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PCB Technologies Focuses on an All-in-One Solution

Recently, PCB Technologies reached out to us with news about their new All-In-One offering. Intrigued, we followed up and spoke with VP of Marketing and Business Development Arik Einhorn to get more details on the All-In-One services. We’ve included the short article and the interview here.

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

Welcome to the Halloween issue of the I-Connect007 Top Five Editor’s Picks! This year’s Halloween lands on a doozy of a day. Astronomers among us will, undoubtedly, already have noticed that not only does the spooky holiday fall on a Saturday night, but it also falls exactly on a full moon—and a Blue Moon, at that! The last time a Halloween Blue Moon occurred in all time zones was in 1941. As if there weren’t enough “ghoulishness” already, 2020 delivers yet another rare occurrence.

Reducing Flux Splatter in Sensors and Camera Modules

With the increased use of electronics in new technology areas, flux formulations are being developed to address the new and existing requirements. For sensors and camera modules used for Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and internet of things (IoT) applications, there is a demand for no-clean flux formulations in lead-free solder paste, which can reduce flux splattering during reflow.

Real Time with… Altium Live Europe 2020: Rick Hartley’s Secrets of PCB Optimization

As Lawrence Romine said in his introduction, “There’s that moment when you sit in the crowd and hear Mr. Rick Hartley speak that you know you’ve arrived in PCB design.” With 50 years in the industry focused on circuit and PCB design—and as a specialist in EMI, noise, and signal integrity issues—Rick Hartley was invited to talk about PCB optimization. Pete Starkey provides an overview of the presentation.

Gardien on the Right Track With New ERP System

Andy Shaughnessy speaks with Roland Valentini, Gardien Group COO, about the company’s new OnTrack2 ERP and process management software. He explains how OnTrack2 is purpose-built for customers around the world and why it’s much more than a replacement for OnTrack1, which was being stretched beyond its original intent.

IPC Standards Development: Business Challenges and an Inside View

With increasing frequency, standardising the standards, such as ISO 9201, imposes certain rules that must be met to ensure “fair play” amongst the supply chain. There will be those familiar with hearing about “false positives/negatives” and “never trust the salesman,” so mitigating these is no easy task. However, there is the chance for each 5-30 Task Group to review industry requirements and set out the work program for the ensuing period. With that in mind, much of what follows is based on comments we learn about from our industry around the world, many of whom are not yet IPC members. Yes, this is a membership recruitment drive, unashamedly, as well as a search for volunteers willing to help create the standards of tomorrow.

How to Benefit From Robotic Soldering Processes

Webinars are in vogue! But in Pete Starkey's experience, the master of the technical webinar with many years’ experience of delivering first-rate events is Bob Willis—electronics assembly specialist, soldering expert, and provider of training and consultancy in electronics manufacture. Here, Pete recaps Bob’s presentation on the upcoming robotic soldering experience.

Additive Electronics TechXchange: NSWC Crane and Lockheed Martin Presentations

The Additive Electronics TechXchange this year was a virtual event. Happy Holden covers two presentations, including “Very High-Density Investigation Project” by Steve Vetter of the NSWC Crane Naval Facility and "Electronics Additive Manufacturing for Defense and Space" by Kourtney Wright, Ph.D., of Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center.

Flex on the Brain: The Future of Neural Interfaces

The SMTA Additive Electronics TechXchange took place virtually on October 14, with presentations from a wide variety of technologists involved in additive processes. Andy Shaughnessy describes how one of the highlights was a presentation titled “Flexible Electronics for Neural Interfaces” by Dr. Jonathan Viventi, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University.

Real Time with… AltiumLive Europe: If You Don’t Know How It’s Made, How Can You Possibly Design It?

Designers attending the AltiumLive Europe 2020 Virtual Summit had the opportunity to see at first-hand how circuit boards were made to help them make informed design-for-manufacturing decisions. Pete Starkey details how Würth Electronik welcomed AltiumLive to its Niedernhall factory to take a virtual tour.

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

After a crazy year like this, we shouldn’t be surprised that this trade show season is unlike any other. Here’s one of the many “silver linings” of 2020: We actually dodged a bullet earlier this year when COVID-19 hit after most of our industry’s big events had taken place. In this week’s top five, we have an assortment of trade show and conference news items, plus a few examples of technological trends and innovation.

Northrop Grumman: 3D Nanomaterials May Counter Gaps in Additive Supply Chain

The best technology is dead in the water if your domestic supply chain won’t support it. That was just one of the takeaways from Dr. Judy Dickson’s talk during the SMTA Additive Electronics TechXchange. In her presentation, titled “Advanced PWBs: A Collaboration Between Design, Operations, and the Supply Chain,” Dickson, a senior principal systems engineer at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, laid out the many challenges her department faces in fielding HDI advanced packaging into the next decade. Most of these challenges are related to sourcing the necessary materials in the U.S.

Real Time with… AltiumLive 2020: Early Communication Key to Success of OSV Project

Rob Cooke, director of engineering at Calumet Electronics, discusses his role in the Open Source Ventilator (OSV) project that yielded ventilator PCBs in record time. He and project partners, Dugan Karnazes of Velocity Research and Chris Denney of Worthington Assembly, recounted this story during a panel at the virtual AltiumLive.

Understanding MIL-PRF-31032, Part 4

Continuing with Part 4 of the discussion on understanding the military PCB performance standard MIL-PRF-31032, Anaya Vardya explains how the next step in the process is to create four new procedures to address the unique requirements of the military.

SMTA Additive TechXchange Keynote: An Outlook on Advanced PCB Fab

Organised as a virtual event by Lenora Clark of ESI Automotive and Tara Dunn of Omni PCB, SMTA’s Additive TechXchange addressed additive technology specifically in the context of the electronics industry. Pete Starkey details the keynote presentation, an outlook on advanced printed circuit board fabrication, from Jeff Doubrava, managing partner at Prismark Partners.

90% Solder Dross Recovery: Eliminate Waste, Save Money

The impact of 90% solder dross recovery can have a substantial impact on reducing waste and increasing cost savings. Nolan Johnson recently spoke with Jay Hardin, MS2® product manager at P. Kay Metal, about the process and benefits of efficient solder dross recovery, as well as product roadmaps, the soldering machine market, and raw materials supply chain for solder alloy manufacturing. As Jay says, “For many companies, the savings are in the thousands or millions” of dollars.

EIPC Technical Snapshot: Automotive Technology

Although current circumstances have forced the postponement of its live conferences, seminars, and workshops, EIPC continues to provide a platform for the exchange and dissemination of the latest knowledge and technical information to the European interconnection and packaging industry. Pete Starkey details how its current series of technical snapshots, delivered in a webinar format, address technology challenges facing the automotive, telecom, and high-speed sectors of the industry.

Real Time with… AltiumLive: Eric Bogatin on Unlearning What You’ve Learned

The second day of the virtual AltiumLive 2020 event got off to a great start with a class by Dr. Eric Bogatin. It was officially titled “You Must Unlearn What You’ve Learned,” but it could have just as easily been called “Designing Interconnect That Sucks Less.”

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

Trade shows and technical conferences haven’t died; they’ve just moved online. The trade show season continues in virtual full force this week, and event coverage dominates the top five this week. Surprisingly, I don’t see events as this week’s theme. No, this week’s theme is “pundits.” We have Walt Custer’s industry outlook, seven experts on additive electronics, a designers conference keynote, and the IPC’s government relations expert. Don’t get me wrong: These folks are asked to speak to the industry for a good reason. They know their subject matter, and they present it skillfully. This week’s top five picks are worth reading.

This Month in PCB007 Magazine: The Acceleration or Deceleration of Change

Things have changed a lot in the last year, especially in the realm of technology. Just a year ago, 5G networks were on a smooth path to unquestioned rapid growth dominance. Today, while there has been much progress, and while there are some 5G capable devices available, it is far from universal. In some areas, such as near schools and residential areas, people were putting up roadblocks to 5G towers. Overall, there has been much progress, but the pace seems slower than was expected just a year ago. Some limitations are being identified, and there is already talk of 6G becoming available well before the end of the decade.

Just Ask Paul: Automotive and Lead-Free Solders

We asked you to send in your questions for Happy Holden, Joe Fjelstad, Eric Camden, John Mitchell, and Greg Smith in our “Just Ask” series. Now, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions’ Paul Salerno gets a chance to answer a question. Paul Salerno is a global portfolio manager for SMT applications focused on the automotive and consumer market segments. He holds a bachelor’s degree in materials engineering as well as an MBA in finance and marketing from Rutgers University.

Real Time with… AltiumLive 2020: Eli Hughes’ Full-Stack Hardware Engineer Keynote

Nolan Johnson details TZero Co-founder Eli Hughes' keynote presentation titled “Crossing the Chasm: The Road to Becoming a Full-Stack Hardware Engineer,” demonstrating how it takes cross-disciplinary thinking to truly innovate.

Real Time with… AltiumLive 2020: Würth Virtual Factory Tour

Since AltiumLive this year is a virtual event, coverage is limited to watching some of the presentations virtually. Dan Feinberg describes how he was pleasantly surprised with the quality and excellence of the Würth virtual factory tour.

An Update on Walt Custer’s EIPC Business Outlook Webinar

“We’re not out of trouble yet, but it’s a whole lot better than a couple of months ago.” Walt Custer’s business outlook update, with emphasis on the European electronics industry, attracted a capacity audience to EIPC’s webinar on October 2. Pete Starkey details how it wasn’t all bad news.

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

It’s showtime! This past week, we saw quite a bit of news about virtual trade shows. It’s great to see show managers pivot from live, in-person events to virtual shows with only a few months to make it all happen. How would you like to be a show manager today?
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