Fowler Associates Labs

This TREK Group Represents 40% of the Individuals Certified This Year

Medina, NY (USA) - TREK, INC. announces that four of the company's Sales Engineers were recently certified by the Electrostatic Discharge Association (ESDA) with the designation of "ESD Certified Professional - Program Manager". The four individuals at TREK receiving certification include John Clack, Chris Lemke, Elwin Rego and Ron Slaby. This TREK group represents 40% of the individuals who achieved certification by passing the recent ESDA annually-offered certification exam. The certification program was designed by the ESDA for individuals who are involved in designing, implementing, managing and auditing electrostatic discharge (ESD) control programs.

This brings to five the total number of individuals at TREK that have received this certification from the ESDA. Tom Larson, TREK's Sales Manager, was one of the first six individuals to successfully complete this new certification program (early 2006) initiated by the ESDA. In total, TREK now represents 22% of all the individuals certified since the program's inception, including individuals from IBM, NASA, Raytheon, Seagate, Trane and other institutions interested in electrostatic discharge.

(l to r): Elwin Rego, John Clack, Chris Lemke, Ron Slaby

ESD management is important in semiconductor, electronic assembly, hard disk drive and other electrostatic-sensitive environments and applications. Other applications that could benefit from ESD measurement and management tools include medical/biomedical devices, powder handling (chemical, pharmaceutical, ceramic and other materials), electrostatic painting/coating, test & measurement, instrumentation, quality control, materials evaluation, military, automotive, aerospace, and R&D applications.

Electrostatic discharge can cause havoc with electronic devices and assemblies. By better understanding the role played by ESD, manufacturers can make process improvements to minimize device destruction and latent damage, thereby enhancing product integrity and production yields.

TREK designs and manufactures electrostatic measurement instruments to assist with ESD management and control. The ESDA certifications enable these individuals at TREK to better understand the intricacies of ESD and thereby assist customers with educational seminars, ESD program development, and electrostatic measurement methods, to enable problem identification and related solutions in ESD-sensitive environments.

This first-of-its-kind ESDA certification program consists of a series of educational courses and concludes with a certification exam. The final exam is typically offered at the annual EOS/ESD Symposium.

The required certification courses cover topics such as: ESD basics, air ionization, ESD auditing and evaluation, ESD program development & assessment, packaging principles, device technology, electrostatic calculations, cleanroom considerations, and more. The courses equate to a total of 60 hours of instruction. The eight-hour final exam consists of multiple choice and essay questions. Once certified, individuals are required to take additional classes to maintain certification.

TREK Japan KK, an affiliate of TREK, INC., provides sales, application engineering support and service to customers in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Due to the significant and growing ESD-sensitive electronics manufacturing base in those areas, several TREK Japan individuals have already received certifications from ESD organizations in the region.

For more information about the ESDA and their certification program please contact the ESDA directly at 315-339-6937 or by email at info@esda.org. Information is also available at their website: www.esda.org.

TREK, INC. (est. 1968) is a privately held company that designs, manufactures and markets high performance electrostatic measurement instruments, sensors & monitors, and high voltage amplifiers, power supplies & generators. TREK's products are used by OEMs involved in semiconductor manufacturing and electrophotography; in applications sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD); and by companies and universities involved in a wide variety of research applications, including electrostatics, electrophotography, piezoelectrics, electrohydrodynamics, and plasma chemistry. Customers include numerous Fortune 500 companies and leading universities. For more information call (US) 585-798-3140, or go to www.trekinc.com. In Asia go to www.trekj.com.

TREK, INC.
11601 Maple Ridge Road
Medina, NY 14103 USA
1 800 FOR-TREK (367-8735)
Tel: (585) 798-3140
Fax: (585) 798-3106
www.trekinc.com