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

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Last week was “APEX Week” and, unsurprisingly, the most popular news this week was APEX related (with one outlier, of course!) This week, the top five items you should follow lean strongly toward APEX interviews focusing on future trends. Remember, this year APEX offers on-demand access to the papers, presentations, events, keynotes, and forums. You can even register for post-show access.

Not that it shows in our news feeds this week, but the I-Connect007 staff is following the deployment of the Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, very carefully. Look for news from the air over Mars as the project moves forward.

Until then, enjoy our industry-leading coverage of IPC APEX EXPO, still making the news.

APEX Thursday Keynote: Shawn DuBravac on a Data-driven Tech World 
Published March 12

Shawn DuBravac, IPC chief economist, provided Thursday’s IPC APEX EXPO keynote address, “The Tech Industry in a Post-pandemic World.” Shawn’s talk reminded us that it’s the explosion of data that will drive our thinking and change our processes. But it will not be data and AI alone that makes us better; it’s the combination of human creativity, data and AI that will transform our business. Watch Shawn’s talk here.

New Online Training Programs Enhance Delivery Options 
Published March 15

Change was happening in every corner of the electronics industry last year, including training. Jahr Turchan, Blackfox's Director of Veteran Services & Advanced Manufacturing Programs, discusses how technical training programs pivoted in 2020 and how customers responded to their training needs throughout the year.

The Laser World is Rapidly Developing 
Published March 15

Stephan Schmidt, LPKF president, discusses the LPKF laser 14x20” depaneling system. The company is also introducing automatic handling solutions, helping to fill the gap in automated SMT manufacturing lines.

The Ongoing Need for Tribal Knowledge 
Published March 15

IPC Hall of Fame recipients Bob Neves and Don Dupriest led a special event on the first day of IPC APEX EXPO 2021 called “Forgotten Tribal Knowledge with IPC Hall of Fame and Emerging Engineers.” In this interview, Bob discusses the ongoing need to harness tribal knowledge for the benefit of emerging engineers. Changes in are our industry aren’t only related to technology, and this was an important discussion to be had.

Foxconn’s Chengdu Campus Recognized as Lighthouse Factory 
Published March 16

Foxconn Technology Group announced that a second of the company’s factories, a factory based in Chengdu, China, has been recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Lighthouse Network (GLN) as a Lighthouse factory. The accolade is awarded to manufacturing leaders who have been successful in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to achieve profitable growth without increasing their environmental footprint. Look to one of the world’s largest assemblers to lead the way.