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Memorial Day: A Time for Remembrance

Today is the Memorial Day federal holiday in the United States. Observed on the last Monday in May, the day is set aside to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The holiday’s roots trace back to remembrance of the soldiers on both sides of the U.S. Civil War.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

It’s been a busy week here at I-Connect007, an even busier week for PCB designers and manufacturers. This week, we published a variety of articles and news items. In this week’s wrap-up, we have an interview with Rex Rozario that is basically a historical look at the birth of commercial PCB manufacturing, and his involvement with the Rolling Stones in their early days. Then we bring you a look at trends in freight costs, which are—fortunately—heading southward right now.

Knowledge: At the Heart of Great Customer Service

David Thomas, master IPC trainer at EPTAC, says that the more you understand the work and technology that go into your processes and products, the better you can serve your customers. That includes knowing the basics.

Selecting Flex Materials: Do Your Homework

While the layout of the circuit gives us much of the electrical characteristics of the design, your choice of materials can affect the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the circuit. Material choices affect not only the design of the circuit for its environment, but also the manufacturing and assembly processes. While the layout of the circuit gives us much of the electrical characteristics of the design, your choice of materials can affect the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the circuit.

Stop Over-specifying Your Materials

Columnist Kelly Dack has had a pretty wide range of experiences. As a PCB designer, he has sat behind the desk at an NPI company, an OEM, a fabricator, and now an EMS provider. We asked him to share a few thoughts on the materials selection process and how it could be improved.

Mark Laing Talks ‘Sustainability in Manufacturing’

Now available on Spotify, Episode 3 of I-Connect007’s new podcast, On the Line with… features an interview with Mark Laing, business development manager for digital industries software at Siemens. Laing discusses the role of electronics in achieving sustainability. Not only does the electronics industry have a primary role to play here, but it also contributes by creating products which enable other industries to monitor and optimize their sustainability practices.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week, our must-reads include reporting on the new PCB support legislation, now submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives; financial results from two Tier 1 manufacturers, which readers read quite thoroughly; ESG in Asia Pacific; new features from Altium; global sourcing; and a “How I got here” interview with an up and coming industry expert.

NCAB Advocates for Advanced Technologies

At the SMTA Atlanta Expo and Tech Forum, I spoke with NCAB Group Field Application Engineer Ramon Roche, who gave a presentation at the show titled, “Technical Trends in the Global PCB Industry.” Ramon and I discussed his presentation, the emerging technologies that have NCAB’s focus over the next few years, and why semi-additive processes may be the key to succeeding with ultra HDI technology.

Guru & Geezer: A Celebration of the Life of Martin Cotton

This last weekend, industry guru and dear friend to many, Martin Cotton passed away. He was one of the first people I worked with in the electronics industry when I joined Toptec Design to learn to layout PCBs. He was a bit of a rock star to many PCB designers, myself included. He was known to be among the best in his field, if not the best, and went on to be one of the most influential and innovative people in the industry over a long and distinguished career. He will be hugely missed by his family and by his numerous friends in and out of the electronics industry.

Sustainability Podcast: Episode 2 'Sustainability Through Cloud Applications' Now Available

Now available on Spotify, Episode 2 of I-Connect007’s new podcast, On the Line with… features an interview with Susan Kayesar of Siemens. Kayesar addresses cloud applications and sustainability, as well as some key, new best practices that emerge from using a cloud-based platform for business operations software systems.

Ryan’s Hope: From Cop to CAD

I recently ran into Ryan Miller of NCAB Group at SMTA Atlanta. Ryan is a field application engineer and a columnist for Design007 Magazine who joined NCAB last year. In this interview, Ryan discusses his path from Air Force Security Forces to design engineer, and he outlines what he plans to accomplish at NCAB.

May 17 Webinar: The Economic Impact of Altium 365

I recently spoke with Fabian Winkler, product marketing manager for Altium 365. He and guest speaker Casey Sirotnak of Forrester are co-hosting a free webinar on May 17 titled “Unveil the Total Economic Impact of Altium 365.” The webinar will include data from a Forrester case study that examined the economic benefits of using the Altium 365 environment, such as the number of hours saved per designer per year. I asked Fabian to discuss the focus of the webinar, who should attend, and some of the benefits of this environment that allows ECAD and MCAD engineers to collaborate seamlessly.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

This week’s must-reads contains a veritable potpourri of information from around the industry. We have a Pete Starkey review of the latest EIPC webinar on ultra HDI and thin film resistors, an interview with the founder of an electronics trade school in Texas, and an update from PCBAA about their lobbying efforts in Washington. We also have news about our brand-new podcast, or “pod,” as the kids say, and a column about the wisdom of Don Draper that just might serve technologists and managers well. Read on, folks!

NextFlex Calls for 3D Imaging Technology Proposals

Nolan Johnson talks with Scott Miller about a special call for proposals which NextFlex currently has open to explore methods to dewarp 3D scans of physical boards to enable multi-image scans to be stitched together. There is the possibility of funding for viable proposals. Deadline is May 15, 2023.

EIPC Review: Ultra-high-density Interconnects, Thin-film Resistor Materials

It’s been a little while since I first had the opportunity to review an EIPC Technical Snapshot webinar. This excellent series began in October 2020 when our industry was besieged by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has continued successfully as restrictions have lifted and provides an effective channel for the efficient sharing of relevant knowledge that complements the traditional live conferences. The 20th in the series, in December 2022, focused on environmental issues impacting the electronics industry. In early February, EIPC held its live Winter Conference in Lyon and now, by popular demand, the 21st Technical Snapshot fills a slot before the Summer Conference scheduled for mid-June in Munich.

I-Connect007 Launches 'On the Line with...' Podcast with Series on Sustainability

Expanding its avenues of content delivery, I-Connect007 is excited to announce the launch of our latest educational product, On the Line with.., available on Spotify, Apple and all the major podcast platforms. In this podcast, we speak with industry experts to get the latest insights and perspectives on the most relevant topics in the electronics industry today.

May 2023 Issue of Design007 Magazine Available Now

As you’ll see in this month’s issue of Design007 Magazine, slash sheets such as IPC-4101/126 were never meant to be used by designers when comparing PCB laminates. These documents were created to facilitate communication between purchasing and customer service departments. You could say that slash sheets are made for administrative purposes, not engineering.

DownStream Discusses Rigid-flex and DFM Trends

I recently sat down with Joe Clark, founder, and Ray Fugitt, technical marketing manager, of DownStream Technologies to discuss trends in tool design and manufacturing, including rigid-flex design and refreshed graphical user interfaces (GUI).

Electronic System Design Industry Logs $3.9B in Revenue in Q4 2022

Electronic System Design (ESD) industry revenue increased 11.3% from $3,468.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $3,858.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community, announced in its latest Electronic Design Market Data (EDMD) report.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

In this week’s must-reads, we have coverage of NAMM 2023 and SMTA Atlanta, plus some tips for traditional PCB designers who are entering the RF design space, where designers have to master ideas like antenna tuning. We also have some news about March PCB sales, as well as a great conversation with Ventec’s Frank Lorentz, who explains how to set up an onboarding process that converts new hires into happy, long-term employees.

RF Antenna Design and Layout Tips for Your PCB

These days, it’s hard to think of a consumer product that doesn’t contain an antenna. Even my garage door opener can connect to my phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Each time a new RF antenna gets added to a PCB layout, it can create a new headache for RF designers, especially as analog design skills start to become critical again. With so many RF capabilities being added to new PCBs, how can designers ensure the signals in their system are not corrupted and signal integrity is preserved?

Simplifying Simulation and Analysis

Simulation has always been a critical step in the design process, and it’s only become more critical as design methodologies have become more complex. Gone are the days when simulation meant a simple logic simulation of your circuit, or a basic SPICE run to check signal waveforms. The simulation complexities that are required often fall “above the paygrade” of all but the most experienced members of a hardware design team. So how do you keep simulation from becoming a design bottleneck?

RF and Wireless Design Means Fighting Interference, Loss

Keysight EDA has been in the RF and microwave design industry for decades. We asked How-Siang Yap, product manager for Keysight EDA’s RF and microwave software tools, to share his thoughts on RF design tips and techniques, and how designing boards at RF speeds compares with designing PCBs at slower speeds. As he explains, much of RF design involves battling interference and loss.

NAMM 2023: It’s All About That Bass

The use of AI in the music industry seems only natural. For example, if you’re trying to create a specific sound, rhythm, mix of instruments, or volume level, you’d typically be in front of a series of mixers and controls, making tweaks and adjustments. If you’re trying to create a piece of music that is similar to one you already have, AI can do that for you. Just give it some basic instructions and let it go to work.

RF and Wireless PCB Design

RF is becoming almost ubiquitous; how many devices in your home contain at least one antenna? Automotive, aerospace, defense, and IoT segments are all pushing the envelope for wireless communication. But designing an RF PCB is a lot different than designing typical boards.

RF PCB Design: The Devil’s in the Details

Altium’s John Watson is a longtime designer and design instructor, not to mention a Design007 columnist. He’s been dealing with RF issues for years; his previous employer, Legrand, is one of the pioneers in smart lighting and data center solutions. John discusses the differences between designing RF and “typical” PCBs, how to avoid the missteps and miscues that can bedevil new RF designers, and why the tiniest details can make or break an RF design.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

How was your week? We’ve been pretty busy ourselves, bringing you coverage of the SMTA Expo & Tech Forum in Boise, Idaho. Tabletops shows like this offer a great value during the spring, in between the bigger shows like IPC APEX EXPO and SMTA International. In fact, SMTA schedules approximately 30 regional shows around the United States and abroad.

DFM Analysis for Flex and Rigid-flex Design, Part 1

Flex and rigid-flex PCB constructions are not new concepts. It has become commonplace as engineers look for alternative circuit packaging for ever-shrinking electronic products. A flat, one-sheet schematic for a straight ribbon cable is analogous to its physical flat substrate. A flat, multi-sheet schematic that details circuitry for a rigid-flex design bears little visual resemblance to its three-dimensional, variable material rigid-flex assembly. However, in both schematic examples, schematic-based analysis tools are applied equally. This same truth also applies to common FR-4-based two-layer or multilayer PCBs.

Design for Cost in Real-time

When do you first start thinking about the selling price of your new product? It’s impossible to avoid the question of what the price will be. The worst answer is: “I don’t know, let’s see after the first samples.” Let’s say the product’s selling price is $49; then the manufacturing cost will be $20. During each design change, the manufacturing cost should be recalculated to make sure the product is still competitive. This means you should involve people from both the development and cost calculation teams. This circle will be repeated until the final design is released, and the final calculation is done.

DFM 101: Final Finish Design Guidelines

One of the biggest challenges facing PCB designers is not understanding the cost drivers in the PCB manufacturing process. There are many design considerations that need to be factored into any decision of which final finish to select for a particular application. We will cover these in this final installment of final finish DFM. Understanding the cost drivers in PCB fabrication and early engagement between the designer and the fabricator are crucial elements that lead to cost-effective design success.

Better Engineering Through Artificial Intelligence

At DesignCon 2023, I spoke with Cadence Design Systems’ Brad Griffin about artificial intelligence and machine learning as engineering aids for signal and power integrity optimization. Brad makes the case that artificial intelligence methods, when added to optimizing tools in the design flow, can help engineers to evaluate a larger number of potential solutions, and zero in on more highly optimized solutions than they may have found on their own.

IPC Design Competition Wrap-up

The IPC Design Competition took place during IPC APEX EXPO 2023, with five finalists competing—a far cry from the original 49 entries last fall. After the competition was over, we spoke with Kris Moyer, the IPC instructor who created the design used in the competition and served as a design advisor and judge for the event. We asked Kris to give us a quick wrap-up of the competition, as well as his thoughts on this year’s design, which none of the finalists completed.

Embedding Know-how Into Automation

Michael Ford, senior director of emerging industry strategy for Aegis Software, speaks with Barry Matties on the topic of tribal knowledge, its pros and cons, and its role in our industry. While it may be useful if your team never changes, the inevitability of a person’s career progression means they take their knowledge with them. Michael brings his nuanced perspective to the conversation.

Savita Ganjigatti: The Spark of Innovation

Savita Ganjigatti, vice president of engineering at Sienna ECAD Technologies, shares how her well-timed suggestion sparked the worldwide phenomenon that is the IPC PCB Design Competition, as well as how well-informed leaders are uniquely positioned to shape our industry’s future. Savita’s recipe for success? Work hard, read widely, and reframe problems as exciting possibilities for innovation.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Texans like to say that everything is bigger in Texas. That certainly seems to be the case for the SMTA Dallas Expo & Tech Forum. Publisher Barry Matties and I attended SMTA Dallas on Tuesday, and the tabletop show has now grown to 100 exhibitors, up from 92 vendors last year. It’s become more than a local or regional show, with some exhibitors flying in from Silicon Valley and the East Coast.

Material Matters and Tribal Knowledge

At a recent IPC Laminate/Prepreg Materials Subcommittee meeting, I made two observations: It was very well-chaired and managed, and despite a full attendance of very knowledgeable materials experts, none could remember the rationale for several of the specification sheet descriptions—slash sheets—that comprise IPC-4101E, “Specification for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards.”

Tips and Tricks in Today’s Designs

Filbert Arzola of Raytheon Intelligence & Space taught a Professional Development course at IPC APEX EXPO on general design practices. During a break, Filbert spoke with Kelly Dack about some of today’s design strategies and how designers are reacting to them. What matters most?

True Experts Can Cite Their Sources

We’ve heard a lot lately about the need to identify tribal knowledge within our organizations. How do you know whether an “expert” is sharing documented knowledge or it’s just something they learned at their first job during the Carter administration? We asked IPC design instructor Kris Moyer to explain his process for separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, in design knowledge. As he points out, a true expert will not be afraid to cite the sources and data sets behind their arguments.

Optimizing Communication Between Fabricators and Designers

During DesignCon, I spoke with James Hofer from Accurate Circuit Engineering about some of his customers' biggest challenges. We discussed various ways to increase the level—and quality—of communication between designers and fabricators. James also offered some interesting observations about bridging the gap between designer and fabricator. How often do you communicate with your fabricator?

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

The captive shop used to be the rule, not the exception. Until outsourcing caught on, that is. North American captive shops went the way of the dodo bird, and the PCB market hasn’t been the same since. Even R&D went out the window, or offshore, if you want to be technical about it. But Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) is something of a wild card. The company recently opened a new captive facility in Idaho, and the industry is paying close attention.

Sarah Czaplewski-Campbell: Ready to Take Flight

Sarah Czaplewski-Campbell, a materials/product development engineer at IBM, shares her experiences as a young professional who has benefited from the guidance of seasoned mentors alongside her own unflagging drive to expand her industry knowledge. She offers poignant advice for prospective professionals, urging them to assertively seek out advice and experiences that will help them progress in their careers.

Runner-up Discusses IPC Design Competition

PCB designer Adam Thorvaldson of Innovex was a finalist in this year’s IPC Design Competition at IPC APEX EXPO. He came in second place in this final heat, which is quite a feat, considering that the contest started last fall with 49 contestants from around the globe. We asked Adam to share his thoughts on the competition, what it means to be one of the winners, and any ideas about improving the contest for 2024 in Anaheim.

ICT Seminar 2023 Review: Energy, Thermals, and Assistive Technology

Widely believed to be the traditional Centre of England, Meriden was a popular venue for a gathering of the UK printed circuit community this month. They braved the forecast of heavy snow for the Institute of Circuit Technology’s annual general meeting to learn about current developments and challenges in a thought-provoking technical seminar and to network with industry peers and contemporaries. Thankfully, the forecasted heavy snowfall did not reach Meriden until after the event; we only had a few flurries, although the weather caused considerable disruption elsewhere in the country.

IPC APEX EXPO 2023 Special Session: Advanced Packaging

The IPC APEX EXPO Special Session on Advanced Packaging this year attracted enormous interest, with Conference Room 2 at capacity long before the session began. Even with lots of extra seats squeezed around the edges, the session was standing room only for the just-in-time arrivals. IPC Chief Technology Officer Matt Kelly opened proceedings by introducing a distinguished panel of experts: Jan Vardaman, president and founder of TechSearch International; Sam Salama, CEO of Hyperion Technology; Matt Neely, director of process engineering at TTM Technologies; and Jim Fuller, VP of engineering technology at Sanmina.

With Tribal Knowledge, Trust but Verify

Tamara Jovanovic is a design engineer with Happiest Baby, a manufacturer of smart baby beds that alert parents if the infant needs attention and soothes the baby back to sleep. She also recently completed her master’s degree in electrical engineering by studying around her work schedule. Since Tamara has been absorbing new information from the halls of academia and her workplace, we asked for her thoughts on differentiating between tribal knowledge and documented fact. Is tribal knowledge a friend, foe, or a little of both?

Thomas Marktscheffel: Collaboratively Revitalizing the Industry

Thomas Marktscheffel, director of product management software solutions at ASMPT GmbH & Co. KG, reflects on the evolution of industry-wide standards and how his multidisciplinary approach to the development of CFX has been crucial to its success. With the advent of digitalization, cultivating a collaborative spirit is now more than ever an essential component of standards development. Patty Goldman recently spoke with Thomas about what this award mean to him

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

I try to not talk about the weather in this space, but this week I feel compelled. I’m based in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re relatively used to it being wet and rainy. But just south of us in California, the state has gone from what I read has been called the driest period in the West in the past 1,200 years to a right proper drenching. This week’s news cycle felt like one of those California-style “atmospheric rivers.” There was so much worthy reporting worthy that I was a bit overwhelmed in making my final selections. Suffice it to say that, this week, there is quite a bit of news that’s worth your time to read.

Shrinking Silicon, Growing Signal Integrity Challenges

What happens when die sizes shrink? As IPC design instructor Kris Moyer explains, quite a bit. Shrinking silicon can mean rising signal speed and rise times, and traditional PCB designers may find themselves dealing with problems formerly only seen by RF engineers. We asked Kris to discuss the pros and cons of silicon shrinkage and some of the techniques and trade-offs that PCB designers and design engineers need to understand as they find themselves entering the RF arena.

DFM 101: Final Finishes—OSP

One of the biggest challenges facing PCB designers is not understanding the cost drivers in the PCB manufacturing process. The next final finishes to discuss in this series is OSP. As with all surface finishes there are pros and cons with the decision of which to use. It is a combination of application, cost, and the properties of the finish. OSP is RoHS-compliant as there is zero lead content in the finish.

Are You Offering Options in Your Bill of Materials?

In this interview, Saline Lectronics (an Emerald EMS company) President Jason Sciberras talks about PCB designers offering packaging options in the bill of materials. As Jason explains, mil/aero manufacturers like Saline can’t make many changes to a design without getting recertified, so including approved packaging options in the BOM from the start is a great way to go. Are you offering options in your BOM?

Meet Henry Crandall: New IPC Student Board Member

Barry Matties sits down with Henry Crandall, the newly minted Student Board Member on the IPC Board of Directors, to talk about how Henry became the first PhD student in electrical engineering in his family, as well as how his role on the IPC Board will allow him to represent the voices of students and young professionals interested in shaping the future of both IPC and the industry.

A Week-long Industry Extravaganza

We were back in San Diego, maybe for a “long vacation,” as IPC APEX EXPO is in Anaheim next year. Before we get to Anaheim, though, let’s talk about the show: It was a great week. I spent Sunday and Monday visiting some excellent Professional Development courses. As you know, this is a fast-changing industry, and we have to keep learning to stay ahead. On Monday, I attended the Microvia Weak Interface/Reliability subcommittee, and on Tuesday, the Ultra-HDI Technology Committee.

I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

It’s been a busy week in our industry. We have a duke’s mixture of news and columns in this week’s Editor’s Choice, starting off with some good news for the American electronics manufacturing industry. In his State of the Union speech, President Biden signaled his support for the CHIPS Act and the U.S. electronics industry, and he promised that Washington would put its money where its mouth is this time. Is it going to happen? Don’t bet the rent money.

Shrinking Silicon, EMI, and SI

Dr. Todd Hubing is a longtime EMC instructor, president of LearnEMC, and a professor emeritus of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at Clemson University. I asked Todd to discuss the challenges that shrinking silicon can present for traditional PCB designers, as well as the opportunities and benefits of smaller chip features.

Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2023: IPC Offers Free Training Courses

Guest editor Hannah Nelson speaks with IPC’s David Hernandez about new benefits IPC members can expect in its training programs. These complimentary courses will help workforce development and companies to reduce training costs and standardize training across their organizations.

A First Look at IPC-CFX Box for Legacy Equipment

Although the prevalence of IPC-CFX in the electronics manufacturing industry has increased since the standard’s launch in spring 2019, the committee responsible for the standard has recognized legacy equipment in the field as a significant barrier to widespread industry adoption. To address this, an A-Team under the IPC-CFX Standard Task Group spent the past year working on a project that provides simple, readily available IPC-CFX hardware with supporting SDK that can act as an IPC-CFX endpoint for existing legacy equipment.

Alpha Takes the Greenfield Route

Alpha Circuit is a PCB fabricator located in Elmhurst, Illinois. Given that the launch of a new PCB fab is a rare occasion these days, we caught up with the senior team—Prashant Patel, president and CEO; Steve Smith, general manager; Steve Ryan, sales and direct support—guiding the buildout of Alpha Circuit’s brand new 44,000 square foot facility. They discuss what goes into equipment selection and line design, and the timing couldn’t have been better. At press time, the new facility was on schedule for test production by the end of January 2023.

A Post-show Marketing Plan

After you’ve exhibited at a trade show, then the work really begins. Where do you begin? How do you best capitalize on the leads and other contacts you’ve made? We asked Kiki Shimomae, sales and marketing coordinator for Taiyo, to discuss her pre- and post-show plans for a show like IPC APEX EXPO, and the importance of staying visible on social media.

EIPC Winter Conference 2023, Day 2 Review

Day 2 of the EIPC Winter Conference at the Groupama Stadium in the Décines-Charpieu region of the Metropolis of Lyon in eastern France included a privileged visit to the Bugey Nuclear Power Plant for those who were registered and passed their security clearance. Such was the interest that the party was split into morning and afternoon groups. EIPC board member Martyn Gaudion, CEO of Polar Instruments, made a fine job of moderating Session 6 twice over.

Another Successful STEM Outreach

The IPC Education Foundation (IPCEF) hosted its annual STEM Outreach Event over the course of two days at IPC APEX EXPO 2023 in San Diego, accommodating more than 550 students on Wednesday, Jan. 25 and Thursday, Jan. 26. This was IPCEF’s largest event to date. The event created awareness of the many careers available in the electronics manufacturing industry and helped future talent engage and connect with industry professionals.
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