Maureen E. Williams (Fed)

My research is focused on Sn whiskers. I am currently the project leader of the NIST Sn Whisker Project. This project is working on the fundamental growth mechanism of Sn whiskers.

Since 1999 I have been involved in the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) Sn whisker projects and from 2001 until 2007 was co-chair of the iNEMI Sn Whisker Modeling Group.  In 2009 I represented NIST on a team of sixteen nationally-recognized expert scientists and engineers on Phases 1 & 2 of the Lead Free Electronics Manhattan Project (LFMP), sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel, to address the serious reliability threat from lead-free solders and surface finishes that are infiltrating critical aerospace and defense systems. The third phase of the LFMP project, re-named the Lead-free Electronics Risk Reduction Program, has articulated eighty research and development (R&D) tasks needed to address the lead-free technology knowledge gaps and funding is being sought to implement this R&D program.  My areas of interest include scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Focused Ion Beam (FIB), and x-ray diffraction.