-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueIntelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
Do You Have X-ray Vision?
Has X-ray’s time finally come in electronics manufacturing? Join us in this issue of SMT007 Magazine, where we answer this question and others to bring more efficiency to your bottom line.
IPC APEX EXPO 2025: A Preview
It’s that time again. If you’re going to Anaheim for IPC APEX EXPO 2025, we’ll see you there. In the meantime, consider this issue of SMT007 Magazine to be your golden ticket to planning the show.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Design For Excellence: Karen McConnell on Standards
October 31, 2019 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes

During the IPC Summer Meetings, I spoke with Karen McConnell, senior staff CAD CAM engineer with Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. Karen is a veteran PCB designer as well as an IPC committee chair and mentor. She offered an update on some of the IPC committees she chairs, the need for more mentor programs in this industry, and why you can call something a ham sandwich if you define it correctly in the standard.
Andy Shaughnessy: Karen, it’s nice to see you again. Now, you seem to be staying fairly busy—you’re a committee chair as well as an IPC mentor. Can you tell us about what’s been happening in some of the committees that you chair?
Karen McConnell: I’ll start with the Design for Excellence Committee (1-14). We recently released the IPC-2231 document on design for excellence (DFX). One of the things we’re doing immediately in the next revision is adding the phrase “Design for Excellence” in the title so that everybody knows what DFX is. The document is a guideline for a company or a group to grow or start a DFX program. It includes the science of fabrication, assembly, test, and environment. The 1-14 Subcommittee went immediately into revision because we knew that the document would never be complete. We expected it to be one of those documents that are continuously revised because of comments coming in from the industry as they start to use this document. One of the things we want to do this time with revision A is to develop a feedback loop for the industry to supply their comments or better ways of doing what we suggested.
I am also a co-chair for the Land Pattern Committee (1-13). We were trying to redo a whole revision based on things that JEDEC had proposed, but a recent decision by the 2-30 Committee is making the 1-13 Committee revisit our decision. We’re trying to come up with a plan to table some of the updates we have done, revise the 73-51 B version, correct any errors, release it, and then look at the JEDEC proposal.
Further, I’m an IPC mentor. My mentee, Kevin Kusiak of Lockheed Martin, graduated at IPC APEX EXPO last year. It is a great program if you have young engineers that you want to grow in the printed board industry. They are mentored by an experienced IPC member within your company or another company on how to navigate the IPC environment, the standards, what the standards are about, and how to take advantage of the training. They are given free admittance into IPC APEX EXPO for three years. The mentor’s and mentee’s managers have to sign off that they are committed to supporting the travel and the person’s time throughout the three-year program.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the September 2019 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
DELO Thrives Amid Global Economic Uncertainty
05/09/2025 | DELOGermany/Sudbury, MA, May 9, 2025 | DELO, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-tech adhesives as well as dispensing and curing equipment, has announced that it has achieved over €245 million ($265 million) in revenue during the 2024/2025 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2025).
TTM Technologies Announces Retirement of Founder and Board Member, Kent Alder
05/09/2025 | Globe NewswireTTM Technologies, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of technology solutions including mission systems, radio frequency (RF) components and RF microwave/microelectronic assemblies, quick-turn and technologically advanced printed circuit boards (PCB), announced the retirement of its founder, former CEO and long-serving board member, Kent Alder.
IPC Strengthens Global Focus with Promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to Chief Global Officer
05/08/2025 | IPCIPC, the global electronics association, announces the promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to chief global officer. This newly created position reflects the association’s forward-looking strategy and industry needs to strengthen the electronics supply chain.
Jenoptik Fab Officially Inaugurated in Dresden
05/07/2025 | JenoptikJenoptik manufactures micro-optics for the semiconductor equipment industry in a state-of-the-art production environment.
Join the Conversation: MESI 4.0 Summit 2025 Brings Manufacturing Experts to Porto
05/06/2025 | Critical ManufacturingThe MES and Industry 4.0 International Summit 2025 (MESI 4.0 Summit), hosted by Critical Manufacturing, will bring together manufacturing leaders, technology experts, and industry pioneers in Porto on June 12-13, offering a unique platform to explore practical strategies for digital transformation and smart manufacturing.