A Conversation With Industry Icon Pete Starkey

Estimated reading time: 16 minutes

Drivers of Technology

LaRont: There were some definite turning points that drove technology and business models. Tell me about the trends you saw.

Starkey: When I first started, a “fine line” was .015", and that was difficult to do on a screen printing machine, but the skilled operators knew how to do it, so we depended on them. Of course, that trend has been getting finer and finer with HDI and ultra-HDI packaging. 

LaRont: Did telecom really drive that? 

Starkey: Yes, but it was the computer people who drove it first due to their operating systems and need for computer chips. Military and aerospace did not drive technology, which is different than what we are seeing today. They built for reliability and over-engineered their boards to that end. The IT folks making computing devices were the first real drivers of technologies since they wanted to get more functionality in less space. 

The next big turning point for technology was driven by telecom. This is very specific memory for me because it happened right around the time I got my first D2398 British Telecom approval. There was still no such thing as a mobile phone; everything was hardwired, with great big telephone exchanges and miles and miles of wires to support them. Then we had the revolution of the mobile phone, this thing that wasn’t connected to the exchange by wires. The first-generation mobile phones were big and clumsy, but over time they developed into finer, smaller tools with increasingly more functionality. So, I believe the mobile telecom industry has driven a lot of technical development. 

LaRont: What was the next fundamental change? 

Starkey: The next fundamental change was the microvia. In the UK, we were using mechanical drilling machines instead of the fancy American laser drilling machines. You know, I come from the Midlands of England. My dad was a toolmaker, and so was his dad. We know about drilling holes. But you couldn't drill holes small enough or quick enough with a mechanical drilling machine to satisfy the requirements of these clever new telecommunications devices, and a new generation of laser drilling equipment was developed specifically for PCB manufacture. Much of the microvia technology came out of Japanese OEMs. There probably weren't any standards associated with laser drilled microvias at that time, but the Japanese OEMs could write their own standards because they were they were producing it for their own purposes. They weren't selling printed circuit boards, but rather electronic devices and end products, so that's where much of the microvia technology originated. 

LaRont: At what point did you get your first laser drilling machine?

Starkey: We decided to do a technology mission to Japan and were able to finance it through the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on condition that we disseminated what we had learned to the UK PCB industry upon our return. So, we went and we explored microvias, and because of our DTI connections, we made contact with some high-level Japanese officials to learn more about this new technology. I remember that being a big change point for our industry. Since that time, most changes have been incremental developments with equipment, materials, and processes.

Thank you, Microsoft

LaRont: Where did you go next?

Starkey: Do you know what really got me involved in technical writing and editing? PowerPoint. Thank you, nice people at Microsoft. 

I had helped develop a company to be a technology leader, and part of my exit agreement was a non-competition clause. But I would go to the trade shows and the conferences, and I kept in touch with what was happening. I used my initial training as a chemistry student and research chemist to write competent technical reports. I had good relationships with the trade associations. 

In the early days, a technical paper at a conference was a written paper with perhaps the benefit of a slide projector or flip chart. But with these PowerPoint decks, the presenters would just review their PowerPoint and you no longer had that nice, bound paper copy. People (like me) who previously took it for granted that they would have a written record of the proceedings of a conference no longer had the benefit of this information. But the fact that this bloke, Pete Starkey, could scribble notes and write meaningful summaries and would come to your conference anyway because he was a member of your institution—well, that probably got me into the journalistic side of this business. 

LaRont: I know I speak for everyone when I say we are grateful that you got into that side of the business.

Starkey: I’ve been able to meet some interesting people who were not very conventional, but ended up adding the most value to the industry. I've got an entrepreneurial spirit, and I’m drawn to the adventurers. You start to associate with them, and you’re hooked. This is how I have been paid since leaving my “real” job in the mid-’90s; I've lived on my wits ever since.

LaRont: Pete, you are a true gem in this industry, and it has been beyond my pleasure to spend this time with you. Thank you for your service and your perspective. 

Starkey: Always a pleasure.

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