From the show floor – where 375 exhibitors displayed a multitude of high-tech machinery and in some cases artificial intelligence – including cutting-edge assembly, testing and inspection equipment, software automation, laser systems, additive manufacturing and factory of the future technologies, to dozens of technical conference sessions and PD courses covering such hot-topic tracks as smart factories, PCB fabrication and materials and high-density interconnects, IPC APEX EXPO 2023 was fueled by the possibilities of new advances in electronics manufacturing.

2023 ushered in a re-invigorated group of attendees and exhibitor personnel, drawing in a total number of 6,901 participants.

In keeping with the event’s theme, “Advance in a New Era,” the IPC APEX EXPO Technical Program Committee built a strong program with five tracks, 28 sessions and 72 papers, with peer-reviewed content from 18 countries, detailing original research and innovations from industry experts around the world. “From attendees, I was pleased to hear accolades on technical program offerings, many stating that it was the best conference in years – attendance was at an all-time high in more than a decade,” said IPC President and CEO John W. Mitchell. “The paper presenters, international subject matter experts, eagerly shared their knowledge and expertise and provided attendees with quality technical content not found or presented anywhere else. We are very proud of the technical conference and set the bar high for paper submissions. New this year were two special technical sessions, one on advanced packaging presented by IPC’s Chief Technical Officer Matt Kelly and another on e-Mobility lead by Brian O’Leary, Indium and Jason Schwartz, KYZEN. Both special sessions drew capacity crowds and earned high marks from attendees for their thoroughness of content.” Mitchell added.

More than 100 standards development committees and task groups made significant progress on new and revised documents covering such topics as design, materials, board fabrication, cleaning, coating, assembly, cables and harnesses, printed electronics, connected factory, e-textiles, and more. “Task group meetings began on the weekend prior to official start of the show, and what a weekend it was during back-to-back full-day sessions!  With a record crowd of 175 participants, the 5-22a and 7-31b task groups combined their meetings to work on comment resolution for new revisions of J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610,” said Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director, assembly and standards technology.

From survey responses, the APEX EXPO 2023 experience was resoundingly positive for exhibitors. “IPC APEX 2023 was a big hit for us – the best show in years! Our booth was consistently packed with every demo station in use by customers,” said Davina McDonnell, global marketing manager, Cogiscan. “Our team had meaningful and productive conversations with lots of new contacts and we all left the show energized and excited about what’s in store for the rest of the year. This was the best IPC APEX EXPO we have participated in,” McDonnell added.

Added John Lee, vice president of marketing and brand strategy, Insulectro, “I extend my congratulations to IPC for a superb IPC APEX EXPO 2023. I applaud the association on its continued drive to improve, enhance, and spotlight things that matter to our industry. Insulectro had a super experience as well -- our best exhibiting experience ever!”

Summing up IPC APEX EXPO 2023, Mitchell added, “IPC APEX EPXO is a gathering place for the present and future of electronics, enabling all of us to connect in remarkable ways. We at IPC are profoundly grateful to an industry that has encouraged and supported us in producing IPC APEX EXPO. We never lose sight of the fact that we could not host this event without the dedicated volunteers who share their time, their expertise, and their enthusiasm with all of us. Though IPC APEX EXPO 2023 is in our rear-view mirror, our dedicated events, education, technical, membership, and marketing and sales teams are already preparing for next year’s event which will take place April 6-11, 2024, in Anaheim, California.”

For more information on IPC APEX EXPO 2024, visit www.ipcapexexpo.org.

In keeping with its commitment to showing appreciation for its strong volunteer community, IPC introduced two new awards in IPC standards development at IPC APEX EXPO 2023. The awards, Committee Leader of the Year and Volunteer of the Year, were named in honor of key leaders and volunteers from IPC standards development efforts. The Hillman-Lambert Award, named for IPC Hall of Famers and longtime standards committee volunteers David Hillman and Leo Lambert, is awarded to volunteers of the year. The Goldman-Kessler Award, named for IPC Hall of Famers, and longtime committee leaders, Patty Goldman and Bernie Kessler, is awarded to leaders of the year.

Nominations for the 2023 awards were open to all volunteers and leaders whose groups had completed their standards projects between October 2021 and October 2022.  The awards were peer-selected, and a nomination committee was formed to review and judge all nomination packets.

The Hillman-Lambert Award was presented to Michael Ford, Aegis Software, and Christina Rutherford, Honeywell International, as the result of a tie vote. Ford received his nomination for his work with the 2-12c Cybersecurity Protection Standard Task Group. Rutherford was nominated for her work with the 7-31f IPC/WHMA-A-620 Task Group.

 The Goldman-Kessler Award was presented to Bob Cooke, NASA Johnson Space Center. Cooke was nominated for his leadership of the 7-31k Wire Harness Design Task Group and the 5-24g Polymerics Standard Task Group.

In addition to Ford and Rutherford, nominees for the Hillman-Lambert Award included Erika Crandall, TE Connectivity; Hermann Eicher, EPT Guglhoer GmbH; Joseph Kane, BAE Systems; Garry McGuire, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Zhiqian Sang, Hangzhou Dianzi University; and Wei Wang, New HC3 Technologies Co., Ltd.

In addition to Cooke, nominees for the Goldman-Kessler Award were: Scott Bowles, Lockheed Martin; Constantino Gonzalez, Acme Training and Consulting; Thomas Marktscheffel, ASMPT GmbH & Co. KG; and Victor Xu, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

“Volunteerism is the bedrock of our standards development activities,” said Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director, assembly and standards technology. “The new standards development committee awards program is entirely volunteer-driven, created to recognize the best-of-the-best in our standards development activities.”

Committee Leader and Volunteer of the Year awards will be presented on an annual basis, with next presentation taking place at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 in Anaheim, Calif. For more information on the awards, contact Rowe at TeresaRowe@ipc.org.

Last week at IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego, Calif, five competitors squared off to determine who was the best of the best at PCB design.

As finalists in the second annual IPC Design Competition, these five intrepid designers were invited to the finals heat at IPC APEX EXPO to compete in a four-hour layout showdown. Provided with a rigid-flex board and a preset bill of materials (BOM), competitors flexed their skills by routing the board to near completion.

At the end of the four-hour round, each competitor delivered their project file to the judges who convened to review designs, with a winning PCB design going to Sathishkumar Vijayakumar, senior PCB design engineer at Tessolve Semiconductor Pvt Ltd. in Bengaluru, India.

“Sathish exhibited a deep understanding of all technologies presented in the finals design – from a thoughtful usage of given flex layers to well-rounded approach to routing for radio frequency, he wisely chose to spend his limited time routing ‘around’ the board; not focusing on one area more than necessary to demonstrate his skills,” said Patrick Crawford, manager, IPC design standards and related industry programs/PCB design competition lead. “Sathish was a competitor in the IPC India PCB Design Competition, where he also took first place. We congratulate Sathish on his back-to-back wins!”

Said Vijayakumar of his win, “This is one of the greatest milestones in my career and I am very proud of being in this world competition. I believe the proper training I received along with knowledge gained from working on different types of PCBs over the years helped me a lot in winning the competition.”

Second place went to Adam Thorvaldson, CID, lead PCB Designer, at Innovex Design Service, LLC in Oldsmar, Fla.

“It is abundantly clear that Adam is a talented and creative designer, and it was a lengthy discussion among the judges regarding differentiators between his and Sathish’s design – it was really, really close,” added Crawford.  “Adam attempted a significant amount of routing and his design rule check came back with fewer critical issues than other competitors, relative to his amount of completed nets.”

Runners-up included: Jesus Castane, CID+, senior PCB designer, CMR Surgical in Manchester, England; Paul Brionez, CID+, senior PCB design layout engineer, Wisk Aero in Mountain View, Calif.; and Harish G., senior engineer, R&D-Mobility, Exicom Tele-Systems Ltd. in Bengaluru, India.

To learn more about IPC's IPC design competitions and PCB design-related courses, visit www.ipc.org/standards/ipc-design.

In recognition of her significant contributions and leadership in workforce development while building a culture of continuous learning within her organization and the electronics industry, Coreen (Cory) Blaylock, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, earned an IPC Excellence in Education Award at IPC APEX EXPO 2023.

A technical trainer with experience in all aspects of coordinating and delivering technical training, Blaylock served as a Certified IPC Trainer for IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies. Her expertise in partnering with business groups and organizations to provide strategic solutions that align people and technical training initiatives to business goals led to the establishment of a nationally recognized apprenticeship program as well as a partnership with a local college to provide electronics training. Blaylock’s work has greatly improved the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of training at Lockheed in Lufkin, and serves as a model for global electronics training.      

In recognition of their leadership roles and support of IPC standards, education, advocacy, and solutions to industry challenges, three of the industry’s best and brightest were presented with an IPC Rising Star Award at IPC APEX EXPO 2023. Award recipients were Sarah Czaplewski-Campbell, Paige Fiet, and Christina Trussell.                                                                        

Sarah Czaplewski-Campbell is a senior PCB reliability engineer and master inventor at IBM. An active participant in IPC standards committees, she received a Distinguished Committee Service Award for her contributions to the development of IPC-9121-A, Troubleshooting for Printed Board Fabrication Processes. Czaplewski-Campbell completed the IPC Emerging Engineers program in 2022 and currently serves on the IPC APEX EXPO technical program committee, reviewing technical content and chairing technical sessions. A contributor to the technical conference, she was awarded Best Paper in 2021.                                                                                                              

Paige Fiet, TTM Technologies, was IPC’s first Student Director on the IPC Board of Directors. She currently serves as vice-chair of the 5-33B Solder Mask Performance Task Group and co-chair of the 7-24A Printed Board Process Effects Handbook Task Group, a member of the IPC APEX EXPO Technical Conference Program Committee and serves on an additional six standards development committees. She completed the IPC Emerging Engineer Program this year.                                                     

Christina Trussell, Blue Origin, joined the IPC/WHMA-A-620 committee in 2018. She currently serves as vice chair of the 7-31FS IPC WHMA-A-620 Space and Military Electronic Assemblies Addendum Task Group, responsible for the IPC/WHMA-A-620 Space Addendum. Trussell also participated as a judge for the 2021 IPCEF Scholarships and served on a career panel for high school and college students at the 2021 APEX EXPO virtual event. She completed the IPC Emerging Engineer Program this year.                                                                                     

“We are thrilled to recognize the accomplishments of our Rising Stars and to take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions,” said John W. Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “We are privileged that Sarah, Paige, and Christina have chosen to share their knowledge and expertise with us and with the entire global electronics manufacturing industry.”

Three IPC volunteers who have fostered a collaborative spirit, made significant contributions to standards development, and have consistently demonstrated a commitment to global standardization efforts, were presented with a Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship award at IPC APEX EXPO 2023. Curtis Grosskopf, Nick Koop, and Thomas Marktscheffel were chosen as award recipients because they embody the work ethic and spirit of the late Dieter Bergman, an industry pioneer and icon. As part of the award, they will bestow Dieter Bergman Memorial Scholarships on the university or college of their choice.  

Curtis Grosskopf, IBM, has been active on standards development committees since 1989 when he served on the B-10a Plastic Chip Carrier Cracking committee. He has participated in several revisions of the standards associated with that committee, IPC/JEDEC-J-STD-020 and IPC/JEDEC-J-STD-033. Currently serving on several committees, Grosskopf leads the reviews of the process sensitivity standard, J-STD-075. He served as chair and vice-chair of the 2-15f Product Discontinuance committee and led the generation of J-STD-046 and J-STD-048 and is currently leading the addition of XML schemas to each standard to automate the transfer of notices. He chose the University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Engineering, to receive the Dieter Bergman memorial scholarship.

Nick Koop, TTM Technologies, was instrumental in the creation of IPC-6013.  By 2021, IPC-6013 had undergone five revisions reflecting industry needs. Koop was involved with additional specifications and expanded his contributions beyond flex circuits into rigid PCBs, raw materials, final finishes, and common terminology. In this fast-changing technical environment, he has been instrumental in keeping specifications current. Koop has chosen the University of Minnesota -- College of Science and Engineering to receive the memorial scholarship.

Thomas Marktscheffel, ASMPT GmbH & Co. KG, is the co-leader of the 2-17 Connected Factory Initiative Subcommittee and the 2-17A IPC-CFX Standard Task Group. He is directly responsible for several key updates to the growth of IPC-CFX and was instrumental in the development of both the IPC-CFX and HERMES standards. He has chosen the University of Karlsruhe/Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), for the memorial scholarship.                 

“The recipients of this year’s Dieter Bergman Fellowship award epitomize the spirit of fellowship in leading and working with volunteers from around the world, and we are fortunate that they have chosen to share their considerable talent and expertise,” said John W. Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “We are glad to be able to honor their volunteerism and assist future engineers with this award.”

In recognition of their leadership and their significant contributions of time and talent to IPC and the electronics manufacturing industry, three IPC volunteers were presented with the IPC President’s Award at IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego, Calif on January 24, 2023. Recipients were Steven Bowles, Lockheed Martin; Stan Rak, SF Rak Company; and Savita Ganjigatti, Sienna ECAD Technologies Private Limited.                                                                                                      

Steven Bowles is a member of more than 30 standards development committees, holding leadership roles as Chair of 3-10 Printed Board Base Materials, D-13 Flexible Circuits Base Materials, D-15 Flexible Circuits Test Methods, and D-11 Flexible Circuits Design. He is the Chair Emeritus of 2-30 Terms and Definitions Committee. Bowles is also a member of the Committee Chairman’s Council and a Lifetime Member of IPC’s Technical Activities Executive Committee (TAEC). He is a member of the Lead-Free Electronics Risk Management, (PERM) Council, a Mentor in IPC’s Emerging Engineer Program, and was the very first recipient of IPC’s Rising Star Award in 2015. Winner of many committee leadership and committee service awards, Bowles also serves as an IPC standards committee A-Team leader.                                             

Stan Rak is the chair of the IPC APEX EXPO 2023 Technical Program Committee (TPC) where he has served for six Technical Conferences in different roles, working closely with IPC staff and industry experts on program development.  Developments include the expansion and strengthening of the TPC, the introduction of Special Sessions designed to stimulate audience participation in emerging fields and assisting with the transition to a digital document format for improved communications with authors.  Rak has contributed to the inaugural releases of the standards, IPC-5262, IPC J-STD-001GA/IPC-A-610GA, and IPC-7093. He received the IPC Rising Star Award in 2016 for IPC-related contributions to the automotive electronics manufacturing industry.                                                                                                                 

Savita Ganjigatti has been involved in the industry for more than 30 years and served as a steering committee member for the IPC 2022 Global Design Competition, representing the Asia Pacific region. A program panel member of the IPC Global Thought Leadership Program, she also serves on the IPC India Technical Advisory Committee, was instrumental in starting the PCB competition in that region and conducted many design contests. Ganjigatti was a critical in the development of the Women in India Electronics group, paper presentations, and standards reviews facilitated by IPC India. She helped to implement “PCB Design Engineering” as an elective at several Indian universities, and she is actively involved in skill development initiatives of the Indian central government.

“The leadership and expertise of Steven, Stan, and Savita sets the standard for building electronics better,” said John W. Mitchell, IPC president and CEO. “By presenting them with IPC President’s Awards, we are showing our appreciation for their significant contributions to IPC and the global electronics manufacturing industry.”