I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
November 22, 2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Well, we’re officially entering the silly season, i.e., the holidays. Where did the year go? I still have money left on the Starbuck’s gift card I received last Christmas.
In this week’s roundup, I’m highlighting a variety of articles. We have an interview with Jess Hollenbaugh, a recent graduate working for Polar Instruments. We also have an interview with IPC’s Matt Kelly and Devan Iyer, whose white paper may provide a way forward for companies dealing with complex advanced packages. Our newest columnist Tom Yang describes the U.S. PCB industry from the point of view of a technologist from another country, and Dan Beaulieu has a review of Malcolm Gladwell’s follow-up to The Tipping Point. Finally, we have my review of PCB Carolina, a one-day tabletop show that keeps expanding, much like my waistline after eating their catered food. Enjoy!
Meet Polar's New Engineer Jess Hollenbaugh
Published November 21
Jess Hollenbaugh recently joined Polar Instruments, and she was nice enough to sit down for an interview at PCB West. How did a physics major with a love of thermodynamics wind up in the signal integrity software business? It’s great to see young people coming into our segment again, but we need a few thousand more just like Jess.
Advanced Packaging: Preparation is Now
Published November 20
IPC has just released a white paper, “Advanced Packaging to Board Level Integration—Needs and Challenges,” written by Devan Iyer, chief strategist of advanced packaging, and Matt Kelly, chief technology officer for IPC. This paper fleshes out IPC’s silicon-to-systems concept, and Matt and Devan offer our industry a way forward as we face more complex advance packaging challenges.
Global Citizenship: What I’ve Learned About the American PCB Business
Published November 20
Did you ever wonder what our industry looks like to technologists from other countries? After all, we can be a hot mess, but we still manage to lead the way. And as columnist Tom Yang says, the U.S. PCB industry tends to “double down on innovation.” Check it out.
Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point'
Published November 20
Dan Beaulieu writes a weekly column for us, as well as the occasional book review. I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell (Are you a “connector,” a “maven,” or a “salesman”?), so I’ll have to check out Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering. If you haven’t already done so, read The Tipping Point and Outliers too.
PCB Carolina’s Formula: Industry Experts and Catered Food
Published November 18
Does the food selection at a trade show have any influence on our decision to attend said show? It does for me. I’ve attended PCB Carolina since 2016, and the catered food is always one of the high points of the event. This time we had barbecued brisket for lunch. It’s no wonder PCB Carolina keeps growing every year.
Suggested Items
Standard of Excellence: Building Trust with Customers—The Foundation of Excellent Service
01/29/2025 | Anaya Vardya -- Column: Standard of ExcellenceDo we trust each other? Trust is the lifeblood of long-term customer relationships. We earn, nurture, and reinforce trust through every interaction and decision. Trust is the cornerstone of any business striving for excellence. In the PCB industry, where precision and reliability are paramount, building trust with customers is essential. Let’s explore how we can establish and maintain trust.
SMTA UHDI Symposium 2025, Part 2: State of the Art
01/29/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007A group of about 50 attended the second annual SMTA Ultra High Density Interconnect Symposium on Jan. 23, 2025. After a morning of technical presentations on challenges and solutions regarding UHDI technology, we gathered for a delicious Mexican buffet lunch and some networking before reconvening for an afternoon of more technical topics.
SMTA UHDI Symposium 2025, Part 1: Challenges and Solutions
01/28/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007SMTA hosted its second annual Ultra High Density Interconnect Symposium, a conference on cutting-edge PCB technology, on Jan. 23, 2025, at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona. A highly pro-business state with a special affection for the tech sector, Arizona is home to the biggest Intel semiconductor fab in the United States and the new TSMC chip fab. With an intimate group of approximately 50 attendees, the SMTA event offered a great forum for learning, interactive discussion, and networking.
EDA Tools and the Designer of the Future
01/28/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineWe’re seeing new, young technologists moving into the PCB design and design engineering segment, and it’s just in time; many veteran designers are headed to retirement. At the same time, there have been various recent advances in EDA tools. What will the PCB designer’s job—and the designer’s software tools—look like in the next five years? Bob Potock, vice president of marketing for Zuken USA, weighs in on the PCB designers of tomorrow, and the EDA tools that will take them into an evermore complex future.
Fresh PCB Concepts: Tariffs and the Importance of a Diverse Supply Chain
01/28/2025 | Team NCAB -- Column: Fresh PCB ConceptsWith the new Trump administration, we anticipate an increase in tariffs on products from China, including printed circuit boards (PCBs). The current U.S. tariffs on PCBs from China is 25%, with two-layer and four-layer boards excluded from the tariffs until May 31, 2025. I’ve recently received a lot of questions about tariffs, even from the engineering end. While we are uncertain what the future will hold, this situation illustrates why it’s important to have a diverse supply chain.