Women in Sustainability Series 2026 - Getting the Lead (Pb) Out: Marie Cole
Getting the Lead (Pb) Out:
Reflections on the Implementation of
Environmentally Friendly Materials in Electronics
The European Union’s (EU) Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC (or RoHS Directive) took effect on July 1, 2006, restricting the use of six hazardous substances in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in the EU. When the Directive was first announced and executed, there were permitted exemptions to allow the use of these otherwise restricted substances for certain product applications or functions. Exemptions were valid until suitable replacement materials became available. Examples of exemptions included the use of lead in solders for servers and lead in solders for flip chips.
Substantial research and development activities by IBM, academia, industry consortia and numerous other companies in the electronics industry were required to comply with RoHS requirements and to introduce replacement materials and processes. The exemption for the use of lead solders in servers expired in July 2016. IBM Systems completed a successful transition prior to the required deadline, capping more than 10 years of progress in lead-free alloy and process development.
This presentation will provide background on the initial implementation of RoHS with a focus on the multi-year effort to overcome significant technical challenges in eliminating lead solder from IBM Systems server and storage hardware. The IBM Supply Chain Engineering and Development teams received numerous industry accolades for their advancement of the technology required for this transition.
All are welcome! You do not need to be an IEEE Member to attend.
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- Starts 12 November 2025 05:00 AM UTC
- Ends 20 January 2026 10:30 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Marie
Biography:
Marie Cole retired as a Distinguished Engineer from IBM Systems Supply Chain Engineering in 2021 with more than 35 years of industry experience. She joined IBM after completing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and then earned an M.S. in Materials Science from Columbia University.
Marie is a recognized industry expert in electronic packaging materials, with a focus on environmental initiatives and reliability. She led the development of and improvements to microelectronic packaging, card assembly processes and hardware sub-systems. She earned several US Patents and published more than 100 technical papers. She and her IBM Pb-free Team received several IBM and industry technical awards, including an IBM Corporate Award for the Lead-free Solder Transition and the 2014 ASM Engineering Achievement Award. She served on the Board of Directors for several industry organizations and continues as an active volunteer for the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA).
Marie, a life member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), was named a SWE Fellow in 2023 and received a SWE Spark Award for mentoring in 2017. She continues her passion for developing future women technical leaders through the Mid-Hudson SWE Section and mentoring a variety of protegees.
