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I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
July 22, 2022 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It’s always interesting how certain groups of news emerge in our most-read content. This week, reader interest seemed focused on two distinct themes: Mexico and awards. In this week’s list, we find the inaugural award recipients from iNEMI’s Project Leadership Awards. We also bring you the award recipients from the SEMI FlexTech conference held last week in San Francisco.
News from Mexico includes a new Atotech facility, and an interview with IPC’s David Hernandez and Lorena Villanueva about IPC’s expanding presence in Mexico. Metcal’s new hot air rework system also got a lot of attention, with an abundance of reader interest.
Seems the northern hemisphere is generally sweltering everywhere this week. Be sure to stay hydrated, find a shady spot, and linger over these must-reads.
SEMI FlexTech Announces 2022 FLEXI Award Winners for Outstanding Achievements in Flexible Electronics
Published July 15
“Recognizing innovations and other outstanding accomplishments in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), SEMI FlexTech, a SEMI Technology Community, presented the 2022 FLEXI Awards at the FLEX Conference and Exhibition, co-located with SEMICON West 2022 Hybrid in San Francisco. The FLEXI Awards spotlight FHE contributions in four categories: R&D Achievement, Product Innovation and Commercialization, Environmental Sustainability Champion, and Industry Leadership.” Missed out on who received the awards for outstanding achievement? Here’s your chance to catch up. These are today’s (and tomorrow’s) leaders, folks!
Atotech Successfully Starts Production and Officially Inaugurates the New Site in Querétaro/Mexico
Published July 18
Geoff Wild, CEO at Atotech, says, “I am pleased to announce the official opening of our new site in Mexico as it marks an important milestone for our company. The Querétaro site will allow Atotech to significantly expand its production capacity and sustainable growth in Mexico as well as the Americas. It also supports the expected rise in customer demand in the coming years. I’d like to thank everyone involved for their support, dedication, and teamwork to get our new site operational.”
Mexico offers some promising options for the microelectronics industry and people are taking notice. What does have Atotech have planned? Click the link to find out.
iNEMI Recognizes Accomplishments of Project Teams
Published July 15
iNEMI has launched the Project Leadership Awards program, and five project teams have been recognized in the first year of this program. “This award recognizes the contributions and accomplishments of iNEMI project teams, specifically the individuals from our member companies who comprise these teams,” says Shekhar Chandrashekhar, iNEMI CEO. “They are doing significant work that directly benefits their own companies but also has a long-term, positive impact on the electronics manufacturing value chain.
These companies, the director says, “accelerate and reduce the risk of adopting new technologies while helping ensure supply chain readiness for the wider industry.” Now that’s something we can all get behind. Click on the headline to see what the recipients are doing.
Metcal Launches New HCT-910 Hot Air Rework System
Published July 19
Metcal launched the new HCT-910 hot air rework system that can generate heat of up to 600 degrees Celsius, which the latest military and aerospace applications demand. New product announcements aren’t as common as we would like, so this particular announcement seemed to garner a lot of reader interest.
IPC Mexico Continues to Grow
Published July 20
Andy Shaughnessy and Barry Matties recently spoke with IPC Vice President of Education David Hernandez and the new IPC Director Mexico, Lorena Villanueva, and about IPC Mexico’s growth, as well as the office’s plans to provide PCB manufacturers the training resources they need to succeed—training in their own language. Lorena has big plans for Mexico and she’s only just getting started.
Suggested Items
Hunting for Clues: Feng Xue Solving Circuit Board 'Crimes' With AOI Standard
05/08/2025 | Linda Stepanich, IPCWhen residents in sleepy English villages needed a top-tier detective to solve a murder, they called on Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, author Agatha Christie’s fictional detective famous for using his “little grey cells” to solve crimes. In the same way, IPC standards development committees, when creating a standard to detect defects in circuit boards using Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), call on IPC A-Team, Hercule.
IPC Strengthens Global Focus with Promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to Chief Global Officer
05/08/2025 | IPCIPC, the global electronics association, announces the promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to chief global officer. This newly created position reflects the association’s forward-looking strategy and industry needs to strengthen the electronics supply chain.
Navigating Global Manufacturing in an Era of Uncertainty
05/07/2025 | Philip Stoten, ScoopThe EMS industry faces unprecedented challenges as global trade tensions rise and tariff announcements create market uncertainty. In an overview of IPC Europe’s podcast, MADE IN EUROPE, industry experts from GPV and Zollner examine how these developments impact our businesses and customers, and what strategies will prevail in this new landscape.
Nick Koop Launches IPC Flex Design Class
05/06/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineNick Koop is director of flex technology for TTM Technologies, and he’s been a staple of IPC’s flex committees for decades. He’s also a longtime flex design instructor, and he’s about to debut a new IPC class, Flex and Rigid-Flex Design for Manufacturability, which will run May 12–21. In this interview, Nick tells us about this new class and what attendees can expect to learn.
The Government Circuit: Trump’s Trade War Disrupts the Electronics Ecosystem
05/06/2025 | Chris Mitchell -- Column: The Government CircuitThere is certainly no shortage of work to be done in the IPC Government Relations department, as the U.S. waged a tariff campaign on practically every industrial country in the world and several countries embarked on high-tech initiatives with a mix of approaches to the crucial foundations of electronics manufacturing. Indeed, the breadth and speed of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign continues to be a serious challenge for our industry.