Conferences

PCEA Issues Call for Abstracts for PCB East 2024

SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) seeks abstracts for the upcoming PCB East technical conference, coming to the Boston suburbs next spring. The conference will focus on training and best practices for printed circuit board design engineers, electronics design engineers, fabricators and assemblers.

The three-day technical conference will take place June 4-7, 2024, in Boxborough, MA. The event includes a one-day exhibition on June 5.

Papers and presentations of the following durations are sought for the technical conference: one-hour lectures and presentations; two-hour works

hops; and half-day (3.5-hour) and full-day seminars.

Preference is given to presentations of two hours in length or more, and no presentations of less than one hour will be considered.

Abstracts of 100-500 words and speaker biographies should be submitted to PCEA. Papers and presentations must be noncommercial in nature and should focus on technology, techniques or methodologies related to printed circuit board design, fabrication, assembly, test, components or packaging, and additive manufacturing.

Submit abstracts to https://pcbeast.com/abstract-submission-guidelines by November 10, 2023. No emailed abstracts will be accepted.

Speaker Benefits: Presenters of accepted abstract(s) for the 2024 program receive the following event benefits.

• Complimentary access to the online proceedings
• Complimentary pass to the technical conference

For more information about PCB East, visit pcbeast.com or contact Conference Director Mike Buetow at 617-327-4702; mike@pcea.net.

Trade Shows

PCB West 2023 Show Registration Grew 5%

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 – Nearly 2,000 industry professionals, representing 36 countries and 46 states, registered for the PCB West conference and exhibition held last week, the Printed Circuit Engineering Association announced today. Overall attendance was up 5% year-over-year, and the show floor was completely sold out for the exhibition.

The annual conference took place September 19-22, including a one-day exhibition on September 20, at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. It attracted engineers and other professionals from a range of printed circuit and electronics design, fabrication, assembly and advanced packaging companies. 

“PCB West isn’t just a trade show; it’s an amazing event that brings industry minds together and sparks innovation,” said Kelly Atay, marketing program manager, ASC Sunstone Circuits, a US-based printed circuit board fabricator. “Can’t wait for the next one!” 

“The ICAPE team had a wonderful time at PCB West 2023!” said ICAPE USA, a supplier of printed circuit boards and electronic assemblies. “We were very impressed with the turnout!”

“We really enjoyed it, and it has given us more confidence that we should be doubling down on

the US market,” said Sebastian Schaal, founder and managing director at Luminovo, a provider of software for monitoring, quoting and procuring PCBAs.

PCEA also announced PCB West 2024 will take place October 8-11, 2024, at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. The event includes a one-day exhibition on October 9. 

PCB West

Rick Hartley, Bob McCreight Receive Annual PCEA Awards

SANTA CLARA, CA – SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) today announced Rick Hartley as recipient of the annual PCEA Leadership Award, for his lifetime service in the pursuit of educating and training PCB design engineers.

The announcement was made at the PCEA annual meeting in conjunction with the PCB West conference and exhibition.

Hartley (pictured, at right) was one of the cofounders of PCEA in 2020, and was the first chair of the Conferences Task Group. He also reviewed much of the reference material in the Education section of PCEA’s website.

In his 50 years in the electronics design industry, Hartley has become a go-to for training on signal integrity, noise control, and EMI. He is the most popular speaker in the history of the PCB West conference, and has developed a series of webinars and workshops to train design engineers and designers.

Silicon Valley chapter president Bob McCreight has been named the second annual PCEA Membership Award recipient. 

McCreight (pictured, at left) has been the president of the Silicon Valley chapter of PCEA since its inception. He currently works for Tesla as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) designer and has been active in the printed circuit industry for more than 30 years.

PCEA chairman Stephen Chavez (pictured, center) presented the awards.

Certification

PCEA Training Announces Final 2023 Classes

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – SEPTEMBER 15, 2023 – PCEA Training is offering two five-day training classes on October 2-6 and December 4-8 for printed circuit engineers, layout professionals, and other individuals currently serving in the design engineering industry or seeking to get into it.

These instructor-led classes cover the gamut of printed circuit design engineering, from layout and place and route, to specifications, materials, and manufacturing methods. Schematic capture, signal integrity and EMI/EMC are also part of the comprehensive program.

There are no prerequisite requirements to enroll. Upcoming classes will be held online. All courses are led by experienced instructors.

Registration fees include the 400-page handbook, Printed Circuit Engineering Professional, authored by Michael Creeden, Stephen Chavez, Rick Hartley, Susy Webb and Gary Ferrari.

The course includes an optional certification exam recognized by the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA).

For information about the instructors of the course and authors of the course material, visit pceatraining.net/instructors-authors.

For information about the course overview, class format, and materials to prepare in advance for the class, visit pceatraining.net/course-overview.

To apply, visit pceatraining.net/registration for the next available class or contact Mike Buetow at pceatraining@pcea.net for additional information.