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On the 3-4 February 2026, EIPC will hold their Winter Conference in the Renaissance Aix-en-Provence Hotel, near Marseille, France. Even in winter the sun shines almost all the time in this beautiful city. The food is, of course, without peer.
Entitled “Driving the Future: Innovation, Energy, and Sustainability in PCB Technology”, the conference will focus on the demands made of PCB manufacturers in meeting the demands of AI application; the habitual look at the Business Outlook from Custer Consulting will be followed by a presentation from the well-known PCB industry figure Mike Buetow on training the next generation of PCB designers. The strictures of PCB fine-line and miniature production as well as how new technologies push interconnects will be discussed by speakers from Dyconex and Multek, whilst battery technologies and how to achieve strategic autonomy will also be covered.
In the afternoon of Day 1 the delegates will visit ITER in Caderache, where work on fusion, the nuclear reaction that powers the Sun and the stars, is a promising long-term option for sustainable, non-carbon-emitting energy.
On Day 2, AI will take centre stage with sessions from top laminate suppliers on PCB base materials as performance drivers for AI hardware, with a talk by Polar Instruments on impedance solver accuracy at UHDI dimensions, and a panel discussion on the supply chain, covering improvements, weaknesses and sustainability, with the panel of participants from Cistelaier, Elvia, ESA, Group ACB, and Ilfa GmbH.
