Dr. Cortney Baker, nationally recognized authority on women in leadership, will speak at the IPC APEX EXPO Women in Electronics reception on Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 6:00-7:00 p.

Members and exhibitors at the upcoming IPC APEX EXPO 2019 will have the opportunity to promote their new ideas in electronics by competing for the IPC APEX EXPO 2019 Innovation Awards, awards that recognize outstanding products and services for the electronics industry.

Senior-level executives from across the global electronics industry supply chain will gather to discuss challenges and opportunities of the burgeoning and rapidly changing automotive electronics industry during the IPC Executive Forum on Advancing Automotive Electronics at IPC APEX EXPO 2019. Presented by IPC’s Hall of Fame Council on January 28, the forum will focus on automotive electronics costs, reliability and programs from concept to production.

Leaders of the U.S. electronics industry today unveiled the IPC Workforce Champions program and pledged to create at least 1 million new skilled workforce opportunities over the next five years.

IPC’s World PCB Production Report for the Year 2017, published last week, shows how the global PCB industry achieved an estimated 13.9 percent real growth in 2017 – the fastest growth since the recovery year of 2010 – and what the industry’s global footprint looks like today. The report provides current estimates of PCB production value by country, region and product category, with commentary about industry trends and historical data.

IPC announced today the September 2018 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. Year-over-year growth continued for industry sales and orders. The book-to-bill ratio for September retreated slightly to 1.04.

Changing technologies that are driving the electronics industry will take center stage throughout the IPC APEX EXPO 2019 technical conference and professional development sessions, which will take place January 26-31 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Registration is now open at www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org.

Because IPC APEX EXPO will be held in January for the next five years, IPC will move its standards development committee meetings normally scheduled in Fall to June in 2019. This decision follows a survey of the standards committees where respondents indicated they would prefer to hold in-person standards development meetings in the summer months to have ample time to work on documents. IPC previously hosted its Fall Committee Standards Development meetings in conjunction with SMTA International (SMTAI).

IPC's Validation Services Program has awarded an IPC/WHMA-A-620 Qualified Manufacturers Listing (QML) Class 3, to AirBorn Inc. For its two locations, one in Georgetown, Texas and the other, in Lake City, Pa. Following an initial audit by IPC, AirBorn Inc. becomes one of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) trusted sources and suppliers meeting the stringent requirements of the Qualified Manufacturing Listing (QML) based on one of IPC's foremost standards: IPC/WHMA-A-620, Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

IPC, in conjunction with What’s New in Electronics Live and ART-- Advanced Rework Technology Ltd., conducted the IPC Hand Soldering Competition in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 25-26 September 2018. Seventeen competitors went soldering iron to soldering iron, with the hope of winning the coveted hand soldering competition crown.