-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBox Build
One trend is to add box build and final assembly to your product offering. In this issue, we explore the opportunities and risks of adding system assembly to your service portfolio.
IPC APEX EXPO 2024 Pre-show
This month’s issue devotes its pages to a comprehensive preview of the IPC APEX EXPO 2024 event. Whether your role is technical or business, if you're new-to-the-industry or seasoned veteran, you'll find value throughout this program.
Boost Your Sales
Every part of your business can be evaluated as a process, including your sales funnel. Optimizing your selling process requires a coordinated effort between marketing and sales. In this issue, industry experts in marketing and sales offer their best advice on how to boost your sales efforts.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
John Mitchell: Focus on the Future
December 6, 2021 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In a far-ranging interview, Dr. John Mitchell and Barry Matties discuss the upcoming IPC APEX EXPO, IPC programs, and the challenges (and opportunities) facing our industry. If you think Dr. Mitchell's assessment would be pessimistic, you'd be wrong.
Barry Matties: John, what are you most excited about for the upcoming IPC APEX EXPO?
Dr. John Mitchell: Getting together with the industry again. Unlike years past, it’s been a long time since most of us have been together face-to-face. While we’re going to have a lot of tremendous and compelling content, the thing I’m most excited about is for everybody in the industry being able to reengage.
We’re an industry that enjoys and needs to work together, and we’ve been held at bay for too long. Throughout 2021, at every conference I’ve attended, people are really excited about seeing each other again. And since APEX EXPO is one of the premier events for the industry, that is the thing I’m happiest about—getting people back together again, getting them excited.
In addition, I’m also excited that we’re partnering with Altium, whose AltiumLive design conference will be co-located with APEX EXPO.
Matties: Tell me about that. How did that come about and what’s the benefit?
Mitchell: IPC has been providing standards and education on the design front for decades. But there’s a dearth of good, experienced, young engineers. We’ve been trying to encourage students to consider engineering and design as a great career path. Altium, similarly focused, makes a lot of their software freely available to students.
AltiumLive connects all aspects of the engineering design and development community, and we think that co-locating AltiumLive at APEX EXPO will benefit our attendees, too, since we have so many design programs to offer.
Matties: This will really give the designers an opportunity to get there, perhaps a day early, and get out on the APEX EXPO exhibition floor and maybe spend some time in conferences.
Mitchell: Yeah, they can do APEX EXPO professional development courses beforehand, and then they can experience Altium Live as well. We’re looking forward to that.
Matties: I think this next APEX EXPO will be, for many, the first event that they will have attended in-person since about two years ago. Has the last two years impacted the format for it?
Mitchell: The biggest impact really is about making sure everybody is safe at the event. In accordance with the guidelines in California and the San Diego Convention Center, we expect the requirement will be that people show either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours. (Most people coming from overseas must do that anyway when they get on the plane.) Attendees will find a COVID Q&A on our website that explains our protocols more fully.
Matties: Do you expect a lot of international participation?
Mitchell: We had some concerns about that a few months ago, but with the U.S. re-opening its borders to international tourists, we’re encouraged. Our registrations show that we have people signing up from literally everywhere, even from places where they’re going to have to quarantine when they go back. We found that very gratifying and encouraging.
Matties: Speaking of registrations, how is that tracking? Are you seeing an increase over the last in-person event or is it an adjusted goal?
Mitchell: I think people are being more cautious right now because they just don’t know what’s going to happen. The whole Delta variant July caught everybody by surprise. We thought we were getting out of the COVID concerns, and everything was going to be rosy. Then Delta hit, and people thought, “Oh wait, whoa.”
That was a few weeks before we opened registration, so I think there’s some cautiousness. We have a lot of people saying, “Yeah, we’re still planning to come,” but they’re not ready to commit. To be clear, I am speaking about individual registrations. Most of the exhibitors have signed up, so we are encouraged by that.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the December 2021 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Lockheed Martin Australia, The Department Of Defence Sign Strategic Partnership Head Contract
04/26/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark AUD$500 million contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).
SMC Korea 2024 to Highlight Semiconductor Materials Trends and Innovations on Industry’s Path to $1 Trillion
04/24/2024 | SEMIWith Korea a major consumer of semiconductor materials and advanced materials a key driver of innovation on the industry’s path to $1 trillion, industry leaders and experts will gather at SMC (Strategic Materials Conference) Korea 2024 on May 29 at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea to provide insights into the latest materials developments and trends. Registration is open.
Elevating PCB Design Engineering With IPC Programs
04/24/2024 | Cory Blaylock, IPCIn a monumental stride for the electronics manufacturing industry, IPC has successfully championed the recognition of the PCB Design Engineer as an official occupation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). This pivotal achievement not only underscores the critical role of PCB design engineers within the technology landscape, but also marks the beginning of a transformative journey toward nurturing a robust, skilled workforce ready to propel our industry into the future.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Going Vertical: SCHMID's Advanced Solutions for Printed Circuit Boards
04/24/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOEditor Marcy LaRont chats with Bob Ferguson, the president of SCHMID, about advanced solutions for PCBs and the equipment they are highlighting at this year's show. He delves into vertical no-touch handling systems and the prospect of achieving sub-10-micron lines. Inspired by SCHMID's technology, Bob expresses excitement about where the industry is today.
Big Win for Defense Production Act Budget Allocation in FY24 Budget
04/23/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamOne year ago, President Biden issued a determination that chips and packaging are critical for national security. Since that time, much work has been done to continue the conversation in Washington, elevating the importance of the entire chips value chain, and including printed circuit boards and substrates, without which chips cannot operate.