CHAPTER NEWSLETTER – July 2022
Hello members!
It’s summer here in North America and Europe, and as we move into the hot summer months, we hope you are finding ways to stay cool and enjoy yourselves.
We want to call attention this month to a couple items ahead of us:
- The annual PCB designer/design engineer salary survey will be open for a few more days. Please take a moment to complete it. This year we offer two forms: 1) our classic comprehensive version that encompasses all aspects of the field, from compensation to technology, and 2) an abridged, 13-question version that focuses only on compensation and can be completed in fewer than two minutes. Take your pick! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N989JS3
- PCEA will host a free 90-minute webinar on EMI/EMC by Harry Kennedy Jr. on July 27. See Other Educational Opportunities below for more details.
- The technical program for PCB West 2022 features nearly 50 presentations and more than 110 hours of in-depth electronics engineering training. Professional education hours are offered for the technical conference, which can be used for maintaining professional certifications and for corporate training program requirements. Among the industry experts on tap for this year’s show are Rick Hartley, Susy Webb, Thomas Chester and Dan Beeker. The conference will be held October 4 to 7 at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center and features classes for every level of experience, from novice to expert. Registration is now open at pcbwest.com.
Mike Buetow
PCEA President
mike@pcea.net
Local Chapters
ALBUQUERQUE – There is interest in forming a local PCEA chapter here. Please contact pcea@pcea.net if you are interested in helping the launch.
DALLAS – Harry Kennedy is looking for individuals within the DFW Metroplex to help build and develop the Dallas Chapter. If you’re interested in helping, or just want to stay informed, please fill out the form here.
DENVER – There is interest in forming a local PCEA chapter here. Please contact pcea@pcea.net if you are interested in helping the launch.
NEW ENGLAND – There is interest in forming a local PCEA chapter here. Please contact pcea@pcea.net if you are interested in helping the launch.
ONTARIO (CANADA) – The Ontario chapter had 25 attendees for its Lunch and Learn on June 8.
ORANGE COUNTY, CA – The Orange County chapter is hoping to hold an in-person meeting this month.
NATIONAL – We held a free 90-minute webinar by Kunal Shah on surface finish selection on June 28. You may register to view the recorded presentation here.
OCTOBER ELECTIONS – A ballot for the October election of the board of directors will be circulated shortly. Please look for it and be sure to respond. Directors are nominated by the nominating task group and voted on by the general membership, with ballots circulated a minimum 60 days prior to the annual meeting (currently scheduled for October 4, 2022, at PCB West).
Please forward your chapter news to Chelsey Drysdale (chelsey@pcea.net) for inclusion on our website and in future newsletters.
Other Educational Opportunities
EMI/EMC – Join Harry Kennedy Jr. on July 27 for a special 90-minute webinar on EMI/EMC. If you are not a signal integrity (SI) expert, the thought of EMI/EMC issues might bring you chills. As PCB simulation tools continue to improve, it’s important to incorporate signal integrity checks early in the design process. Instead of waiting for the analysis results after laying out your PCB, why not implement best practices into your verification process.
This noncommercial webinar, free to all PCEA members, will look at common EMI/EMC issues, and how they can be traced back to design best practices. It will also look at how to can use rule-based verification to automatically check for indicators, saving time and money.
This workshop is meant for beginner to mid-level PCB designers and SI engineers. The purpose of this workshop is to add a skillset that helps free up the time of the SI expert. This workshop also encourages users to add best practices into their current workflow by adopting this methodology. This workshop can be done with generic DfE and DfM tools. Register today!
PCB WEST – The metaverses offer myriad opportunities not just for users but for developers of computing devices. As that market takes off, what novel innovations in materials and production will be needed for printed circuit designs to meet the requirements for weight, size, and functionality?
Those are the questions Dr. Brian Toleno, manager, Applied Materials at Meta’s Reality Labs, will tackle when he keynotes this year’s PCB West conference. His talk, Augmented and Virtual Reality, the Next Computer Revolution, will describe the current market, use cases, and the technology all around AR/VR, with a focus on the printed circuit board aspects.
At Meta, Dr. Toleno leads a multi-disciplinary team that works on the material challenges in Meta’s consumer electronics hardware. These devices include VR headsets (Quest 2), smart glasses (Ray-Ban Stories), Portal smart screens and other exciting devices that help bring people together.
Dr. Toleno is a leading expert in materials science for electronics applications. Prior to Meta, Dr. Toleno was director of new technology at Microsoft, working on the Hololens and director of global product management for underfills and encapsulants at Henkel. He was also a director of SMTA. He has a doctorate in chemistry from Penn State University and a bachelor’s of science in chemistry from Ursinus College.
His talk takes place Oct. 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center as part of “Free Wednesday.” It’s free to attend but registration is required: pcbwest.com.
Reading Material
Highlights of the July issue of PCD&F/Circuits Assembly:
- THERMAL MANAGEMENT – Companies should perform their own testing or develop their own thermal models to determine conductor current carrying capacity in any given technology. An explanation of IPC-2152 and the information it provides to get started. (Mike Jouppi)
- OSP MYTHS – After many years of debate, a specification for organic solderability preservatives is finally here. IPC-4555 sets the record straight: OSPs are not all the same, and they have regained their leadership role as a final finish. (Michael Carano)
- SUPPLY CHAIN – In May, Summit Interconnect announced its acquisition of Royal Circuit Solutions, expanding the fabricator’s capacity of rigid and flex PCBs. But it was the behind-the-scenes technologies and assembly capacity that convinced Summit president and CEO Shane Whiteside to make the deal.
- IMPEDANCE – Determining your optimum geometry, plus two methods for providing data to the fabricator. (John Burkhert Jr.)
- INSPECTION – Correlating inspection trending with test data to fine-tune accept/reject parameters. (Filemon Sagrero)
Committees
The Education Committee receives requests each month for mentors. If you are open to helping coach colleagues looking to develop their design or engineering skills, or provide career advice, please let us know at pcea@pcea.net.
