Trace Laboratories
An internationally accredited, full service testing and analysis company providing design studies, failure analyses, product/material qualifications, safety inspections, and consulting services
Trace Laboratories, Inc. is a US based, internationally accredited, full service testing and analysis company, with two state-of-the art laboratories in Hunt Valley, Maryland and Palatine, Illinois, and a satellite office in Denver, Colorado. Trace can address the full scope of your test and analysis requirements.
Trace Laboratories was established over 25 years ago to meet the needs of the growing materials and electronics industries. Today Trace is a full service test and evaluation organization serving a diverse cross-section of industries throughout the world.
Our technical staff provides design studies, failure analyses, product/material qualifications, safety inspections, and consulting services; all aimed at helping clients improve product performance and reliability.
Our staff offers highly respected technical expertise, personable service, and quick response. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs and objectives.
Trace Laboratories Postings
2 technical articles »
Counterfeit Electronic Components: Understanding the Risk
Mar 08, 2012 | John M. Radman, Renee J. Michalkiewicz and Daniel D. Phillips
You may have heard talk in the news lately regarding counterfeit electronic components making it into the US military supply chain. The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) recently reported in the Counterfeit Electronic Parts in the Defense Department Supply Chain hearing held on November 17, 2011, 1,800 cases of suspected counterfeit components that went into more than 1 million individual products. If you consider this number for the military, we can only imagine the number of counterfeits in our commercial yet high reliability products, such as life support or other critical systems. If you are the person within your electronics-based company who must perform risk analyses, counterfeiting is not a new concern, yet many do not realize just how good counterfeiters have become at their "trade"....
DOE for Process Validation Involving Numerous Assembly Materials and Test Methods.
Mar 18, 2010 | Renee Michalkiewicz, Gaylon Morris; Trace Laboratories, Inc., Simin Bagheri; Celestica, Inc.
Selecting products that have been qualified by industry standards for use in printed circuit board assembly processes is an accepted best practice. That products which have been qualified, when used in combinations not specifically qualified, may have resultant properties detrimental to assembly function though, is often not adequately understood. Printed circuit boards, solder masks, soldering materials (flux, paste, cored wire, rework flux, paste flux, etc.), adhesives, and inks, when qualified per industry standards, are qualified using very specific test methods which may not adequately mimic the assembly process ultimately used....
