Tel: 603.889.2522

Thomas H Stearns, founder and president of Brander International Consultants, is a well-known and highly regarded engineer/inventor. His experience extends back to the initial commercialization of flex circuitry at Sanders Associates, Inc in the middle 1950's. Over the years he has served as Director of R&D at a variety of military/aerospace firms for more than 20 years. He holds 22 patents in flexible and rigid-flex design, materials and manufacturing technology and is the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook Flexible Printed Circuitry as well as many technical papers and published articles. In addition to his consulting activities, Mr Stearns teaches workshops in flex and rigid-flex technology for the IPC (industry association in printed circuitry), University of Wisconsin Engineering Extension, and PCB Design Conferences.

• Researched, wrote and presented "A novel roll-to-roll, chemical-free flexible circuit process".
• Evaluated and critiqued a 50-element flex circuit harness for a planetary research vehicle, with ten-page detailed report and suggestions for improvements.
• Constructed several process flows for production of high-volume medical devices with equipment lists and budgetary cost estimates.
• Analyzed the materials and design of a poor-performing flex circuit in industrial instruments. Suggested changes which immediately resulted in acceptable performance.
• Prepared presentation materials and samples for 1/2 day through 3-day work shops in flex and rigid-flex circuit technology. Made presentations in-house at a leading military equipment manufacturer.
• Designed, supervised construction of and installed rotary and fixed wiper contact systems for continuous electroplating of flex circuit materials.
• Recommended production equipment and process flows for a medical products producer who is establishing an off-shore production facility.