Insulectro Hires PWB Commodity Specialist Laura Martin as Director of Technology

Reading time ( words)

Insulectro, the largest distributor of materials for use in manufacture of printed circuit boards and printed electronics, has hired PWB engineer/specialist Laura Martin for a new position – Director of Technology.

“I am pleased to announce a new teammate joining our team of superstars,” announced Ken Parent, Insulectro Chief Operating Officer, “Laura Martin joins us after a lengthy career with Lockheed Martin where she held a variety of high-profile positions. In the new position, Director of Technology, she will work closely on our Design Education initiative lead by Technical Director Michael Creeden, CID+. As an engineer working for a major aerospace OEM, Laura brings a unique skill set to Insulectro essential to our growth objectives.”

Martin held a variety of positions at Lockheed Martin over a 19-year career, most recently as PWB Commodity Specialist and Producibility Engineering Department Lead in the Missiles and Fire Control division. Her duties focused on bridging the gap between design and manufacturing by analyzing supplier capabilities and adjusting design rules as technology evolved.  Martin worked closely with buyers to identify suppliers capable of building complex boards; and working with assembly to identify issues relating back to design and bare board manufacturing.

Other positions at Lockheed included Project Engineer, Technician Process Senior Specialist among others. Martin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Central Florida plus several Certifications including: IPC-A-600 Acceptability of Printed Boards, DxDesigner for Expedition PCB Flow, and is a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Martin also recently published a technical paper on machine learning at IEEE’s SoutheastCon.

“I look forward to joining the Insulectro team. With my work on the OEM side of the industry, I understand how important it is to select the optimal materials and to be sure those materials are used in a manner that will maximize yield and productivity. Insulectro’s work in Design Education is their pledge to ensure that,” said Martin.

Ken Parent concluded, “Laura brings wonderful talents to our team. Her unique skills and experience will help Insulectro continue to expand on our mission to help our customers build better circuits, faster.”

Insulectro supplies advanced engineered materials manufactured by Isola, DuPont®, LCOA®, CAC, Inc., Pacothane, Focus Tech, JX Nippon, TADCO, EMD Performance Materials (Ormet®), Shikoku, Denkai America, Industrial Brush Corporation, Kemmer, InduBond®, and Shur-loc. These products are used by its customers to fabricate complex, multilayer circuit boards and to manufacture printed electronics components. Insulectro serves a broad customer base manufacturing rigid, rigid/flex, and flexible circuit boards for applications in a variety of end markets including aeronautics, telecom, data communications, high speed computing, mobile devices, military, and medical. Insulectro combines its premier product offering with local inventory across North America, fabrication capabilities and backed up by expert customer and technical support services.

03/21/2023 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management Group

I have always felt that automation has the potential to make a big difference in our PCB industry, especially domestically, where labor is at premium. For the past year, I have been looking for the story of how automation can and will make a significant difference in established PCB shops. I was fortunate enough to find that story in Multicircuits, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Only a few short years ago, this company was considered a “plain vanilla” PCB fabricator holding its own in our industry; now it has suddenly assumed a true leadership position in the industry in terms of capability, technology, operations, and profitability.

03/07/2023 | Patty Goldman, I-Connect007

Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Award winner Curtis Grosskopf, a senior engineer at IBM, reflects on the evolution of IPC committees and the vital importance of their work, especially in collaboratively creating industry-wide standards to guide the work of professionals in every sector. This commitment to multidisciplinary cooperation is a mindset that should be fostered at the start of every career.

03/02/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

In his State of the Union address in early February, President Biden departed from his usual topics about education and the economy to mention the new CHIPS Act, as well as supply chain and infrastructure issues. For perspective on those remarks, Nolan Johnson chats with David Schild, executive director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA).