PC is applauding leaders in the U.S. House and Senate for finalizing the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and including a provision on military electronics backed by IPC.Reflecting IPC’s collaboration with Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Section 845 of the bill calls on the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Executive Agent for Printed Circuit Board and Interconnect Technology (based at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to prepare a report to Congress by January 2019 on the health of the U.S. defense electronics industrial base. The report will include an examination of the Department’s partnerships with industry and a plan to formalize the long-term resourcing of the Executive Agent.

IPC's Validation Services Program has awarded an IPC J-STD-001, IPC-A-610 and IPC/WHMA-A-620 Qualified Manufacturers Listing (QML) Class 3, to the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) business area. Following an initial audit by IPC, Lockheed Martin RMS becomes one of the OEM trusted sources and suppliers meeting the stringent requirements of the Qualified Manufacturing Listing (QML) based on three of IPC's foremost standards: IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, IPC-A-610, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies and IPC/WHMA-A-620, Requirements and Acceptance for Cable and Wire Harness Assemblies.

IPC's Study of Quality Benchmarks for Electronics Assembly 2018 is now available. The global study provides valuable benchmarking data to electronics assembly companies interested in comparing their quality measurements to those of the industry worldwide.

High density interconnect (HDI) technology makes it possible to place more components on both sides of a raw PCB and from a design perspective, HDI technology requires different setup and thought as to what is needed and how to accomplish it. As a result, designers need to understand the structure of the HDI traces and vias, and what their options and effects are to the cost and electronics involved.

IPC – Association Connecting Electronics Industries, the global industry association representing the $2 trillion global electronics industry, applauds a U.S. Senate committee for its work in advancing a workforce education and training bill.

IPC reports that 85 percent of exhibit floor space has been sold for IPC APEX EXPO® 2019. Three hundred twenty-seven exhibitors have been assigned to 134,200 net square feet of exhibit space, marking a 5 percent increase in square footage compared to 2018’s booth space selection event. The premier technical conference and exhibition for the electronics manufacturing industry will take place January 29–31, 2019, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif.

IPC launched a global survey of printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers in the electronics industry this week. This confidential survey is part of a global data collection effort for the development of IPC’s 2018 PCB Technology Trends study. The deadline for PCB fabricator survey responses is July 13.

IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries® has extended the deadline of their invitation for engineers, researchers, academics, technical experts and industry leaders to submit abstracts for IPC APEX EXPO 2019 to be held at the San Diego Convention Center. The technical conference will take place January 29–31, 2019. The extended deadline for technical conference abstracts is June 29, 2018.

IPC launched a global survey of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the electronics industry this week. This confidential survey is part of a global data collection effort for the development of IPC’s 2018 PCB Technology Trends study. The deadline for OEM survey responses is July 6.

The competition was fierce as 27 competitors went soldering iron to soldering iron in IPC’s Hand Soldering Regional Qualification Competition at SMT Hybrid Packaging 2018 in Nuremberg, Germany. Of the 27 boards submitted by the competitors only four of the electronic assemblies were functional. Taking first place and a cash prize of €300 was Catherine Cardinal-Simoan, Thales International, who earned 422 points out of a possible 445.