Abstract:

A modern trend in the production of electronic equipment is a shortened time-to-market period with an increasing focus on the product development speed. On the other hand, the constant reduction in the size of electronic components and the degree of integration causes heat stress, which can lead to damage of electronic devices. Therefore, it is necessary to find an adequate method of thermal control that improves heat transfer in electronic system and effectively removes the heat dissipated by electronic components. It becomes necessary to provide electronic design engineers with models and methods for heat transfer design during the conceptual phase of electronics design.

In the paper we present the results from the evaluation of thermal models of electronic system developed by PhD students within the scientific project „Engineering Education and Science for the Benefit of Business in the Design of Heat Transfer of Electronic Equipment“ at the University of Plovdiv, which started in May 2019. A company in the field of electronics gave three PhD students a project on a thermal design and simulations of heat transfer of an electronic system. The evaluation of the developed projects was done by business representatives via methods proposed by the company and questionnaires developed by them. These methods had to assess the key competencies of the PhD students in the field of thermal management which are defined by business. The company participants that developed the questionnaires and executed the interviews performed the assessment of the three projects, focusing on the three main criteria regarding optimization of the design process: applicability of the models, efficiency of the design process, quality of the products. Finally, the results were described and interpreted separately for each participant.

Keywords:

Thermal design, electronic system, PhD students, evaluation of projects, business.