Driving Innovation: Mechanical and Optical Processes During Rigid-flex Production
It’s Only Common Sense: Your Biggest Competitor Is Complacency
The Chemical Connection: Onshoring PCB Production—Daunting but Certainly Possible
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
October 25, 2024 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
We’re deep into fall, and the cooler weather is finally starting to hit places like California and Arizona (the states where I divide my time). October is also one of the busiest trade show seasons, and this past week was no exception. We’ve covered PCB West, the Build Better 2024 Summit, and SMTAI, back in Chicago this year. Our staff stays busy covering the shows and publishing quality content in our monthly magazines and daily and weekly newsletters.
Just this month, the Fall issue of IPC Community was released, spotlighting the global activities of IPC and its members. SMT007 Magazine covers the scary situation around counterfeit components. Design007 Magazine is not playing tricks with its hard-hitting discussions about “partial HDI.” (If you are asking yourself what that is, you really need to take a look.) Finally, PCB007 Magazine’s alternate metallization issue offers some real treats, including an interview featured this past week with Carmichael Gugliotti of MacDermid Alpha. In you’re in the U.S., here’s to an early Happy Halloween.
Spotlight on Jayda: Ucamco's Revolutionary PCB Quoting Software
Published October 21
AI, machine learning, and smart manufacturing seem to be running themes across electronics manufacturing. My audio interview with Frank Van den Bossche of Ucamco keeps that conversation going. We don’t talk enough about quoting, yet it’s a critical and strategic component to our businesses. Online quoting of PCBs can become complex, and getting an accurate quote quickly can be challenging. Ucamco’s Jayda software offers sophisticated AI technology and algorithms to analyze PCB design files quickly and in detail to allow for very accurate quoting.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Direct Metallization
Published October 21
Alternate metallization is the topic in the October issue of PCB007 Magazine, and Carmichael Gugliotti of MacDermid Alpha kicks it off with a discussion of the Blackhole® and Shadow® metallization processes using carbon or graphite. Carmichael provides a thorough explanation of this cutting-edge process and shares the abstract from his recently published white paper. If you are working in HDI and/or UHDI PCBs, this article is for you.
Build Better 2024 Summit: Creating a Vision for Future Tech
Published October 22
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Build Better Electronics show, and it was a different type of trade show than what we typically cover. Focused solely on OEM product development and hardware manufacturing, it was nice to hear discussion directly from the OEM’s mouths. Held on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier-turned-museum docked in Alameda, California, the venue was a nice diversion from the norm and contributed to a general air of thinking out of the box. For the pictures if nothing else, I urge you to check out this quick read.
Standard of Excellence: Finding and Hiring the Right Candidates for Engineering Positions
Published October 23
Workforce is such a big topic for every industry these days, especially for manufacturing. Anaya Vardya aptly declares the state of the state for our businesses, “Without a doubt, the biggest challenge we face today is finding, hiring and keeping the right people.” Kicking off what will be a three-part miniseries within his column on this topic, Anaya emphasizes starting out right by citing things like being clear and accurate in your job description, thinking out of the box when looking at potential best-fit candidates, and utilizing modern technology to your greatest advantage, among a list of other important things we must all keep in mind for truly successful hiring.
The IPC Hall of Fame and Its Namesake
Published October 23
Dan Feinberg is penning a new special series spotlighting IPC Hall of Fame members over the years. In this first installment of this special feature series, Dan provides a history lesson on how the Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame Award (HOF) Award came into being, and highlights the man himself. A passionate visionary with a talent for bringing people together, his legacy remains important today. This quick read is worth a few minutes of your time.
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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
10/31/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Last week, the IMPACT conference took place in Taipei, bringing together advanced packaging experts from around the globe to share their knowledge. We’ll be bringing you post-conference coverage over the next few weeks, so look for that in our newsletters, and in the Advanced Electronic Packaging Digest. Other news seemed to have the U.S. at the center of the global discussions. My picks start in Phoenix, where TSMC, NVIDIA, and Amkor are all scrambling to establish new capabilities. There’s nothing like a strong demand signal to cause build-out, and AI chips are doing exactly that.
David Schild Addresses Printed Circuit Board Issues as a Panelist at AUVSI
10/30/2025 | PCBAAOn October 28, Printed Circuit Board Association of America executive director David Schild appeared on a panel at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference on the topic of “First Supply Chains: Strengthening the Industrial Base for Autonomy.” PCBAA sponsored the event and Schild shared his views on issues facing the American microelectronics industry.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
10/24/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007This week, we have quite a bit of international content in this week’s list of must-reads. Nothing happens in a vacuum, including electronics manufacturing and design, and this has been quite an eventful year. How many of us are now tariff experts? I’m certainly not, but that hasn’t stopped me from opining about the situation.
Marcy’s Musings: The Legislative Outlook—Helping or Hurting?
10/20/2025 | Marcy LaRont -- Column: Marcy's MusingsJust before we were ready to publish our October issue of PCB007 Magazine, some breaking news from the White House, unfortunately (but perfectly) parlayed into why the topic of this month’s issue has been so important to cover in great depth.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
10/17/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Much of the news over the last week focused on the push-pull between the U.S. and China and the latter’s most recent announcement about rare earth mineral restrictions. Despite that situation, the IMF raised its growth forecast, and global markets showed cautious optimism. Then, as the U.S. attempted to retreat from all environmentally based policy and ESG gains achieved to date, the global shipping emissions pact continues to gain momentum.