On behalf of the Management Committee of the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) and the IRPS Board of Directors, with pleasure I give a warm welcome to each of you to the VIRTUAL IRPS 2020.

2020 will be long remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic. We are deeply sorry for all those people who have been suffering these days and we would like to wish a prompt and full recovery to all those who are still in critical health conditions.

Before introducing to this year’s virtual conference, I must largely acknowledge all those people who made this event possible. First of all the Management Committee: their work for the organization of the virtual IRPS2020 was doubled and large evidence was given in the last two months of their dedication to the beloved conference. Then the IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events (MCE) team: they have supported us beyond any possible expectation with their extraordinary capabilities and high professionalism. Finally, all the authors who have made themselves available with all necessary material to let this virtual conference take place. IRPS2020 would not have been delivered this year without the full support of all these people.

IRPS has established itself as the world’s most authoritative conference in microelectronics reliability along its 58 year editions, and it continues to attract engineers and scientists to present pioneering work in this field. The 58th virtual IRPS will feature 3 outstanding keynote speakers for the plenary sessions from both industry and academia, 5 Year-in-Review video presentations and a technical program of more than 100 papers delivered by leading reliability scientists and engineers from around the world. Four focus sessions at IRPS will combine both invited and accepted papers in these emerging topics: Silicon Carbide Device Reliability, Neuromorphic Computing Reliability, IC Reliability & Aging and Reliability in RF/mmW/5G.

The technical sessions will be completed by 16 tutorial sessions. The Symposium program is expanding beyond the traditional areas of CMOS device, circuit, and systems reliability to include emerging microelectronics reliability topics, with circuit reliability & aging, wide bandgap semiconductors, neuromorphic computing reliability, and RF/mmW/5G device reliability, reflecting major trends in the industry.

Gathering participants from the United States, Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world, IRPS is the only comprehensive reliability conference that covers the entire scope of device, circuit, and systems reliability. No other conference presents as much leading work in so many different areas, encompassing both silicon and non-silicon devices, process technology, packaging, circuits, and systems reliability.

I also wish to thank the Board of Directors for their support. Every year, we strive to organize a symposium that is technically strong while offering attendees a great experience. We look forward to your feedback so that we can continue to keep this symposium a great experience in future years. Welcome to the virtual symposium and I hope it will be a memorable experience for all of you!

Gaudenzio Meneghesso
2020 IEEE IRPS General Chair