FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Kristine Martin
June 16, 2005	202-466-7391 x 124

Yutaka Tsukada Presented with IEEE Technical Field Award

• Award is one of the highest honors conferred by the IEEE
• Recognizes advances that revolutionized printed circuit board packaging
• Invented first thin film organic packaging by build-up technology and the first flipchip to organic package with underfill
• "Many engineers today owe their jobs to the inventions of Tsukada and his teammates," said CPMT Society President

Piscataway, N.J. – Yutaka Tsukada was presented with the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Field Award (sponsored by the IEEE CPMT Society) at the 55th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC) in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. USA. The award is among one of the highest honors a technical professional can receive. IEEE President and CEO, W. Cleon Anderson presented the award.

Yutaka Tsukada, managing director of the Advanced Packaging Laboratory at Kyocera SLC Technologies Corporation in Shiga-Kan, Japan and formerly with IBM Japan, revolutionized printed circuit board (PCB) packaging and made it possible to bond chips onto low-cost PCBs.

Radically changing the structure of PCBs, Tsukada pioneered the development of build-up PCB micro-vias and developed a solution for underfill, reinforced flip-chip bonding. This allowed a single, build-up layer to replace as many as four layers of conventional PCB wiring at a lower cost. These technologies are used in most PCB applications, including cellular telephones, PC processors, digital signal processors, digital cameras and workstation components.

CPMT Society President Phil Garrou highlighted Tsukada's contributions by adding a few personal words during the presentation. "When Tsukada-san started his work in the 1980's, bumping was a high-end technology used by IBM, Delco, NEC and a few other Japanese mainframe manufacturers. It could only be used in conjunction with ceramic substrates and was not an interconnect option for consumer products. By developing the technology for SLC substrates and the underfilling of solder bumps, Tsukada opened the way for making this technology prevalent in the mainstream consumer electronics industry. Many engineers in industry today owe their jobs to the inventions of Tsukada and his teammates at IBM Yasu," said Garrou.

Rao R. Tummala, past CPMT Society President later remarked, "Tsukada-San has had more impact on the packaging industry than any one in the world over the last two decades. He invented the two most important technologies that are propelling the industry--first thin film organic packaging by build-up technology and the first flipchip to organic package with underfill. It was a delight to watch both from day one starting in mid 1980s."

An IEEE Member and IBM Fellow, Tsukada previously served as vice president of the Japan Institute of Electronic Packaging. His other honors include the IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award and the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society’s Presidents Award.

About the CPMT Society
IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society is the leading international forum for scientists and engineers engaged in the research, design and development of revolutionary advances in microsystems packaging and manufacture. Visit www.cpmt.org for more information.