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

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Maybe you’ve noticed that I’ve been taking to social media lately to about my five must-reads of the week. It’s just another way we’re sharing our curated content with you. I pay special attention to what’s happening in our industry, and I can help you know what’s most important to read about each week. Follow me (and I-Connect007) on LinkedIn to see these and other updates.

This week, I’ve got a bit of industry news as well as some news from the greater electronics industry. Despite what some headlines might be picking up about trade wars and tariffs, business is business—it still goes on. Electronics are still the backbone of modern society. 

From the technical standpoint, I’ve highlighted a couple of features we published this week about both PCB design and manufacturing. Wherever you’re at in the supply chain, there’s something new to learn. I also want to call out a new book we’ve published, Companion Guide to DFM Essentials: Tips for Designing for Manufacturing, a resource guide from American Standard Circuits now available to download, and a new online IPC design course that provides foundational knowledge in wire harness and cable design, led by a defense industry expert. I applaud IPC’s efforts to expand its classes beyond traditional electronics manufacturing to include a more well-rounded approach to electronics.

GlobalFoundries Announces $16B U.S. Investment to Reshore Essential Chip Manufacturing and Accelerate AI Growth
Published June 4

GlobalFoundries is collaborating with major technology companies such as Apple, SpaceX, AMD, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., NXP, and GM to reshore semiconductor production to the U.S. and diversify their global supply chains. The money will build out additional manufacturing capacity across New York and Vermont. This is a bit of good news.

Canada PCB Market Report 2025-2030: Strong Growth Projected Amid EV Boom, 5G Rollout, and Defense Investments
Published May 29

Fueled by advancements in electronics and rising consumer demand across various industries, the Canada Printed Circuit Board Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2025-2031. Several factors drive this robust growth. Read more here.

Standards: The Roadmap for Your Ideal Data Package
Published May 29

For designers, the design dynamic duo, Andy Shaughnessy and Kris Moyer, dive into data packages. Moyer explains how standards can help you ensure that your data package has all the information your fabricator and assembler need to build your board the way you designed it, while also allowing them to use their expertise. 

The Chemical Connection: Reducing Defects in Circuit Board Production
Published June 4

Columnist Don Ball points out that reducing defects in your product during manufacture can be a source of contention and frustration. Don shares some observations made while visiting shops where high production at high yields was important. I witnessed common steps they all used in their campaigns to reduce defects and increase yields.

INEMI Interim Report: Interconnection Modeling and Simulation Results for Low-Temp Materials in First-Level Interconnect
Published May 30

One of the greatest challenges of integrating different types of silicon, memory, and other extended processing units (XPUs) in a single package is in attaching these various types of chips in a reliable way. 

INEMI’s Low-Temperature Material Discovery and Characterization for First-Level Interconnect Project has conducted simulation studies of low-temperature solder materials. In this June 19 webinar, the project team will share results from these studies, including bump collapse simulation, thermal mechanical simulation and electromigration simulation. We will also talk about future plans for the project.