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

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There was some good news this week, as Republicans and Democrats managed to cooperate long enough to pass the CHIPS Act. Sure, it’s a little late, and I think Washington only acted because they realized that they had to at least act like they were doing something about semiconductor supply chain problem. But this act might keep us from getting in this same situation a few years down the road.

Members of the House and Senate don’t usually act until they get worried about being voted out of office, so pardon me if I’m not ready to sing “Happy Days Are Here Again” just yet. But this is still really good news; the politicians are on the record now, and we can hold them accountable.

As Winston Churchill once said, “America can always be relied upon to do the right thing—after exhausting all possible alternatives.” We’ve tried everything else; now it’s time to cooperate, even with competitors, for the good of the industry, and the country.

IPC Lauds Passage of 'CHIPS and Science' Act; Electronics Industry Calls for a Holistic Approach to Reviving Domestic Electronics Capabilities
Published August 9

Congress and President managed to pass the CHIPS Act. Yes, as the saying goes, “Better late than never,” but we’ll take it. This legislation won’t make any difference in our industry in the near future, but maybe it will preclude future semiconductor supply chain jams. At least the DoD has gotten its head out of its hindquarters with regards to the American electronics industry. Hope springs eternal.

SMTA International 2022 Conference Program Finalized
Published August 9

SMTAI is just around the corner, and if you’re not registered, what are you waiting for? I’ve never been to Minneapolis, so I’m looking forward to it. Co-located with the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) show at the Minneapolis Convention Center, this show is going to be a big one. SMTA should organize a trip to Prince’s purple palace after the show. Just a suggestion. 

Myths vs. Facts: The Printed Electronics Roundtable, Part 1
Published August 11

The buzz about printed electronic circuits has been going on for a decade now, but I still hear a lot of questions from engineers who are curious about how to get into this segment. So, we convened a roundtable of PEC experts—fabricators and OEMs—and asked them to dispel some of the myths surrounding this process. One takeaway: PEC are in more products right now than you would imagine. 

Fein-Lines: Live in Person—PCEA/Orange County Meets Up Again
Published August 11

It’s been too long since the last meeting of the Orange County Chapter of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA). Two years, in fact. Technical Editor Dan Feinberg has a great review of this event. Freedom CAD’s Scott McCurdy has built the OC chapter into the largest in the world, and these meetings always draw a huge crowd of designers and other PCB technologists.

Business Email Compromise: The $43 Billion Scam
Published August 10

Our tagline reads “Good for the industry.” So, this week we published a PSA from J. Edgar Hoover’s boys about a very sophisticated transfer-of-funds scam that’s affecting a lot of American companies now. I know some of you have been hit with all kinds of cyber skullduggery, so we wanted to get the word out about this BEC/EAC craziness. The people behind this stuff would be the perfect IT guys, if they ever decided to don the white hat. Watch out, folks.

03/24/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

It’s almost as if upheaval is the new normal. We often describe slow-moving but unstoppable change as moving in “geologic time.” But occasionally–like an earthquake–geology shifts suddenly. Here in my office, tracking the news of the industry, things are moving faster than geologic time, but more slowly than the jolt of an earthquake. The wave seems almost surfable, where before it seemed overwhelming. In this week’s list, we bring news from five different, high-vibration areas in our industry. If you read nothing else this week, these five items will keep you informed.

03/21/2023 | Christopher Bonsell, Chemcut

This year, I had the great opportunity to come to IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego as a contributing member in Chemcut’s booth. Being an exhibitor is always interesting because you never know what you will learn or who you will meet. Truly, it seems that every IPC APEX EXPO is an eye-opening experience. This was the second show I attended, and last year I was amazed to see how in-depth and interconnected the electronics industry is. Seeing how many different companies contribute to manufacturing today’s core technology never fails to impress me.

03/21/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

Investments, staffing, cybersecurity, and a peek into his crystal ball—John Vaughan, vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, sits down with Nolan Johnson to talk about it all. Business is good, by the way, thanks to Summit’s portfolio of military contracts, and he has sound advice to offer for smaller shops in the United States, and their real ability to make a difference in PCB fabrication.