the clark school of engineering at the university of maryland has introduced a new graduate certificate program in electronics packaging for professional engineers trying to learn more about packaging technologies, which are a critical component of the cost, size, quality, durability, and manufacturability of a product.

the university of maryland is offering an online, grad course on electronics packaging.
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according to the university of maryland office of advanced engineering education, “advanced packaging is especially important in the most challenging applications of electronics, such as space exploration, autonomous electric vehicles, and renewable energy generation, where it is needed to withstand temperature extremes, shock/vibration, and high voltage.  it is also critical to new product areas such as flexible and wearable electronics.”

the online course will couple electrical and mechanical engineering with materials science and business components “that will permit practicing engineers and non-traditional students to gain expertise in the technologies involved in the reliable integration and packaging of electronics.”

among the topics that will be discussed in the course are system integration, heat transfer and thermal management, stress analysis, cost analysis, and quality and reliability assessment.

the school said, “this knowledge is invaluable for furthering careers in the avionics, automotive electronics, industrial motor drives, military electronics, and medical equipment industries, among many others.”

the required qualifications for applying to the program are:

• a bachelor's degree, with a gpa of 3.0 or better, in engineering from an accredited institution
• courses in mathematics (calculus i, ii, iii, & differential equations) are required to be considered for admission.
• courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and structural mechanics (equivalent of enes220) are recommended to be considered for admission.
• two letters of recommendation are required for the gcen program if the gpa is slightly below 3.0.

an article on engineering.com added, “this new program works in concert with the school’s other offerings in the areas of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and materials science – as well as research happening in the department of mechanical engineering and the center for advanced life cycle engineering.”

for more information about the program or to apply, visit http://advancedengineering.umd.edu/programs/electronic-packaging.