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

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

I spent my week at SEMICON West in San Francisco, returning last night. It was a full week that had me drawing parallels between what is happening in the semiconductor sector and in our segment of the supply chain. I had my mind blown listening to presentations and panels on things like quantum computing. The future is indeed bright. Tech-heavy, but very bright. 

But in all seriousness, if there was one phrase from the conference that rings most true in my mind, it is “unprecedented opportunities and unprecedented challenges.” Stay tuned for SEMICON coverage over the next week and additional coverage in our August magazines. 

And as a Phoenix resident, I have to add, “Stay cool out there!” 

SEMICON WEST 2024 Kicks Off in San Francisco
Published July 11

A nod to my show coverage mentor Pete Starkey, this Day 1 recap of SEMICON 2024 is meant to take the reader through my first day at SEMICON West with some level of completion. From kicking off with SEMI America’s Joe Stockunas and the CEO Summit keynotes, moving onto SEMI CEO Anjit Manocha’s stirring industry overview themed “Unprecedented,” to a CHIPS for America update from Dr. Laura Locascio of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to compelling discussions on AI, e-mobility and workforce, I hope you will enjoy this glimpse into this show. 

Building Resilient Supply Chains
Published July 8

Coming down from the tradeshow this past week, Mark Goodwin’s recent piece on supply chains is particularly apropos. Mark reminds us of the havoc the COVID-19 pandemic wrought on global supply chains and points out that concerted efforts toward things like onshoring and nearshoring are symptoms of a lingering feeling of insecurity around them. The answer? Creating resilient supply chains that are agile, secure, with the highest integrity remains of the utmost importance.

Pushing the Limits of PCB Impedance Control
Published July 9

Alex Knowles of RoBAT pushes the limits of impedance control in his recent article, starting off with the truth, “While we’ve long known the importance of impedance control in PCB design, with the increase in frequencies, the decrease in SNR (NRZ to PAM4), and the continual reduction in device size, the impact of signal integrity on poor impedance control of transmission lines is even more significant.” In case you missed it the first time around, Alex’s article from the June issue of PCB007 is a worthy read. 

Remembering George Dudnikov
Published July 10

As many of us in this industry head into the last chapters of our careers, it is important to remember our friends and colleagues in this industry. We lost another friend last week in George Dudnikov, who I knew from my days at Hadco. Sharing a few thoughtful tributes made by other friends in the industry, we say goodbye and thank you to George, and send the very best to his family and friends. 

Book Excerpt: The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to... Low-Temperature Soldering, Vol. 2, Chapter 2
Published July 10

Since the first volume of The Printed Circuit Assembler’s Guide to...™ Low-temperature Soldering was published over five years ago, considerable changes have occurred in the low-temperature soldering landscape. In Chapter 2 of this updated volume, Morgana Ribas, Ph.D., et al., MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions looks at the evolution from first-to fourth-generation LTS. Take a peek and download your own free copy.