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Travis Smith is a technical specialist and Mindy Sanchez is a manufacturing engineer, both with Ball Aerospace.
Kelly Dack: What have you both seen here at IPC APEX EXPO?
Travis Smith: I’m seeing a lot of great manufacturers and different equipment that’s available in the market, as well as new, emerging technologies. I’m learning a lot more about some of IPC’s standards and committees as well. It has been a fantastic week of educating ourselves for manufacturing processes going forward. And the IPC booth has a wealth of information.
Dack: What do you think about those pictorial examples they have in some of their specifications?
Smith: They’re great. I’m an IPC CID for a couple of different standards. I’m very familiar with all their standards. It’s nice to get to meet some of their staff, too.
Dack: Did you see any new standards over there or revisions that you weren’t familiar with?
Smith: Not yet. I was on a committee that was going over the training material for the next revision on the IPC-610, which is pretty exciting.
Dack: Thank you. There was one on designing for BGAs.
Mindy Sanchez: I love that so much.
Dack: How did the show go for you, Mindy?
Sanchez: This is my first time attending IPC APEX EXPO. It has been really exciting. I just got back from the Hakko booth, where I built my own Game Boy controller, which was really cool. Seeing all the manufacturers here in one place and getting to see all the technology has also been great.
Dack: Excellent. Did you get to connect with lots of different types of vendors?
Sanchez: I’m in manufacturing, so we design in our shop and do the manufacturing, as well. It’s really great to be able to work with that. Seeing all the different manufacturers looking for equipment that we could use to help improve the technologies in our office is huge.
To see more comments by IPC APEX EXPO 2020 attendees, visit Show & Tell Magazine.
