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Real Time with... THECA 2026: Thailand's Electronics Industry Growth and Challenges

Expressing pride in this year's THECA event and some of the challenges encountered in putting together the important event, Phutana Daoruang, general manager of THPCA, discusses the rapid growth of Thailand's PCB, EMS, and chip packaging industries and the critical workforce shortage. He also outlines strategic initiatives to address these challenges and foster industry development.

Follow the Story: AI Reshapes the Electronics Supply Chain

The AI infrastructure boom is creating enormous opportunities for electronics manufacturers, but its effects are spreading well beyond companies building AI servers and data centers. High performance laminates, glass fabric, copper, memory, MLCCs, foundry capacity, and other critical resources are being pulled toward fast-growing AI applications, tightening supplies and pushing up costs elsewhere in the electronics industry. I-Connect007 has been following these developments from several directions. What initially looked like separate stories about laminate availability, memory prices, component demand, PCB capacity, and data-center growth are demonstrating how AI is changing how the electronics supply chain allocates materials, capacity, and investment.

Built Here, and Ready for What’s Next

The rise of drones is no longer on the horizon. Unmanned systems have rapidly changed the modern battlefield, demonstrating the value of platforms that can sense, communicate, process information, and act at unprecedented speed. But as development and production of these systems accelerate, another mission-critical consideration is coming into focus: the supply chain behind the electronics. U.S. defense policy is focusing on reducing dependence on covered foreign sources for unmanned systems and their critical components. The message to the defense industrial base is becoming clear: Resilient, trusted supply chains matter, and the electronics inside tomorrow's unmanned platforms are part of that equation.

Real Time with... THECA 2026: MKS Academy: Future of PCB Training

Daniel Schmidt, director of marketing and training for MKS' Atotech, officially announced the MKS Academy at this year's THECA event. In the works for the last few years, this new academy presents an innovative e-learning platform designed to address global workforce challenges in advanced PCB manufacturing, and to do so in ways that are most effective for today's learners, as well as in a format that facilitates large-scale learning. Coming at a time when the worldwide workforce gap in electronics and manufacturing is growing to critical proportions, this initiative is crucial for adapting to market shifts and fostering talent development worldwide.

I-Connect007 Observes Labor Day Holiday With Office Closure

In the U.S, the Labor Day holiday arrives as the unofficial end to summer, but its roots run much deeper (and a little darker, if you’re a student of U.S. history) The first observance was held in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882, when thousands of workers marched in a parade organized by the Central Labor Union. Numerous states recognized Labor Day prior to Congress establishing it as a federal holiday in 1894. At its heart, the contemporary Labor Day holiday recognizes the workers whose skill, persistence, and ingenuity have built the nation’s prosperity.

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

As a longtime journalist, I always find myself pulled in so many directions of curiosity. I’ve often felt like the saying, “A jack of all trades, master of none.” It seems to be the price I’ve paid as a writer and editor, delving into so many different corners of industry, community, and the human condition. But that’s also why I love this week’s collection of must-reads. From novel flexible circuits to modernizing IPC standards, a trade show in the burgeoning China Plus One region, Mexico’s manufacturing moment, and opportunities for workforce development, we’ve gone around the world and back again. We touch on so many aspects of the industry, and especially the opportunities and challenges of keeping up with change.

Real Time with... THECA 2026: Global Electronics Association on PCB Growth, Standards, and Emerging Technology

David Bergman, VP of International Relations at the Global Electronics Association, talks with Marcy LaRont about his privilege in being involved in THPCA from early on and the strategic opportunity for the Association to make a difference in Thailand's growing electronics industry through standards and education. Also as an active member of the Electronic Circuit World Council (ECWC) (which occurs every three years) Mr. Bergman discusses plans for ECWC17 which will take place next year with THECA 2027, highlighting Thailand's role in electronics manufacturing.

Powering AI: Inside TeraWulf's Lake Mariner Campus

On a windy Thursday morning in Barker, New York, this spring, I joined 30 tech journalists as we disembarked from a bus onto the shores of Lake Ontario to tour TeraWulf’s 157-acre Lake Mariner Campus. Roughly the size of 119 American football fields, it is the largest U.S. AI data center under construction. Before the tour even began, we passed several buildings and a vacant coal power plant. In the 15-minute bus ride from the security gate to our touring destination, adjectives such as enormous and vast came immediately to mind. Once off our bus, we were shuttled into one of the campus’s smaller buildings to obtain our safety gear and attend a lecture on what we were about to see.

Real Time with... THECA 2026: FSQuality Expands Thailand Capacity for Advanced PCB Markets

Ben Huang, sales director of Europe and America at FSQuality, explains how the company's new Thailand facility is targeting AI, automotive, and industrial applications while transferring manufacturing expertise from China and growing into advanced manufacturing capabilities with processes such as mSAP.

THECA 2026 Review: Innovating PCBs and Advanced Electronics

The Thailand Printed Circuit Association hosted its third annual trade show in the bustling city of Bangkok this past week, under the theme “Innovating PCB and Advanced Electronics with Next-Gen Packaging.” Building on its success as a leading PCB industry exhibition, THECA has brought together the entire PCB value chain, creating a comprehensive platform for advanced electronics.

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

This week, the Global Electronics Association published its monthly report on PCB fabrication and EMS bookings and shipments, and the numbers are extremely positive. In EMS, the three-month book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.29 for July. Year-to-date EMS bookings are at 11% over 2025. The picture is similar in PCB fabrication as well. Year-to-date bookings are up 33% over last year, and book-to-bill stands at 1.46.

I-Connect007 Welcomes Newest Columnist, Tianming Liu, FSQuality

I-Connect007 is excited to announce its newest columnist, Tianming Liu, founder of First Quality Circuit Co. Ltd. (FSQuality) and Fuji PCB. His new column, Bridging the Pacific, will draw on more than three decades of experience in PCB manufacturing to explore the different manufacturing cultures, practices, and perspectives found across the global electronics industry.

Where Will the Next Generation of Great Engineers Come From?

Most young engineers do not grow up dreaming about careers in ceramic substrates or plating processes. It’s not because these careers are uninteresting. In many cases, young people simply do not know they exist. They are excited about AI, robotics, aerospace, autonomous vehicles, space exploration, renewable energy, electric vehicles, medical technology, and advanced computing. What many students do not yet understand is that virtually every one of those technologies depends upon an incredibly sophisticated electronics manufacturing infrastructure.

Preparing for a New Laminate Supply Reality

The global laminate industry has entered a period of structural change unlike anything seen in recent decades. Explosive investment in AI infrastructure, including AI servers, advanced networking, optical communications, and data centers, is driving demand for laminate materials at a pace the supply chain cannot match. The warning signs have been building for months. Extended lead times, repeated price increases, customer stockpiling, raw material allocation, and major capacity expansion announcements all point to an industry increasingly under strain. How prepared are individual companies to respond to these changes?

VeCS HDI Process Technology: Has the Time Come for Broader Adoption?

Packaging technology has always driven the PCB, but today's AI and high-performance computing devices are accelerating that relationship. As compute density, bandwidth, and power requirements increase, package, substrate, and PCB design become more interdependent. Modern AI processors, such as NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture, require thousands of package connections, support multiple stacks of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and can dissipate as much as 1,000 watts of power or more. These demands are driving new approaches to package substrates, redistribution layers (RDLs), thermal management, and PCB fabrication, where manufacturing itself is becoming a limiting factor.

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

Some situations came up for me this week (delayed flights and malfunctioning work software) that highlighted how much we rely on tools every day. When they’re working, we barely think about them. When they’re not, we’re suddenly reminded of everything else that has to be in place for the work to get done: good processes, knowledgeable people, communication, teamwork, and sometimes ingenuity. I’ve observed that engineers aren’t any different in their work.

The Relevance of VeCS as an HDI Process Option

Almost 10 years ago, Pete Starkey interviewed Joan Tourné, inventor and CEO of his new company, NextGin Technology. Joan’s resume included many years as a director at Mommers Print Service in the Netherlands, and then as advanced technology and business director with Viasystems Group. He had just secured his IP for a vertical conductive structure (VeCS), a novel means of creating high density vertical interconnections for semiconductors and complex, high layer count PCBs. This month, we re-examine VeCS technology, a method for HDI PCB fabrication with large backplane-type boards developed in partnership with Wus, which uses the technology in its factories.

Follow the Story: The Business of Engineering

Building great products requires great engineering, but building a successful engineering company requires something more. Leaders must make decisions about investments, acquisitions, workforce development, automation, sourcing, strategy, and innovation, all while navigating changing markets and emerging technologies. This collection of articles and columns explores the business side of technical leadership, by gathering perspectives from executives, engineers, entrepreneurs, and industry experts who understand that long-term success depends on more than technical excellence.

All Flex Expands Reach Through Flex Interconnect Technologies Acquisition

A strategic partnership between Minnesota-based All Flex Solutions and Flex Interconnect Technologies (FIT) will provide value-added engineering and quick-turn, prototype flexible PCB manufacturing with All Flex’s high-volume flex fabrication. The new alliance offers customers a more comprehensive flex solution and an opportunity to streamline their flex PCB supply chain. All Flex CEO John Fallon discusses the strategic rationale behind the partnership, the benefits of having a “100-year plan,” and how the combined organization is positioning itself for optimum growth.

The Strategic Importance of Hiring Efficiency

While discussions surrounding workforce shortages often focus on the number of available workers, many manufacturers face a different challenge: securing highly qualified candidates before competing employers do. We’re in a market where experienced PCB designers, process engineers, quality specialists, manufacturing engineers, and reliability professionals are in high demand, so even modest delays in the hiring process can have measurable business consequences.

August I-Connect007 Magazine: The Electronics Ecosystem From Design to Development

This issue of I-Connect007 Magazine examines how collaboration across the electronics ecosystem—from design through fabrication, packaging, AI infrastructure, and flexible circuits—drives innovation and manufacturable products. Our contributors explore co-design from multiple perspectives, using analogies from the forest to the Olympics. We also revisit VeCS for high layer count HDI PCB fabrication, plating challenges for advanced packaging, new applications for flex circuits in robots, and how the U.S. national defense policy could affect PCB sourcing.

IPC Standards Released for Q2 2026

Each quarter, the Global Electronics Association releases a list of standards that are new or have been updated. To view a complete list of newly published standards and standards revisions, translations, proposed standards for ballot, final drafts for industry review, working drafts, and project approvals, visit electronics.org/ipc-standards. These are the latest releases for Q2 2026.

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

Another week has flown by, and it’s time for the must-read articles and news highlights. This week, I’m putting a spotlight on FUJI PCB and FS Quality, through an interview by Dan Beaulieu with President Tianming Liu, and “the rest of the story” from the EIPC Summer Conference technical sessions. I’m also focusing on a new marketing book by Brittany Martin, and there’s rarely a week when we don’t talk about AI, so I also chose Sean Patterson’s most recent practical advice for PCB fabricators. Though the U.S. has placed a “stay” on CMMC Level 2 certification, it’s still coming for you and your business. If you work in the Mil/Aero space in the U.S., check out what Omega EMS has done to accelerate its compliance. Their wisdom may be worth your time.

Carano and ElectronicsU Debut New Course on Advanced Packaging

Mike Carano is an industry pioneer with deep expertise across multiple domains. In his latest course for the Global Electronics Association’s ElectronicsU platform, “Advanced Packaging: HDI Enabling Technology,” Carano delivers some of the first educational material introducing advanced packaging to the printed circuit supply chain. In this interview, he discusses the course content, target audience, and motivation for creating the course. 

A Practical Approach to Material Selection for High Power PCBs

With AI server architectures demanding high-power converter solutions to improve power efficiency and affordability, PCB design can challenge engineers who treat material selection as a single-variable problem. Pick a laminate for thermal conductivity, and you may experience a CTE mismatch that cracks vias after 50 thermal cycles. Optimize for dielectric loss, and you might sacrifice the isolation margin your certification depends on. High-power boards require consideration of multiple variables, including electrical, thermal, mechanical, reliability, and manufacturability, which cannot be optimized alone.
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