-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- I-Connect007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current Issue
Beyond the Rulebook
What happens when the rule book is no longer useful, or worse, was never written in the first place? In today’s fast-moving electronics landscape, we’re increasingly asked to design and build what has no precedent, no proven path, and no tidy checklist to follow. This is where “Design for Invention” begins.
March Madness
From the growing role of AI in design tools to the challenge of managing cumulative tolerances, these articles in this issue examine the technical details, design choices, and manufacturing considerations that determine whether a board works as intended.
Looking Forward to APEX EXPO 2026
I-Connect007 Magazine previews APEX EXPO 2026, covering everything from the show floor to the technical conference. For PCB designers, we move past the dreaded auto-router and spotlight AI design tools that actually matter.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - I-Connect007 Magazine
Pivoting on Substrates
September 27, 2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Oved Shapira is CEO of PCB Technologies, the Israeli-based printed circuit provider. PCB Technologies has recently invested in facilities and expertise to design, fabricate, and assemble substrates, a key component for advanced packaging technologies. Oved spoke with Barry Matties and Nolan Johnson about how advanced packaging will influence the industry. He said it will shift everything, including design, fabrication, assembly techniques, and capital equipment development. Some of these shifts might be subtle, and others more seismic. Whatever the changes, Oved says it’s coming.
Barry Matties: Since you joined the company, you have been instrumental in defining the direction for PCB Technologies. Could you give us an overview of the company’s current strategic direction?
Oved Shapira: When I joined the company, I first asked where we were heading and where the market was going. For our major customers, what were their projected unmet needs? I asked our CTO to talk with the CTOs of our major customers as a way to develop a multi-industrial vision with advanced technology included.
Of course, when you ask CTOs about their unmet needs, you get much feedback from different angles. When you filter out all the feedback, we found three major issues that keep repeating.
Matties: What were those issues?
Shapira: First was miniaturization. Second was heat dissipation management, which is very much connected to the miniaturization of more functionalities and the growing demand for high-power applications. The third was the registration of mixed materials.
Registration is one of the larger causes of failure on the PCB, Everything that involves multilayer and sub-lamination always has the risk of poor registration. That creates shorts or other quality issues. So, we came back to the drawing board with what we learned.
I joined after the largest private equity fund in Israel acquired the company. We had a favorable cash situation and decided to invest the capital in technologies that would serve miniaturization, heat dissipation, and registration. That’s when we built a strategy of all-in-one. You can have a PCB shop, an assembly service, and advanced packaging of multi-chip modules or SIP (system in package).
So, we upgraded the PCB shop to PCB-like substrates. Today, we can go for a pitch of 50 microns, line space of 25/25, or 20/30.
We create a unique design of organic substrates by integrating copper-moly-copper. We give them a solution for heat dissipation and heat management in combination with miniaturization. Then, we add to the substrate all our capabilities in PCBs.
To read the rest of this interview, which appeared in the September 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
OKI Develops 180-Layer, 15 mm PCB for AI Semiconductor Test Equipment
04/29/2026 | BUSINESS WIREOKI Circuit Technology, the OKI Group’s printed circuit board (PCB) business company, has successfully developed design and production technologies for 180-layer, 15 mm-thick PCBs intended for use in wafer testing equipment for high bandwidth memory (HBM) mounted on AI semiconductors.
Rogers Reports Q1 2026 Results; Sales Up 5.2% YoY
04/29/2026 | BUSINESS WIRENet sales of $200.5 million increased 5.2%, or $10.0 million, versus the first quarter of 2025, inclusive of a $7.9 million foreign currency benefit due to the appreciation of the euro and Chinese yuan relative to the U.S. dollar.
Amphenol Reports Record Q1 2026 Results
04/29/2026 | BUSINESS WIREThe Company continues to deploy its financial strength in a variety of ways to increase shareholder value. During the first quarter, the Company purchased 1.3 million shares of its common stock for $178 million and paid dividends of $307 million, resulting in total capital returned to shareholders of nearly $485 million.
AI Reshaping the Memory Market; Effects Spreading Across Industries
04/29/2026 | Dr. Shawn DuBravac, Global Electronics AssociationArtificial Intelligence is often framed as a software story focused on algorithms and models. But beneath that narrative lies a more fundamental shift rooted in hardware. AI is not just changing what technology can do; it’s changing how the physical components behind it are produced, allocated, and priced. One of the clearest examples of this shift is now emerging in the global memory market.
Ventec Evaluates US Manufacturing Facility to Support North American Growth
04/28/2026 | Ventec International GroupVentec International Group today announced that it is evaluating the potential establishment of a manufacturing facility in the United States to support its growing North American customer base with high-performance laminate and prepreg materials.