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

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Holy mackerel, dear readers, you’ve been reading the good stuff this past week. I won’t need to steer you toward any of the must-read (but sometimes overlooked) content because your collective reading habits (as measured by clicks and reads) gravitated to the same things as I did. This week’s picks include an interview from IPC Community magazine on sustainability, two pieces on space travel technology, a new partnership between two well-known companies in our industry, and the July market report from IPC. Keep reading to see what I’m talking about. 

And Now, a Word About Sustainability With Markus Otrin, Zollner 
Published July 25

I’ve mentioned in previous columns recently that sustainability topics generate a lot of reader interest at present, and this interview from IPC Community follows that same trend. This interview speaks with some members of the IPC Sustainability for Electronics Leadership Council, including their reasons for getting involved and how they hope to help guide the industry’s sustainability practices. Don’t want to miss any IPC Community updates? Subscribe here.

Gilmour Space Technologies to Accelerate Design, Manufacturing with Siemens Xcelerator 
Published July 21

In the emerging global market of private space services, the Australian space industry is quite active. No surprise then, that a rising star such as Gilmour Space Technologies would look to improve product lifecycle management to keep up with growing demand. Read more about GST and their reasons for choosing Siemens solutions here.

North American PCB Industry Sales Down 15.8% in June 
Published July 27

The overall book-to-bill number reported by IPC was 0.98, which is higher than the previous report, but still soft. Get more details here.  

Lockheed Martin Selected To Develop Nuclear-Powered Spacecraft 
Published July 26

Chemical propulsion engines have long been the standard for spaceflight, but for humans to travel to Mars, they will need much more powerful and efficient propulsion. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) engines offer thrust as high as conventional chemical propulsion with two-to-five times higher efficiency, which means the spacecraft can travel faster and farther and can significantly reduce propellant needs. If you’re like me (and Jeff Bezos) and you’re a big fan of the TV series, “The Expanse,” it’s likely to happen because the books and the show went to great lengths to get the physics of space travel right, including the use of NTP engine technology. I hear Alex Kamal watching from the future, rooting Lockheed Martin onward, saying, “You go, Hoss…”

New Partnership for Taiyo America, Inc. and LiloTree 
Published July 24

In the announcement, Taiyo America announced a new partnership with LiloTree,” saying, “This partnership is part of the ongoing strategy to provide innovative technology to the PCB industry. LiloTree has developed an innovative nickel-free and cyanide-free gold plating process that offers many advantages to the standard ENIG process.” Read here to learn more.