Connector & Terminal Engineering for Polymer Components

The connector world's polymer engineering: contact interface physics, plating and fretting corrosion, CTI/glow-wire material requirements (IEC 60695), miniaturized housing design, insert-molded terminals, and EV high-voltage connector systems.

Private cohorts & on-site
Format: 2-day (8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.)
Level: Intermediate-Advanced
Location: Scheduled on demand · on-site at your facility or a regional venue
Date(s): Not yet scheduled for open enrollment. Get notified when it is, or book it privately for your team.
Includes: Certificate of Completion · printed slide binder · take-home reference text

Get notified when this course is scheduled

One email when dates are set. Or skip the wait: run it as a private cohort, on-site at your plant.

Talk to us about a private cohort
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Faculty

Faculty details for this seminar will be announced with the full schedule.

Fees

Early: $1,895 (payment 4+ weeks ahead)
Standard: $2,095 (check/ACH) · $2,165 (card)

Group discount: $200 off per attendee for 3+ from the same organization.

Also Available

  • Corporate on-site delivery at your facility
  • Private cohort sessions
  • Digital curriculum licensing

Seminar Overview

Connectors are the highest-value polymer parts by weight in any vehicle or device — and the least formally taught. This seminar teaches connector engineering from the polymer side: housing materials (CTI/glow-wire requirements per IEC 60695, RTI, wall thickness at miniaturized scale), contact interface physics and plating systems, fretting corrosion in low-level circuits, insert-molded terminals, and the EV high-voltage connector stack (orange world: HVIL, shielding, CP) that is reorganizing the entire connector industry.

The miniaturization layer is the core: fine-pitch housing design at 0.35 mm walls, glass-filled grades, warpage at micro scale, insert-molded terminal precision, and the DFM rules that keep a 0.635 mm-pitch connector moldable at volume. The reliability half covers derating, contact normal force design, fretting in micro-vibration environments, and the test stacks (durability, thermal shock, vibration) behind a qualified connector.

Segment demand: Kostal (4 legal entities), TE Connectivity ($17.3B FY2025), Molex (eHV60 HV launch), Amphenol, Yazaki, Aptiv/FCI, Eaton, VOSS, Hella, Stoneridge — with 9 of 14 accounts in Detroit metro, one open-enrollment run serves the vertical.

Ideal Learner

  • Connector design engineers and housing designers
  • Terminal/product engineers at connector and harness suppliers
  • Materials engineers specifying connector polymers (CTI/RTI/glow-wire)
  • EV high-voltage interconnect engineers

Learning Objectives

  • Specify connector housing materials against CTI/glow-wire, RTI, and flow requirements
  • Design miniaturized housings: 0.35 mm walls, glass fill, warpage control
  • Explain contact physics, plating stacks, and fretting corrosion in design terms
  • Design insert-molded terminal precision and its tooling implications
  • Navigate the EV HV connector stack: HVIL, shielding, sealing, CP

Consulting Sessions

Seminar attendees can sign up for individual consulting sessions with the instructor. Sessions are free for registered attendees, first-come first-served — sign up when registering by calling 248-539-0473 or during the seminar.

Seminar Outline

  • Connector anatomy and the housing's actual jobs
  • Material requirements: CTI, glow-wire (IEC 60695), RTI, flow
  • Housing grades: glass-filled polyamides, PBT, PPS — the real trade table
  • Contact interface: normal force, wiping, conduction path
  • Plating stacks: tin vs. silver vs. gold and when each is honest
  • Fretting corrosion in low-level circuits: the mechanism and the design answers
  • 0.35 mm walls: glass fill, flow, and warp at micro scale
  • Insert-molded terminals: precision, packaging, wash-out
  • Latch and polarization design at fine pitch
  • Tooling reality: slide cores, micro-features, gate strategy
  • Derating curves and current-carrying honesty
  • Durability, thermal shock, vibration: the qualification stack
  • Low-level vs. power contact test logic
  • Reading a connector datasheet like an engineer
  • HV connector anatomy: HVIL, shielding, 360° termination
  • Shielding termination and EMC at the housing
  • Sealing (IP67/IP6K9K) and mating-cycle design
  • Workshop: design review a 200A HV connector housing

More in Track H — Electrical & Electronic Engineering

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