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The Impact of U.S. Defense Production Act on PCB Industry

This interview with David Schild, executive director of PCBAA, covers the recent passage of the Defense Production Act and its impact on the printed circuit board industry. It highlights the importance of funding, domestic production, and government support for the industry's growth. He mentions proposed legislation like the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act and the need for a strategic approach to national security and supply chain resilience.

IPC APEX EXPO 2024: There’s an App for That

With so many things to do at a large trade show and conference like IPC APEX EXPO, you cannot possibly take every class, attend every talk, or see every vendor on your list. But you can plan your days and maximize your time with the IPC APEX EXPO mobile app. The app allows you to easily view the show’s daily agenda, keynote speakers, the conference and professional development schedules, and, of course, flag and make notes on exhibitors.

Checking In With ICAPE Group

ICAPE Group’s field application engineer Erik Pederson drills down on sustainability, supply chain resiliency, and what value engineering really looks like in this exclusive interview. Founded in 1999, European-based ICAPE Group provides 21 million printed circuit boards and over six million technical parts to manufacturers every month. With 30 PCB manufacturing partners globally and 50 partners providing a wide array of technical parts, ICAPE Group has operations in China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, Europe, Mexico, and the United States. The company also focuses on the value proposition for its customers.

Collaboration and Innovation: Insights from SMTA's First UHDI Symposium

Anaya Vardya provides valuable insights on industry collaboration and innovation at the first SMTA UHDI Symposium, delving into the necessity of collaboration in driving innovation and progress within our industry. He shares his experience in helping put this event together, and pride in being a part of bringing the UHDI test board to life.

IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Kurt Palmer on the Formation of Schmoll America

There’s exciting news for Schmoll Maschinen as Kurt Palmer leaves his role as president of Burkle North America to lead the new Schmoll America. In this interview, Kurt discusses his collaboration with Burkle North America, what it means for his new Schmoll teams, and the many machines and processes he’ll have on display at his busy booth at IPC APEX EXPO.

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

We are well into trade show season and what a season it has been so far! SMTA Dallas, IMAPS, and the SMTA UHDI Symposium have filled out the past two weeks as we barrel toward IPC APEX EXPO in just a week’s time. There have been many exciting announcements of equipment and technology that will be showcased at IPC APEX EXPO, including announcements from Ventec, Blackfox, Insulectro, Indium, and more. Click through the news to see what’s in store for the big show.

SMTA Conducts First UHDI Symposium

SMTA’s first UHDI Symposium in Peoria, Arizona, on Tuesday, March 26 featured a standout full-day technical program with 11 separate presentations on what will be required for our companies to move to ultra HDI manufacturing. The event was the brainchild of Tara Dunn, SMTA director of training and education. It included a compelling and collaborative presentation by David Haboud of Altium, John Johnson of American Standards Circuits, and Chrys Shea of Shea Engineering, who had spent the past several weeks creating and building an appropriate SMT test board vehicle for UHDI, something that was passed around for all conference goers to see and touch.

Technica Leads the Way Into Automation and Machine Learning at IPC APEX EXPO 2024

As a significant partner to PCB fabricators since almost the beginning of multilayer boards, Technica USA brings a lot of expertise to the industry. This year’s IPC APEX EXPO show will showcase their biggest booth yet, and a whole lot of information, discussion and demonstration around automation and AI machine learning. In this interview, Jason Perry discusses Technica's plans for the show, and why attendees should stop by.

IPC APEX EXPO 2024: LPKF—Debunking Depaneling Industry Perceptions

In this audio interview, listen to Jake Benz discuss advances in laser depaneling at LPKF. Thanks to advances in laser technology, perceptions about laser depaneling are changing from a low-speed, specialized process to a high volume process suitable for production manufacturing. Benz elaborates on some of the development and engineering that went into creating their latest, most capable depaneling machines.

The IMAPS Show: A Conversation with John Andresakis

On the last day of the IMAPS Device Packaging Conference, Marcy LaRont sat down with industry veteran John Andresakis of Quantic Ohmega, who attended the conference this week. Not his first time at this event, he talked about the conference, advanced technology, and trying to get the word out about the advanced packaging substrates solution Quantic is offering.

The Delicate Balance of Sustainable Business and Going Green

Alex Stepinski is known throughout the industry as an innovator and disruptor committed to environmental sustainability, primarily through his current work around zero liquid discharge (ZLD) for PCB fabrication. But Alex says financial sustainability must come first. Standing firm in his belief that green is the most financially sustainable option for manufacturing and financial success, he explains his position and vision for a greener, more lucrative future for bare board fabricators. “Before I retire in about 10 years,” he says, “I want to make sure that all new fabs, and at least 25% of the old ones are zero liquid discharge in this industry.”

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

This week's news feed contains a bunch of big money items, as well as some interesting industrial and technology puzzles to be solved. There’s even some down-home people news from the Dallas SMTA conference held this week. Don’t overlook the latest issue of PCB007 Magazine, either. The topic is sustainability, which is becoming an ecosystem of its own.

IMAPS Wrap-up: AI, Chiplets, and 3D Cube Architecture

The International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society, IMAPS, held its 20th Device Packaging Expo and Conference this past week in Fountain Hills, Arizona, followed immediately by a ‘Workshop on Advanced Packaging for Medical Electronics’ that continued through the remainder of Thursday. Fortunate to find myself in Texas earlier in the week, I made it for the last day of the IMAPS event and attended two excellent keynote presentations by AMD and Intel, respectively. Here are some highlights.

Catching Up With Jove PCB’s Cameron Burke

Cameron Burke is the North American director of sales at Jove PCB, who despite his young age, has been in the PCB business for many years because his grandfather was a New England PCB sales rep who took Cameron under his wing. It’s a good story.

IPC APEX EXPO 2024: A Preview of the Women in Electronics Reception

This year’s Women in Electronics Reception is scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9. It will feature a panel discussion led by IPC Hall of Famer Karen McConnell, Northrop Grumman, on work-life balance. Panelists include:

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

It was a busy week in PCB design and manufacturing. This has been a pretty “dense” week, and this week’s Top Five features an article on density equations by Happy Holden, and a news item about the SMTA UHDI symposium in Phoenix. We also have news about our latest podcast, and a Chris Mitchell column about economic security here and abroad. And Todd Kolmodin discusses the ins and out of 4-wire Kelvin testing, and he tells us a little about Lord Kelvin himself. 

A Brief History of IPC APEX EXPO

In 1998, the Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association (SMEMA) approached IPC for help. Because of IPC’s success with the Printed Circuits Expo and recognizing the need to establish control of its own event, the discussions between SMEMA and IPC ensued. This led to a merger between the two organizations and provided SMEMA with IPC member benefits.

Dan Beaulieu: It’s All About the Customer Experience

Dan Beaulieu is an industry expert in sales and marketing who understands the unique dynamics of working in both B2B and B2C efforts. Through his work with companies across the electronics manufacturing industry, Dan advocates for businesses to always deliver a top-notch customer experience. Customer experience may not stop world wars—or might it? Read on to get a perspective that only Dan Beaulieu can deliver.

Professional Development at IPC APEX EXPO 2024: From AI to DFM

The Professional Development Course program at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 will offer attendees a diversity of topics taught by new and returning instructors. Electronics industry professionals at any stage of their career will benefit. Thirty-two courses covering all aspects of the electronics manufacturing supply chain will be offered on Sunday, April 7, and Monday, April 8.

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

It may not officially be March Madness until March 17, but it feels pretty mad to me. Let’s just say it out loud: We are T-4 weeks to the IPC APEX EXPO. As I reviewed the big news of the week, I noticed quite a bit from mil/aero, and I recommend that you look for those headlines. But for now, I am more interested in the IPC Technical Conference and the ways that one engineer says you can get the most from your time spent at the show; Pete Starkey’s take on the world and European markets through the view of the EIPC keynote presenters; the reported growth in the global PCB market and the European EMS market; and what we are actually doing to remedy our workforce problems.

Electronics Circuit World Convention: A Brief History

In 1978, a new event called the Printed Circuit World Convention (PCWC) was born. It brought together printed wiring board (PWB) associations from around the world to focus on advancing technology, growing the market, and providing insight into the management of the manufacture of printed boards.

Real Progress Toward Solving U.S. Workforce Problems

IPC achieved a landmark in 2023 by creating an apprenticeship program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. With such a registered framework in place, industry can work through IPC to secure local, state, and federal dollars for workforce development in a way they’ve never been able to do before. Cory Blaylock, director of workforce partnerships at IPC, has been instrumental in developing and moving this program toward adoption, and outlines what companies need to know to get involved.

Reassessing Surface Finish Performance for Next-gen Technology, Part 2

The introduction of 5G/6G has created a growing demand for faster rates of data transfer and operation at higher frequencies, pushing signals to travel toward the outer edges of conductors. As a result, the surface finish applied over the copper circuitry is now gaining more attention.

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

I just finished counting the percentage of times in which artificial intelligence/machine learning/data analytics topics appeared in the I-Connect007 news this week. What do you think the percentage is? AI has moved well beyond a technical term; heck, it has clearly also eclipsed catch-phrase status. It seems a foregone conclusion that AI applications will be inserting themselves into manufacturing just as they are appearing in our handheld devices. Speaking of handhelds, that market seems to be growing as well. This week’s five must-reads include smartphone market data, telecom infrastructure development, a new white paper on the influence of data analytics, a report on the European market, and the launch of a new podcast series on PCB 3.0, a new design methodology.

Ups and Downs in the World Market

The keynote session for the EIPC 2024 Winter Conference addressed several topics, ranging from applications for superconductivity to the fluctuating European financial market and the importance of IC substrates. The conference took place in late January at the IHK Academie in the city of Villingen-Schwenningen, on the eastern edge of the Black Forest in southwest Germany. 
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