cleaning. But among the more technical discussion you'll find here, John Neiderman also shares that Zestron has as highly decorated Reliability & Solutions (R&S) Team that consults on projects, including root cause and failure analyses. By analyzing the full process, including printing, placement, profiling and more, they often uncover process impr...

When running a PCBA Consulting agency, you run into everything. Or so Brent Johnson imagines. He may have just recently started his agency, but he has years of process engineering experience, and has already worked with a popular guest on the podcast, Jordan Danko! Let the roasting begin...

No, this was a great conversation, and it just felt like the right time to bring back "a lack of board supports on the second side" from one of...

Viktoria Rawinsky Solves (PCB) Crime For a Living!

How fun does that sound, really? Viktoria gets to spend her time studying, imaging, and finding the root cause of various failure types, often in combination. It takes serious detective chops to not just find one culprit involved in a defective board, but to find and overlay all the "fingerprints" when multiple causes of failure work together to obfuscate the issue.

When COVID hit...

Justin has a lot of media experience, and is used to having the camera and mic with him, asking questions of others and giving them a chance to shine. We were therefore stoked to have a conversation that was equal parts Personal Marketing, SMTA Involvement, but also really interesting technical conversation as he got into discussing ROCKA not just as a company, but as a leader in modern stencil roll development.

Speaking of marketi...

We knew Sutharshan just got elected to the SMTA Board of Directors (Congratulations!), but we didn't know his full background with the SMTA. It's been 18 Years since the first time Sutharshan expressed interest in learning more about the SMTA! Safe to say he has made the most of his time participating in various ways in that time.

SMT Elite is a newer venture for Sutharshan, but with experience in process engineering, DFM reviews, ...

This is an excellent blend of technical conversation and personal experiences of the connections formed in this community, especially via SMTA activity. Robert Boguski is entertaining and humorous while discussing his company's background and role, and there are plenty of laughs in the first half while generally keeping to industry topics.

But for those of you who like to learn more about: the personal lives of our hosts and guests...

What does naturally adaptive mean to you?

To @Essemtec it means the ability to dispense solder paste, pick and place components, easy programming, intuitive software, reworking on demand, and more!

The first time we talked to the good people at Essemtec they were already boasting dispensing speeds of 720,000 dots per hour. Now, they are up to 1.1 million dots per hour!

As Sean Kincaid said- Mind blowing! 🤯🤯🤯

Underfill, potting, ...

We at The D-Code love ‪@KYZEN-Corporation‬. From connecting at events to becoming great friends, we keep trying to find someone from KYZEN we don't like and so far, no dice. This holds true for Chelsea Jewell as well, who was already a great friend of Daniel and Elias , and now Sean has finally met her now by attending SMTAI 2025*. As Application Lab Manager, Chelsea gets to work on just about anything in the cleaning world, as KYZ...

One wrong label can ruin thousands of boards.

SMTAI 2025 show highlight Inovaxe

Our podcast is centered around problems and solutions and David Ly from Inovaxe had one for every problem!

We talked about how easily a simple labeling error can snowball a customer supplied reel with multiple stickers, a misprinted internal label, or just one manual transcription mistake. It only takes one mix-up to create thousands of bad panels.

The ...

Thermal profiling from the experts-

Generous to say experts as there was really only one expert on the panel, Miles Moreau.

Daniel shared his typical methodology for profiling a board and Miles was kind enough to say that was the way most people do it, albeit not the most accurate. 

Sean brought up different thermal profiling methods and devices he's used in the past and then highlighted that KIC now has wireless options for their...

Thank you to the  ⁨@SMTAorg⁩  for the wonderful SMTA International 2025! Today we bring you a taste from each of the interviews we recorded while in the D-Code booth. It was incredibly tough to whittle down such excellent conversations to just 2-3 minute clips from each interview, because there is technical and personal conversation in just about each one. If you are here to learn more about the hosts or about technologies... you ...

Alex Norman can't stop BMS-ing... err, he is always willing to share knowledge about battery management systems. As a content creator with a presence on LinkedIn, Youtube, Patreon, and more, Alex shares his hobbies and his professional work with equal ease.

Ever designed a prototype first and trusted that the battery needs would just work out? Yes you have. Don't lie, Alex has the receipts. The earlier you incorporate the planning ...

In this episode of the D-Code Podcast, hosts Elias Malfavon Jr., Daniel Stanphill and Sean Kincaid welcome special guests Karlie Severinson and Madison Soliday to discuss the upcoming SMTAI 2025 event. 

They share insights on new programs, the importance of networking, and the excitement surrounding the sold-out expo floor. The conversation also touches on the challenges of event planning, the role of AI in the industry, and the si...

In this conversation, Chris Hunrath, Vice President of Technology at Inselectro, shares his extensive experience in the PCB industry, discussing the importance of knowledge transfer to the next generation, the challenges and innovations in PCB manufacturing, and the significance of thermal properties in design. He also delves into issues like electrochemical migration, dendritic growth, and the evolution of PCB processes and materi...

Courtesy of the @EMAC Bright Manufacturing Challenge, the University of Minnesota's "Rise and Grind Crew" has already won $1000 and proceed to the next round for their Creative Design for their Line-following Robot. Next stage: actually build the robot and test it out at SMTAI 2025 in Chicago for a chance at $2500! Ethan Chung and Alexander Wan represent the team of 5 from @universityofminnesota who decided to take their design to...

Rev 2.12 - Matthew "Argy" Argyris of Europlacer Loves Talking Screenprinting ...and as you'll see, so do we! Welcome to the 4th uh that is FIRST try at getting Matt Argyris, famous inventor of the "Closed Loop Pressure Feedback System for Squeegee Pressure Microadjustment" (we are testing something, watch to find out), onto the podcast. For what it is worth, that is almost entirely Elias' fault. (Trust me on this one.) Oh yeah, ...