CHAPTER NEWSLETTER – May 2025
Greetings!
We had a tremendous week in the Boston suburbs earlier this month for PCB East!
We were very pleased at the turnout this year, especially given the economic uncertainty in the industry. Attendance for the exhibits rose nearly 4% year-over-year, and attendance among the exhibits-only category was up 15% from a year ago.
Exhibitors were roundly supportive of the show floor activity, and conference registrants were particularly pleased with the additional networking events.
Some of the comments we heard:
- “What a great conference! The speakers were of the highest caliber and the topics varied greatly. They were not all focused on PCB design but on the efforts related to hardware design more broadly.”
- “We had a fantastic few days connecting with engineers, OEMs, and industry partners from across the country.”
- “Busy day at PCB East! Met with customers, reps, and discovered new, exciting leads.”
We are already looking forward to next year’s show.
Join us on May 14 for a free one-hour webinar on flex and rigid-flex circuits. Whether starting with a simple flex design or a complex rigid-flex design, this presentation offers a different perspective. Presenter Dave Lackey of ASC Sunstone will cover material selections, fabrication notes, design tool considerations, panel/array usage, and manufacturability.
And be sure to register now for our newest event, PCB Detroit, a two-day technical conference coming in June, and take advantage of our buy one, get one free offer.
Our latest PCEA Training certified printed circuit designer curriculum schedule is out. We have open classes beginning in June, September, and November. Plus, we continue to do private classes for companies.
Hope your summer plans are rounding into shape.
Mike Buetow
PCEA President
mike@pcea.net
P.S. Join our Discord server, bringing together PCEA members from around the world on a private channel for discussing technical questions and career opportunities. Send a note to membership@pcea.net.
PCEA Training Update
Congratulations to our newest certified designers:
- Shujat Ali
- Syed Wasi Hassan Bokhari
- Patrick Chiu
- Margaret Frachioni
- Jaymole Kaduparambil
- Sergio Monroy Mendoza
- Daniel Mignanelli
- Joel Suddaby
- Ayman Suhrawardy
- Andrew Touma
- Ali Yassine
Local Chapters
Please forward your chapter news to pcea@pcea.net for inclusion on our website and in future newsletters.
National: The annual PCEA meeting will be held September 30 during PCB West at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. An update on all association programs, plus the annual awards, will be presented.
Orange County: We are looking at a meeting the week of July 21. Stephen Chavez is our speaker and the topic is PCB Best Practices: Optimizing Engineering to Manufacturing Efficiencies,
Portland, OR: Our May presentation will feature Daniel Lindmark of Allspice.io, who will talk about design for manufacturing challenges and solutions: a discussion about real problems, workarounds, and fixes. Thanks to Bob Carter of Oak-Mitsui and John Andresakis of Quantic Ohmega for their March and April talk, respectively, talks on embedded materials. Contact Stephan Schmidt for details.
San Diego: A big shout-out to John Ranieri of Oak-Mitsui for his April presentation on the impact of ultra-thin laminates on PCB design, signal and power integrity, and EMC. Also thanks to Marshall Tibbetts of ACI for his talk on additive manufacturing. Two great sessions! Stay tuned for an in-person meeting this summer.
Virginia: Michael Burns is heading up the new chapter here. A Zoom kickoff meeting featuring Dan Beeker is coming up this summer.
Upcoming conferences:
- PCB Detroit. June 2-3, Detroit
- PCB West. Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.
- PCEA Training. PCEA will hold Printed Circuit Engineering Professional curriculum and certification classes as follows:
- June 23, 30, July 7, 14, 21
- Sept. 12, 19, 25, Oct. 10, 17
- Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec. 1
Reading Material
See below for highlights of the recent issues of PCD&F/Circuits Assembly. Read it all here.
Have an idea for an article? Contact us at pcea@pcea.net. No writing experience required!
- Are you using too many vias? Almost the entire industry believed that if the conducting cross-sectional area of the trace is n times greater than the conducting cross-sectional area of the via, then n vias are needed. We were wrong.
- Component land patterns: A primer. Key aspects on of determining parts layout from the manufacturer’s perspective.
- Is the industry ready for a solderless world? A groundbreaking advancement in solderless electronics manufacturing.
- For design tools, another record. Can it last? Making sense of the current market trends.
- A case study in solder balling and process optimization. The importance of a methodical troubleshooting approach.
- TFT module development. Expertise surrounding TFT module design in the US appears to have diminished, largely due to increasing operational costs.
- Managing the design room. So you want to be in charge?