Nolan’s Notes: Finding Your Sweet Spot
Standard of Excellence: Delivering Excellence—A Daily Goal
Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Tin Whisker Mitigation in Aerospace Applications, Part 3
Trailblazing Substrates in PCB Fabrication
December 6, 2022 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Todd Brassard, vice president and COO at Calumet Electronics, participated not only in the IPC Advanced Packaging Symposium in Washington, D.C., Oct. 11-13, but also met with congressional staffers at the Capitol during his visit. Todd does not back down from a challenge, and the one in front of him is no different. It’s why his company is at the forefront of the conversation, and he plans to keep it that way.
Nolan Johnson: Calumet is showing up repeatedly in the conversation around advanced packaging; you’re established as a company at the forefront. Meredith LaBeau, your chief technology officer, was mentioned and sat on a panel here. You’ve been talking to Senate staff on the Hill as well. That’s a lot of activity. What’s your takeaway?
Todd Brassard: This is the first time IPC has done a microelectronics symposium; today was a new venture for them. There seems to be more than 100 companies here. I am pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the conversations, the depth of the information and the insights that are being shared, and the uniformity of the problem. We’ve seen discussion from the most advanced technologies right down to the fundamentals, and the messaging is consistent: We need to do it in the U.S., and we need to do it fast. There are potentially imminent threats developing, and we must be capable of producing the technologies that keep the country safe and keep the country competitive.
Johnson: It seems like the motivation is strong to ask Calumet how this works and how to get there. You are blazing a trail.
Brassard: If you listen to the dialogue, you hear a variety of “PCB shops can participate or PCB shops can’t participate. They should; they shouldn’t.” We feel that maybe it’s not for every PCB shop, but it’s certainly not out of the bounds for those PCB shops that want to advance. Where substrates are today, that’s where PCBs will be a decade from now. Miniaturization will continue. Things will get smaller. Maybe someday the substrate won’t be the interposer, but the PCB will be the interposer. Because everything is built at the microelectronic scale and the PCB just scales it up to interface with the system. There are many reasons for a PCB shop to explore what they’re interested in.
Johnson: Excellent. Thanks.
Brassard: Thank you, Nolan.
To read more about this symposium, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
TRI Unveils New platform for Diverse Board Sizes Search Submit
07/14/2025 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading test and inspection systems provider for the electronics manufacturing industry, proudly introduces a new size configuration for SPI and AOI Models.
Seeing a Future in Mexico
07/09/2025 | Michelle Te, I-Connect007The Global Electronics Association (formerly known as IPC) has been instrumental in fostering a partnership with Guanajuato, a state north of Mexico City with 12 industrial clusters and close to 150 companies involved in electronics. This past spring, Alejandro Hernández, the undersecretary for investment promotion in Guanajuato, attended IPC APEX EXPO 2025 at the invitation of IPC Mexico Director Lorena Villanueva, where he met with several companies to discuss the opportunities available in Mexico. He is inviting electronics-related companies seeking long-term investment in a centrally located area with access to highways, railways, and ports.
The Global Electronics Association Releases IPC-8911: First-Ever Conductive Yarn Standard for E-Textile Application
07/02/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationThe Global Electronics Association announces the release of IPC-8911, Requirements for Conductive Yarns for E-Textiles Applications. This first-of-its-kind global standard establishes a clear framework for classifying, designating, and qualifying conductive yarns—helping to address longstanding challenges in supply chain communication, product testing, and material selection within the growing e-textiles industry.
IPC-CFX, 2.0: How to Use the QPL Effectively
07/02/2025 | Chris Jorgensen, Global Electronics AssociationIn part one of this series, we discussed the new features in CFX Version 2.0 and their implications for improved inter-machine communication. But what about bringing this new functionality to the shop floor? The IPC-CFX-2591 QPL is a powerful technical resource for manufacturers seeking CFX-enabled equipment. The Qualified Product List (QPL) helps streamline equipment selection by listing models verified for CFX compliance through a robust third-party virtual qualification process.
The Knowledge Base: A Conference for Cleaning and Coating of Mission-critical Electronics
07/08/2025 | Mike Konrad -- Column: The Knowledge BaseIn electronics manufacturing, there’s a dangerous misconception that cleaning and coating are standalone options, that they operate in different lanes, and that one can compensate for the other. Let’s clear that up now. Cleaning and conformal coating are not separate decisions. They are two chapters in the same story—the story of reliability.