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PCB Carolina’s Formula: Industry Experts and Catered Food
November 18, 2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
PCB Carolina organizers at the Better Boards design bureau seem to have found the perfect formula: Industry experts plus catered food equals a constantly expanding show. This one-day tabletop show has been growing for two decades, and that trendline continued with this year’s event on November 13.
Located in NC State’s McKimmon Conference and Training Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, PCB Carolina has gone from a small local show to a regional event that draws exhibitors and attendees from around the U.S.
The day started with breakfast and a keynote speech by Saugat Sen of Cadence Design Systems. The 16 technical sessions covered everything from PCB design and DFM techniques to assembly and product safety. The show squeezed quite a bit into a one-day event.
Once again, the show floor was sold out, with exhibitors setting up booths in the lobby and in several classrooms. Exhibitors represented the entire PCB supply chain, including EDA companies, fabricators, CEMs, component and laminate suppliers, distributors, and service providers.
Show manager Randy Faucette said the number of attendees was up 8% over last year. In addition to PCB designers and electrical engineers, I spoke with attendees from the semiconductor, packaging, fab, and assembly segments. Most attendees were from the RTP areas, but some drove five hours or more to the show.
Some repeat attendees joked that the catered food was enough to draw PCB technologists back year after year. After enjoying a lunch of barbecued brisket and a Mexican dinner with local craft beers, it’s hard to disagree. No one likes boxed lunches.
Over the years, I’ve met technologists who only attend PCB Carolina, because their companies don’t have the budget to send them to the bigger shows in our industry. Regional shows provide a real service, and PCB Carolina’s managers make sure that you won’t have to eat “conference chicken” while staying up to date with changes in technology.
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Brent Fischthal - Koh YoungSuggested Items
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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/29/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week, we bring you Global Electronics Association’s Chris Mitchell’s government relations column on—you guessed it—trade deals. TTM is balancing its facilities between East and West. The Global Electronics Association released July numbers for North American PCB shipments, and the news is good. Meanwhile, the corresponding report for EMS might seem like bad news, but that’s misleading. Be sure to look deeper for the rest of the story. Finally, for a bit space-science palate cleansing, I’m sharing news of the latest launch of NASA’s X-37B.