Reading time ( words)
On September 1, the Orange County Chapter of the IPC Designers Council filled the beautiful, modern presentation room at Alcon Labs in Irvine, California. (Thanks to Jay Wellman, PCB design supervisor at Alcon).
Speaker John Stine, VP of operations at Summit Interconnect’s Anaheim facility (parent company of KCA Electronics), gave a presentation on flex and rigid-flex design and fabrication. At least 75 electronics professionals listened as Stine, an expert in flex and rigid-flex technologies, discussed proper trace geometries, grounding, cover lay, adhesives, signal integrity, impedance control, book-bindings and much more in his 80-minute presentation.
The constant need to reduce size, weight and power (SWaP) is driving the increased use of flex materials, which are lighter than their rigid counterparts and can be folded (thus reducing the footprint), and flex eliminates the need for heavier cables for interconnects. This is especially applicable for the mil/aero and defense applications for which KCA has been specializing in for many years. Stine also illustrated how layering flex substrates with an internal stiffener can provide a very low-loss solution for high-speed applications (RF/microwave/MMW) in a way that rivals or exceeds the performance found in high speed rigid laminates.
The dialog between Stine and the designers stayed active throughout the lunch-and-learn presentation, and the content appeared to be very practical and immediately applicable to the attendees. Summit Interconnect CEO and President Shane Whiteside was in attendance and generously donated several raffle prizes on behalf of Summit/KCA, which were drawn at the end of the event.
I thoroughly enjoy these Designers Council meetings every time I attend. And a special thanks to Orange County Chapter President Scott McCurdy, who has been a tireless servant of our local design and electronics community. Those of us fortunate enough to live in SoCal continue to reap the benefits of his leadership. I’ll definitely be back to cover the next Designers Council meeting.
Share
Suggested Items
05/12/2023 |
I-Connect007
Expanding its avenues of content delivery, I-Connect007 is excited to announce the launch of our latest educational product, On the Line with.., available on Spotify, Apple and all the major podcast platforms. In this podcast, we speak with industry experts to get the latest insights and perspectives on the most relevant topics in the electronics industry today.
03/03/2023 |
Andy Shaughnessy, Design007
It’s been a busy week in our industry. We have a duke’s mixture of news and columns in this week’s Editor’s Choice, starting off with some good news for the American electronics manufacturing industry. In his State of the Union speech, President Biden signaled his support for the CHIPS Act and the U.S. electronics industry, and he promised that Washington would put its money where its mouth is this time. Is it going to happen? Don’t bet the rent money.
01/26/2023 |
Ashutosh Mauskar, Cadence Design Systems
Technology has always invoked radical changes, but unlike today, there used to be one major revolutionizing technology trend at a time. The world is becoming increasingly connected, more automated and more intelligent, driven by generational drivers—hyperscale computing, 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), industrial IoT (IIoT), and autonomous vehicles—which are invoking disruptive technological forces on vertical markets, unfolding varied levels of microelectronics and digital transformation across the globe. The increasing demand for miniaturization and higher speed is changing the dynamics of the semiconductor components needed to store and process data.
