-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueWhat's Your Sweet Spot?
Are you in a niche that’s growing or shrinking? Is it time to reassess and refocus? We spotlight companies thriving by redefining or reinforcing their niche. What are their insights?
Moving Forward With Confidence
In this issue, we focus on sales and quoting, workforce training, new IPC leadership in the U.S. and Canada, the effects of tariffs, CFX standards, and much more—all designed to provide perspective as you move through the cloud bank of today's shifting economic market.
Intelligent Test and Inspection
Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge advancements shaping the electronics manufacturing industry? The May 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine is packed with insights, innovations, and expert perspectives that you won’t want to miss.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
October 4, 2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 3 minutes

Welcome to October! It’s officially in fall in the Northern Hemisphere (whether or not it feels like it for many of us). Fall presents us with a lot of tradeshow activity, such as the Anaheim Electronics & Manufacturing Show, which kicked off the month in California. Our intrepid managing editor Andy Shaughnessy has been on the scene and I look forward to hearing more about the show from him.
Next week, we’ll be at PCB West in the Bay Area, followed by SMTAI in Chicago the following week. For me, it feels like a proper launch into standard Q4 craziness highlighted by the end-of-year sales hustle and frenetic finalization of 2025 budgets. October also brings a stark reminder that the holiday season will soon be upon us. So, let the crazy begin.
Battling Counterfeit Electronics in Manufacturing
Published September 30
This week in industry news, and appropriately in advance of Halloween, we published SMT007 Magazine’s October issues, focusing on the scary situation of counterfeit components. Nolan Johnson and his guests document how the problem has evolved into ever more sophisticated models of fakes, accompanied by an often staggering liability cost. In our current culture of rampant “fakes” in everything from media to identities, this highly educational (and entertaining) interview with Paul Jarski is a must-read.
Stringent High-speed Requirements Pose Technology Challenges
Published October 3
I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight iNEMI’s PCB Technology Roadmap, where Tarja Rapala and Joe Beers take us through what is in store for printed circuit board and packaging technology these next few years, some of which we have a response to—and some we don’t. They state, “Technology evolution will be driven by requirements to be: faster, smaller, hotter, greener, (and) cheaper.” If you haven’t already, this is a must-read.
Dana on Data: Resurrecting IPC Class 1
Published October 3
Dana Korf is always an interesting and provocative read. In this most recent column, he asks, “Are we too conservative?” in relation to our PCB build standards, citing his 22-year-old iPod as an example of electronic devices living long past their anticipated “expire by” date. He asks us to ponder things like, “Can lower grade materials be used?” and “Should we reduce standard copper thicknesses?” Whether you agree, his questions are valuable and important as we move forward with a greater need to look at many things differently.
It’s Only Common Sense: Creating a Company Culture Rooted in Well-being
Published September 30
In Dan Beaulieu’s latest column, he focuses on business culture and the well-being of our employees. In characteristic form, Dan introduces his topic: “We need to do more if we want to succeed,” and follows up with, “This is no longer your father’s workforce.” Using Richard Safeer’s 2023 book, A Cure for the Common Company: A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce, he summarizes the primary tenets to support a culture rooted in the positive well-being of your employees.
Mycronic’s Jet Set Technology
Published October 2
Nolan Johnson talked about higher technology with Mycronic’s Wolfgang Heinecke as they discussed jet printing technology and how it solves some of the problems experienced with traditional stencil printing. As printing challenges increase, Wolfgang says, jet printing technology allows for less board handling and better control of solder application. Though solder stencils are not yet a thing of the past, jet printing technology has a lot to offer when dealing with smaller, denser PCBAs.
Suggested Items
Microchip Expands Space-Qualified FPGA Portfolio with New RT PolarFire® Device Qualifications and SoC Availability
07/10/2025 | MicrochipContinuing to support the evolving needs of space system developers, Microchip Technology has announced two new milestones for its Radiation-Tolerant (RT) PolarFire® technology: MIL-STD-883 Class B and QML Class Q qualification of the RT PolarFire RTPF500ZT FPGA and availability of engineering samples for the RT PolarFire System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGA.
Infineon Advances on 300-millimeter GaN Manufacturing Roadmap as Leading Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM)
07/10/2025 | InfineonAs the demand for gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors continues to grow, Infineon Technologies AG is poised to capitalize on this trend and solidify its position as a leading Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) in the GaN market.
Bell to Build X-Plane for Phase 2 of DARPA Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane Program
07/09/2025 | Bell Textron Inc.Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has been down-selected for Phase 2 of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane program with the objective to complete design, construction, ground testing and certification of an X-plane demonstrator.
2025 ASEAN IT Spending Growth Slows to 5.9% as AI-Powered IT Expansion Encounters Post-Boom Normalization
06/26/2025 | IDCAccording to the IDC Worldwide Black Book: Live Edition, IT spending across ASEAN is projected to grow by 5.9% in 2025 — down from a robust 15.0% in 2024.
DownStream Acquisition Fits Siemens’ ‘Left-Shift’ Model
06/26/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007I recently spoke to DownStream Technologies founder Joe Clark about the company’s acquisition by Siemens. We were later joined by A.J. Incorvaia, Siemens’ senior VP of electronic board systems. Joe discussed how he, Rick Almeida, and Ken Tepper launched the company in the months after 9/11 and how the acquisition came about. A.J. provides some background on the acquisition and explains why the companies’ tools are complementary.