Latest Articles

24 Essential Skills for Engineers: The Story Behind the Book

In this interview with I-Connect007’s own Happy Holden about his newest book, 24 Essential Skills for Engineers, which he wrote over the span of his career, he highlights some particular moments from his time working at HP and as CTO of Foxconn which inspired many of the book’s chapters. Happy explains why he covered engineering skills as well as “soft skills” such as problem-solving and communication—skills which are keys to succeeding as an engineer.

From DesignCon: Tektronix’s Pavel Zivny on TDECQ

I caught up with Pavel Zivny, a system engineer at Tektronix in Portland, Oregon. Pavel was happy to share some of the technical aspects of the paper he was presenting at DesignCon.

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

Every fall, the action in the world of PCB design and manufacturing begins to pick up again. No more out-of-office email replies; summer vacation is over, and it’s time to get back at it. This week’s Top Five is a veritable pastiche of columns, articles, and news from the electronics industry.

Catching up With Schaltbau’s Jim Tullo

As the electric vehicle market expands, it is useful to hear from someone with a goal of creating a significant position in that market. Schaltbau Group is one of those companies. In fact, one might say because of its string position in the rail marketplace, the company has been dealing in EVs for years. I sat down recently with Jim Tullo, president of Schaltbau’s North American operations, to talk about their current and future business. I strongly advise you to dig into this one.

From DesignCon: Victory Giant Pushing the Technology Envelope

Victory Giant’s Executive Vice President and CTO George Dudnikov let me in on the growth happening within his company, which includes a much larger Industry 4.0 facility and the capability to do pulse plating up to a 25:1 aspect ratio.

From DesignCon: Ohmega’s New Home with Quantic

At this year’s DesignCon, Nolan Johnson stops to visit with Bruce Mahler, who details the exciting changes happening with Ohmega and Ticer after being acquired by Quantic, and what that means for the market opportunity of OhmegaPly and TCR.

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

In some weeks, readership numbers are pretty even, which means I make my picks based on “excellence” or “achievement” of some sort. Other weeks, you readers “go viral” on a few key news items, making the selection process numerically driven. This was one of those weeks. Here, then, are the five most-read news items. Of course, leading the way are our esteemed technical editors, Pete Starkey and Dan Feinberg. These gentlemen are examples of my opening statement, as both enjoy huge popularity with readers precisely because they are so good at reporting on the industry.

ICT Autumn 2021 Webinar Review: High-voltage Testing and Advanced Antenna Materials

The Institute of Circuit Technology continues to deliver first-class on-line events. This year's ICT Autumn Webinar on September 7 presented papers by leading experts on high-voltage testing and advanced antenna materials. It was introduced and moderated by ICT Chair Emma Hudson.

Ucamco Improves Communication With Gerber Job Editor Notes in Mandarin

Ucamco recently announced that its Gerber Job Editor can now accept notes in Mandarin. I asked Karel Tavernier, managing director of Ucamco, to discuss the move to add Mandarin notes to the Gerber Job Editor, and what this means for CAM department users who may speak little or no English.

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

The kids and grandkids are back in school, and fall is on the way. During this busy week, we published a variety of articles, covering everything from trade shows to mergers. It’s hard to argue with IPC’s plans to require proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test to enter IPC APEX EXPO; you can expect other trade shows to follow suit in the future. We’d hate for a show to become a super-spreader event.

From DesignCon: Insulectro Educating Designers About New Materials

I recently met with Insulectro VP of Technology Chris Hunrath at DesignCon 2021. We discussed a variety of new laminates that Insulectro is distributing, as well as some newer processes and the need to educate designers on the ins and outs of cutting-edge laminates.

Flex DFM: When All Things Must Be Considered

One of the best ways to avoid flex failures is by communicating with your flex fabricator early and often. Here are a couple key reasons why involving your flex and rigid-flex supplier early in the design of your product will help you save time and money—and produce a more reliable flex circuit.

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

The past couple weeks have delivered quite a bit of PCB manufacturing industry news, to be sure. If you haven’t already seen this news piece from USPAE, “Electronics Industry Summit With US DoD Spawns More Dialogue, Collaboration,” I’d like to bring it to your attention one more time.

From DesignCon: Isola Navigating a Challenging Supply Stream

Nolan Johnson and Andy Shaughnessy visited with Jim Hartzell of Isola to learn about how the company has thrived in the past 18 months, despite some real supply chain backlogs. Jim also talks about new products, and what’s on the horizon for Isola.

DFM from the Fabricator’s Point of View

What do you think of when you hear the term DFM? The I-Connect007 Editorial Team posed this question to a trio of design and fabrication experts: DownStream Technologies co-founders Joe Clark and Rick Almeida, and Max Clark, business unit manager for Valor at Siemens EDA. We think you’ll enjoy this wide-ranging conversation.

From DesignCon: Technica’s 35 Years of Progress

During DesignCon 2021, Nolan Johnson caught up with Frank Medina of Technica, who looks back on the company’s 35-year history and how it has successfully weathered the bumps in the electronics market.

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

This week, we’ve covered a variety of topics in our newsletters and websites. In my Top Five picks, we have quite a mixed bag of industry news and articles. In market reports, there’s good news from the North American PCB side of things, but bad news from the EMS segment, driven by long lead times and material shortages. We also have an article that gets down to the root cause, or causes, of the six-month lead time and price increases.

Reasons and Solutions to PCB Lead Times and Price Increases

If there is anyone left in the electronics community who has not been impacted by the chaos in PCB pricing and lead times, they must live in an alternate universe. Seldom does a day pass without someone requesting a conference call to discuss the price increase. Everyone asks the same question: “What is the root cause?” I have concluded there is no single root cause.

We Must Talk to Each Other

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Sometimes when I hear that line from "Cool Hand Luke," I can’t help but think that old Strother Martin was in our business. That is to say that printed circuit board designers and board builders have always battled with a failure to communicate.

Electronics Industry Summit With U.S. DoD Spawns More Dialogue, Collaboration

The U.S. Government, the electronics industry, and academia must continue to step up their joint efforts to address risks and gaps in the defense electronics supply chain.

Designing With the End in Mind—How the Meaning of DFM Will Transform in the Future

Designers of today’s complex printed circuit boards occasionally encounter setbacks due to their lack of early planning. Such consequences for apathy in preparation and awareness will continue to escalate along the growth curve of complexity that the industry continues to experience. In this article, Altium's Vince Mazur explains how designers can be served by a design for manufacturing (DFM) mindset to help assure first-pass success.

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

I’m at DesignCon as I start pen this week’s must-reads. It’s good to be back in the convention centers, I have to say. In my last installment, I expressed the anticipation; I can now confirm that taking the pulse of our industry is so much easier when one is nearer the heartbeat.

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

Well, we’re officially in the trade show season. Delta variant or not, Editor Nolan Johnson and I are going to DesignCon next week. I’m flying on Delta, which I think is a harbinger of good luck. I did get flight insurance, though. I’m definitely ready to fly somewhere.

The Demand for Copper

Nolan Johnson spoke with Michael Coll and Chris Stevens of Nippon Denkai, home of the last-standing ED foil manufacturer in North America, about the demands and projections they’re seeing in the copper market currently.

DFM For Your PCBs

Nolan Johnson speaks to Greg Link of WUS Printed Circuit Co. to gain a better understanding of where DFM fits in from a fabricator’s perspective.
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