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Current IssueVoices of the Industry
We take the pulse of the PCB industry by sharing insights from leading fabricators and suppliers in this month's issue. We've gathered their thoughts on the new U.S. administration, spending, the war in Ukraine, and their most pressing needs. It’s an eye-opening and enlightening look behind the curtain.
The Essential Guide to Surface Finishes
We go back to basics this month with a recount of a little history, and look forward to addressing the many challenges that high density, high frequency, adhesion, SI, and corrosion concerns for harsh environments bring to the fore. We compare and contrast surface finishes by type and application, take a hard look at the many iterations of gold plating, and address palladium as a surface finish.
It's Show Time!
In this month’s issue of PCB007 Magazine we reimagine the possibilities featuring stories all about IPC APEX EXPO 2025—covering what to look forward to, and what you don’t want to miss.
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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
December 25, 2020 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

We started this week with the solstice. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the winter solstice; south of the equator, of course, it’s the summer solstice. Not only is this a big event on the astronomical calendar, solstice is a busy time for holy days worldwide. Whichever holiday schedule you follow, we wish that yours is festive, restorative, and full of hopefulness.
All that holiday revelry can certainly distract one’s attention; as evidenced in a much slower news week. As a result, this week’s Top 5 brings you the three most important and/or intriguing pieces of news we’ve covered in the last week, and two items from last week that are still drawing reader attention this week. That’s I-Connect007: Keeping you informed, efficiently.
Enjoy your holiday and Happy New Year!
Prices of Copper-Clad Laminates Continue to Rise
December 18
Recently, two major explosions at epoxy resin plants in China had a great impact on domestic resin suppliers, interrupting the supply of resin and caused prices to increase dramatically. I-Connect007 reports on the market dynamics and effects.
The press release states, “Industry experts believe a five-year, $40 million investment in a public-private R&D program would yield more than $100 million in U.S. defense savings per year and improve military readiness and overall innovation. The Congress provided $5 million for such R&D in FY 2020.”
For more detail, find IPC President and CEO John Mitchell’s article in Defense News titled, “Protecting America’s military prowess requires an embrace of lead-free electronics.”
COMSovereign Delivers First Tethered Drone-Based LTE Network
December 21
Emergency and disaster response teams are a great example for this new LTE mobile network system. Imagine a wildfire command post setting up on a remote hilltop and launching a series of hovering drones to serve as temporary cell towers in an area otherwise outside cell service.
Dr. John Mitchell on IPC APEX EXPO Going Virtual
December 16
In this audio interview, Barry Matties and Dr. John Mitchell discuss IPC’s decision to move IPC APEX EXPO 2021 to an all virtual platform. Mitchell explains the reasoning for going virtual, and expresses his enthusiasm for the opportunities this presents the conference. I-Connect007 will be providing preshow and realtime coverage of IPC APEX EXPO, so check with us often to get the latest.
Happy Holden: ECWC15 Virtual Event a Success
December 15
Few industry experts are as capable as Happy Holden to review the Electronic Circuits World Convention, held recently in Hong Kong. In this report, Happy summarizes the keynotes from the first day of the three-day event. Keynote speakers include: NT Information Ltd’s Dr. Hayoo Nakahara; James Tam, from Bosch; and Happy Holden himself.
Suggested Items
RF PCB Design Tips and Tricks
05/08/2025 | Cherie Litson, EPTAC MIT CID/CID+There are many great books, videos, and information online about designing PCBs for RF circuits. A few of my favorite RF sources are Hans Rosenberg, Stephen Chavez, and Rick Hartley, but there are many more. These PCB design engineers have a very good perspective on what it takes to take an RF design from schematic concept to PCB layout.
Trouble in Your Tank: Causes of Plating Voids, Pre-electroless Copper
05/09/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankIn the business of printed circuit fabrication, yield-reducing and costly defects can easily catch even the most seasoned engineers and production personnel off guard. In this month’s column, I’ll investigate copper plating voids with their genesis in the pre-plating process steps.
Elephantech: For a Greener Tomorrow
04/16/2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineNobuhiko Okamoto is the global sales and marketing manager for Elephantech Inc., a Japanese startup with a vision to make electronics more sustainable. The company is developing a metal inkjet technology that can print directly on the substrate and then give it a copper thickness by plating. In this interview, he discusses this novel technology's environmental advantages, as well as its potential benefits for the PCB manufacturing and semiconductor packaging segments.
Trouble in Your Tank: Organic Addition Agents in Electrolytic Copper Plating
04/15/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankThere are numerous factors at play in the science of electroplating or, as most often called, electrolytic plating. One critical element is the use of organic addition agents and their role in copper plating. The function and use of these chemical compounds will be explored in more detail.
IDTechEx Highlights Recyclable Materials for PCBs
04/10/2025 | IDTechExConventional printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing is wasteful, harmful to the environment and energy intensive. This can be mitigated by the implementation of new recyclable materials and technologies, which have the potential to revolutionize electronics manufacturing.