Three Industry Leaders Receive IPC President’s Award

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In recognition of their leadership and significant contributions of time and talent to IPC and the electronics industry, three IPC volunteers were presented with the IPC President’s Award at IPC APEX EXPO in Anaheim, Calif., on April 9, 2024. Recipients were Nick Koop, TTM Technologies, Hiroyuki Watanabe, NEC Corporation, and Dieter Weiss, Weiss Engineering.

Nick Koop was instrumental in the creation of IPC standards that provide specifications for flex and rigid-flex, IPC-2223, and IPC-6013, along with material specifications and test methods. He also contributes to specifications for rigid PCBs, raw materials, final finishes, test methods, and common terminology. He serves as chair of the D-10 Flexible Circuits Committee and D-12 Flexible Circuits Specification Subcommittee and is a member of the Technical Activities Executive Council and the Chairman’s Committee Council.

Hiroyuki Watanabe serves as a member of the IPC Board of Directors and the IPC Thought Leader Program. A lecturer for the IPC engineering webinar series, he also presents webinars to Japan Regional Task Group members. An active participant in the IPC Asia Task Group meetings, Watanabe served as committee chair for the IPC-1792 standard and introduced the significance of that standard at an anti-counterfeiting symposium. He serves on the A-Team “Cyber Key Holder,” and participates in standards committee activities for 2-12A, 2-19A, 2-10, and 2-19C task groups.

Dieter Weiss provides market research on the European EMS industry under the brand in4ma. With IPC’s support, he built a unique database that provides the most qualified benchmarking data available for the EMS industry in Europe. He works on statistical disciplines that enable him to collect data, formulate statistical models, and predict and validate those models using algorithms that involve market segments, company size, and degree of vertical integration to best calculate revenue growth within the industry.

“The leadership and expertise of Nick, Watanabe-san, and Dieter are indispensable to our industry,” said John W. Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “We show our appreciation for their significant contributions to IPC and the global electronics industry by presenting them with the IPC President’s Award.”