IPC APEX EXPO Retrospective: The Founders Look Back

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

IPC APEX EXPO 2024 will soon feel like a distant memory, and by all accounts, it was a good show with an impressive display of technical knowledge. During the show, I visited with industry icons and IPC Hall of Fame recipients Dan Feinberg and Gene Weiner, who were among the original visionaries and founders of what became APEX EXPO. These individuals took me on a funny and engaging historic journey and a glimpse into how we arrived today. I witnessed their tremendous pride in being a part of an industry they helped to build—one that is still grounded in vision and optimism.

Marcy LaRont: I am here with two original stakeholders in what became IPC APEX EXPO. How and why did all of this begin?

Dan Feinberg: In the 1990s, the United States was still the most important location for printed circuit board manufacturing. We were the leaders. The most important and largest industry trade show at that time was NEPCON; there was NEPCON West and NEPCON East. The shows became prohibitively expensive, especially when it came to hosting hospitality. The two companies that did the biggest hospitality suites were my good friend Jim Hickman, who was running DuPont's Riston division, and myself, who was running Dynachem. Our costs on those hospitality suites were outrageous, literally hundreds of dollars a minute.

Gene Weiner: You are skipping an important part. In about 1993, if you were a voting member of IPC, you had to be a fabricator. Suppliers could be members, but they couldn’t vote. Suppliers were getting tired of having no voice. There was a lot of discussion.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the May 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.