Entrepreneurship Panel Discussion
Free for Everyone!
Moderator: Mike Konrad, Founder and President of Aqueous Technologies
Panelists:
Robert Boguski, President of Datest Corporation
Tara Dunn, President of Omni PCB
Harold Wack, President of ZESTRON
Overview
What does it take to start a business? Our panel of entrepreneurs, all within the EMS space, will discuss the various challenges in starting, growing, and sustaining a business. Vision, determination, skills, and luck are all part of any successful business venture. Join our panel of business owners to hear their experiences and what drives them to succeed.
About the Panelists:
Mike Konrad is an industry expert on the removal of contamination from circuit assemblies. Mike has been part of the electronic assembly cleaning industry for the past 35 years. Mike has designed several automated cleaning and cleanliness testing machines, has published scores of technical articles on the subject of cleaning and cleanliness assessment has been a member of Editorial Boards for several industry publications. Mike served on the US Navy’s EMPF manufacturer’s committee and is a featured speaker at industry events and technical workshops worldwide. Mike is Vice President for Technical Programs for the Los Angeles/Orange County Chapter of SMTA. Mike was honored with Distinguished Speaker status from the SMTA in 2017. Mike has served as a court-approved Expert Witness in civil litigation matters concerning post-reflow cleanliness assessment and contamination-related failure mechanisms. Mike is the founder of Aqueous Technologies, a manufacturer of automated cleaning and cleanliness testing systems designed for the electronic assembly industry and has served as its CEO/CTO since 1992. Mike is the host of the Reliability Matters podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.
Robert Boguski is an 1981 graduate of The University of San Francisco (BA Economics). Robert has worked in the electronics packaging and interconnect manufacturing and testing business, primarily in management positions, since he was a teenager (1975). 22 years in the bare board business, 12 years in the EMS business, and 14 years in the testing and test engineering business (Some overlap with EMS). Together with his wife Regina, Robert is the Owner and President of Datest, a test engineering and failure analysis company located in Fremont, California. Robert and/or his Company, Datest, are members of SMTA, IPC, and IEEE. Datest is also a member of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) as well as the European Institute of Printed Circuits (EIPC). Since 2013 Robert has co-authored the Test and Measurement column for Circuits Assembly Magazine.
Tara Dunn is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years in the electronics industry working with PCB engineers, designers, fabricators, sourcing organizations and printed circuit board users. Her experience spans roles from manufacturing to sales and marketing.Tara is now president of Omni PCB, a manufacturers' rep firm which is uniquely focused on the PCB market, offering sales and engineering support for technology ranging from standard technology to high-end HDI products. Specialties include flex, rigid flex, additive electronics and quick turn applications. Tara contributes regularly to industry events as a speaker, writes a column in the PCB007 magazine, hosts Geek-A-Palooza and has created the website www.pcbadvisor.com to share technical information related to all segments of the printed circuit board industry.
Harold Wack, President Zestron
Harold Wack has an undergraduate in Chemistry at University of Freiburg (1996). He studied his graduate program at John Hopkins in Baltimore and recieved his Ph.D in Chemistry (2002). He became the CEO of Zestron USA in March 2002. He was relocated to Germany and started the Wack Group (Zestron is one business unit) in 2011. He currently is the CEO of Wack Group.