etching half-etched cavities into a mounting surface of a metal sheet substrate, the half-etched cavities reaching only partially and not completely through the metal sheet substrate to an opposite surface to the mounting surface;

filling the half-etched cavities with an insulator;

forming drilled vias within the half-etched cavities wherein side edges of the drilled vias are insulator and not metal, wherein bottoms of the drilled vias reach the metal sheet substrate;

forming a contact metal layer on the bottoms of the drilled vias;

filling the drilled vias with via metal;

forming and patterning metal over the via metal and over the mounting surface to form external metal pads on the mounting surface, the external metal pads electrically contacting the via metal and the contact metal layer;

forming inner cavities in the opposite surface that each reach the contact metal layer for at least two of the drilled vias filled with via metal;

placing conductive epoxy on the contact metal layer within the inner cavities;

placing a die onto the conductive epoxy, wherein electrodes on the die make contact with the conductive epoxy; and

sealing the die within the inner cavity by covering the inner cavity with a cover, whereby the die is packaged in the metal surface-mount package with external metal pads on the mounting surface for surface mounting the metal surface-mount package to a printed-circuit board (PCB).