I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

This week, I’ve taken some extra time to better learn some video and photo editing software programs we use at I-Connect007. It’s a bit of a learning curve, as they say, but you’ll want to check out my LinkedIn video to see how I brought my avatar to life for this week’s must-reads!

The items I’m highlighting this week are also about learning something new, from Pete Starkey’s thorough three-day review of the EIPC Winter Conference in Aix-en-Provence, France (where he even teaches us how to pronounce it), to what’s on the horizon for advanced electronics packaging. I also share details about the new Design Village at APEX EXPO 2026, preview a new column from Remtec’s Chandra Gupta, and discuss why marketing isn’t a one-and-done deal. There were so many cool features this week to choose from, so once you’re done here, visit our website to see everything else we’ve posted this week.

EIPC Winter Conference 2026 Review: The Keynote Sessions
Published February 11

Industry veteran Pete Starkey reports on Europe’s PCB industry opportunities and challenges as addressed at EIPC’s Winter Conference in France last week. From AI-driven material shortages and rising metals prices to geopolitical and supply chain pressures, supply chains may matter more than demand in 2026. Pete reports on cautious optimism around localized manufacturing, innovation, and Europe’s growing strategic importance in the global electronics ecosystem. After you read the keynote article, be sure to follow up with his reviews of the technical sessions here and here.

February Issue of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest Examines the Evolving Role of Packaging
Published February 11

Our Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest just keeps getting better. This month, we’ll take a big-picture look at how packaging decisions now shape entire electronic systems. As performance demands rise, packaging is influencing design, materials, and manufacturing strategy from the start. The next issue, which publishes Feb. 16, features insights from industry leaders on flex, heterogeneous integration, and system-level thinking, connecting the dots between silicon, substrates, and the real-world demands facing today’s designs. This preview gives details on who we’re featuring this month.

I-Connect007 Announces Newest Columnist Chandra Gupta of Remtec
Published February 12

I’m always happy to add another subject matter expert to my cadre of columnists. Chandra Gupta of Remtec will offer a refreshingly grounded perspective in his new column that fits squarely in the advanced packaging space, but is applicable to anyone working in electronics manufacturing today. Drawing on his deep industry experience, his column will explore how materials, substrates, and early design decisions quietly determine reliability, thermal behavior, and RF performance. This column, which debuts next week, is about fundamentals and understanding where performance really begins.

Design Village: Bringing the Design Community Front and Center
Published February 12

I know we’re all looking forward to another APEX EXPO. This year, organizers are putting PCB designers in the limelight with the launch of the Design Village, a new hub dedicated to design tools, workflows, and collaboration. It sounds like, more than a pavilion, the Design Village is a space where designers, OEMs, and solution providers can have real conversations about digital twin, simulation, AI, and system-level thinking. It’s just another way the Global Electronics Association is tying together the entire electronics ecosystem.

The Marketing Minute: Blink and You’ll Miss It… and Other Problems With One-shot Marketing
Published February 11

One post. One ad. One interview. Is your marketing done or not? In her column this month, Brittany Martin explains why one-shot marketing no longer works, especially in technical industries where attention is fragmented and fleeting. (There’s another great article on this topic coming up from GreenSource Engineering in the February issue of I-Connect007 Magazine.) Real impact comes from showing up more than once, in more than one format. Using trade show coverage as a real-world example, Brittany makes the case for repetition without redundancy and marketing strategies built for how audiences actually consume information.