On 24 June, the Circular Circuits project presented at the Meeting Your Peers Engineers #8 at Noviotech Campus, an outreach event dedicated to Circular Electronics Reliability and the lifetime extension of micro-electronic systems.
The event brought together engineers, researchers, and professionals from the high-tech and electronics sectors to explore how reliability engineering can support the transition towards more circular electronics. As electronic products and systems become increasingly complex, extending their lifetime and enabling reuse, repair, refurbishment, and material recovery are essential steps in reducing e-waste and creating more sustainable value chains.
During the session, the researchers of the Circular Circuits project (Fatin Battal (Radboud University), Jasper Coppen (TU Delft), Michiel Brebels (TU/e) and Sjoerd de Jong (TU Delft)) shared insights into the technical challenges that influence the reliability and lifetime of microelectronic systems. The session started with an overview presentation on the project by Michiel van Soestbergen (NXP), the consortium member and users’ representative. Topics included electronics failure modes, corrosion, transport phenomena, packaging-related reliability issues, and the role of simulation and modelling in understanding and predicting product performance over time.
The discussions highlighted that circular electronics are not only a matter of recycling at end-of-life. They also require a better understanding of how products age, how materials and components interact, and how design choices influence long-term functionality. Reliability is therefore a key condition for circularity: products and components can only remain valuable in circular systems if they continue to perform safely and predictably over extended lifetimes.
The outreach event provided a valuable opportunity to connect the research carried out within Circular Circuits with practical questions from industry and engineering practice. Professionals, electronics educators and researchers from high-tech companies in the Netherlands and Belgium joined the meeting. The open exchange of knowledge and experience helped identify shared challenges and opportunities for collaboration across the electronics value chain.
We thank Noviotech Campus for hosting the event and all speakers, participants, and contributors for the engaging discussions. Events like this are essential for strengthening the link between research, industry, and practice, and for accelerating the transition towards circular electronics.
