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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
April 23, 2021 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
This week, we bring you a wide swath of news, columns, and articles from the past week. Altium announced a new cloud platform that connects design stakeholders with users of its Altium 365 environment. Cadence Design Systems has acquired a company that develops computational fluid dynamics technology to help expand its system analysis offerings.
Columnist Michael Ford clarifies what the term “smart” means, and what it doesn’t. And Hu Yang of Zhongtai Securities has written a great feature that delves into the worldwide price increase of copper-clad laminates, which he predicts could rise to 20% in early 2021. Finally, we bring you the 2020 “Just Ask” Compilation, which features all your questions for some of our experts: Happy Holden, John Mitchell, Joe Fjelstad, Tara Dunn, and Heidi Barnes, as well as their answers. Don’t forget to bookmark this handy compilation!
I-Connect007 'Just Ask' Q&A Compilation Available Now
Published April 21
Last year, we asked readers to send in questions for a who’s who of industry experts: Happy Holden, John Mitchell, Joe Fjelstad, Tara Dunn, and Heidi Barnes. Now, we have compiled all of your questions and the experts’ answers into one handy compendium for your easy access. And don’t forget to pose your questions for our next “Just Ask” series expert, “Trouble in Your Tank” columnist Mike Carano.
Altium’s New Cloud Platform Connects Electronics Industry Ecosystem
Published April 20
Altium continues to expand the technology around Altium 365. The new cloud-based platform Nexar allows design stakeholders to provide their software and services to existing users of Altium 365. After joining the Nexar community, fabricators, EMS companies, and component distributors and manufacturers can offer up-to-date information to PCB designers and engineers during the design cycle.
Cadence Acquires Pointwise to Expand System Analysis Offerings
Published April 16
Cadence moves further into system analysis with its acquisition of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) development company Pointwise. The Pointwise mesh-generation technology reads in data from the leading CAD formats and will build upon Cadence’s Clarity and Celsius product line.
Time, Space, Structure, and Model Analysis of CCL Price Increase
Published April 19
Hu Yang of Zhongtai Securities Research Center authored this investigative article for our partners at PCB China Magazine. As Hu explains, prices of materials are expected to increase, possibly up to 20%, in 2021. He also describes the considerable bargaining power that our industry has regarding material cost.
Smart Is Not A Binary Concept
Published April 21
For all the talk about “smart” technology and processes, there’s still a lot of confusion about exactly what the term entails. Michael Ford comes to the rescue with this column that describes what “smart” is and what it is not. He provides a smart process IQ test to measure the intelligence of smart technologies, starting with the smartphone and continuing up through industry processes such as IPC-CFX.
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Closing the Loop on PCB Etching Waste
09/09/2025 | Shawn Stone, IECAs the PCB industry continues its push toward greener, more cost-efficient operations, Sigma Engineering’s Mecer System offers a comprehensive solution to two of the industry’s most persistent pain points: etchant consumption and rinse water waste. Designed as a modular, fully automated platform, the Mecer System regenerates spent copper etchants—both alkaline and acidic—and simultaneously recycles rinse water, transforming a traditionally linear chemical process into a closed-loop system.
Driving Innovation: Depth Routing Processes—Achieving Unparalleled Precision in Complex PCBs
09/08/2025 | Kurt Palmer -- Column: Driving InnovationIn PCB manufacturing, the demand for increasingly complex and miniaturized designs continually pushes the boundaries of traditional fabrication methods, including depth routing. Success in these applications demands not only on robust machinery but also sophisticated control functions. PCB manufacturers rely on advanced machine features and process methodologies to meet their precise depth routing goals. Here, I’ll explore some crucial functions that empower manufacturers to master complex depth routing challenges.
Trouble in Your Tank: Minimizing Small-via Defects for High-reliability PCBs
08/27/2025 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankTo quote the comedian Stephen Wright, “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving is not for you.” That can be the battle cry when you find that only small-diameter vias are exhibiting voids. Why are small holes more prone to voids than larger vias when processed through electroless copper? There are several reasons.
The Government Circuit: Navigating New Trade Headwinds and New Partnerships
08/25/2025 | Chris Mitchell -- Column: The Government CircuitAs global trade winds continue to howl, the electronics manufacturing industry finds itself at a critical juncture. After months of warnings, the U.S. Government has implemented a broad array of tariff increases, with fresh duties hitting copper-based products, semiconductors, and imports from many nations. On the positive side, tentative trade agreements with Europe, China, Japan, and other nations are providing at least some clarity and counterbalance.
How Good Design Enables Sustainable PCBs
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