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Marcy’s Musings: Looking Forward—APEX EXPO 2026 (and AI Design Tools Too)

The Global Electronics Association’s APEX EXPO, March 14–20, in Anaheim, California, is the largest electronics manufacturing show and technical conference in the United States, with technical and professional development classes and standards development meetings starting on the weekend, and the show and expo floor officially opening on Tuesday, March 17.

This month, I-Connect007 Magazine takes you inside the show, from exhibitors and special events on the show floor to new insights from the technical conference, details on apprenticeships, keynotes, and advancements in critical industry standards. The show also has an international flavor, so we’ve included links to articles from Mexico, East Asia, and India about how they will be represented at APEX EXPO. It is a busy show that has a lot to offer attendees, and this issue will help ensure your time and attention are well spent.

If you missed Nolan’s Notes in SMT007 Magazine this month, I encourage you to read it. He outlines five key changes this year, including a new focus on advanced electronic packaging in the Technical Conference. Nolan spoke with Matt Kelly, Devan Iyer, Stanton Rak, and Udo Welzel to learn what will be covered and why this is exactly the right time for this exciting forum. Also in this issue, Peter Tranitz explains the Design Village, Chris Jorgenson talks about the new Technology Pavilion, and Carlos Plaza recounts the creation and growth of the Learning Lounge.

From our columnists, John Watson writes a tale of an overworked engineer visited by the “ghosts” of APEX EXPO past, present, and future. Don Ball recounts some memorable stories from his time at APEX EXPO, Schmoll’s Kurt Palmer discusses the challenges presented by manufacturing XXL board formats, and Steve Williams continues his narrative of his 50 years in the industry.

GreenSource Engineering introduces a new series by addressing the challenge companies face in marketing cutting-edge technology. Flexible Circuit Technology provides an educational overview of the use of T-type thermocouple in foil heater technology.

For PCB designers, we focused on AI in design tools, which turns out to be much more than the dreaded auto-router. Zuken and AllSpice.io highlight which of their specific tools offer what in AI, and Siemens provides a thoughtful discussion of the legitimate reasons PCB designers have been skeptical of AI tools in the past and how these concerns must be adequately addressed in all AI tool solutions to be of any real value. We will continue this discussion in March with EDA tool disruptor, Quilter.

Columnist Barry Olney demystifies common-mode radiation, and Matt Stevenson continues his tutorial on the PCB manufacturing process, moving onto the strip-etch-strip (SES) process.

Finally, I’m delighted to highlight the next article in Stan Rak’s popular series, “Road to Reliability,” a deep dive into the aspects of building for EV.

It’s another big issue of I-Connect007 Magazine, so grab your coffee and look inside. Hope to see many of you in Anaheim next month.

This column originally appeared in the February 2026 issue of I-Connect007 Magazine.