November_EDFA_Digital

edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 21 NO. 4 56 BOOK REVIEW FAILURE ANALYSIS: WHO NEEDS IT? George F. Gaut, Jr., Author Reviewed by Dave Burgess, Accelerated Analysis davidburgess@acceleratedanalysis.com T his small, unpretentious book directly identifies and succinctly discusses essential elements of failure analysis (FA). The author explores several vital questions, including the following: • What is FA? • Who needs FA? • What traits do FA engineers require? These are important topics and deter- mining the correct answers is critical. Based on the author’s more than 40 years of failure analysis experience, this book provides thoughtful insights to these and other questions. Also included is an infor- mative list of tools required for inspection, sample preparation, and fault isolation. The author recommends that every failure analysis organization be aware of its own purpose, where samples come from, and how results pay for the expense. Each failure analysis organization should also be In this department, books relevant to the failure analysis community are critiqued. Suggestions from readers are welcome. aware of how delayed corrective action can undermine a new or established product. When it comes to FA equipment and maintenance, along with the need for operator training, costs canbe significant. As a result, outsourcing failure analysis is often a consideration. This book identifies some practical limitations to outsourcing. Several existing books focus on the details of how to perform failure analysis. To my knowledge, none steps back—as this book does—to provide a clear picture of failure analysis and its challenges. This book should be available in every lab. It couldprove to be an essential guide as basic failure analysis questions come up again and again due to changes in personnel and business conditions. ISBN: 9781727864922 Whether networking at events or accessing information through EDFA , ISTFA proceedings, or journals, our members have the edge. Now it’s time to introduce EDFAS to others in the industrywhowould like to take advantage of these career- enhancing benefits. Help us help the industry by expanding our membership and offering others the same exceptional access to information and networking that sets EDFAS apart. To reacquaint yourself with and introduce others to the EDFAS member benefits, visit asminternational.org/web/edfas/membership. EDFAS MEMBERSHIP