Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1083315
130 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2019 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE Dale Lee Staff DFX process engineer, Plexus Corporation Some of the highlights for me have been the chance to see old colleagues that I haven't seen for many years, some of them for almost over a decade. I've also enjoyed checking out new advanced technologies and materials for next-generation products. Classes and committee meetings are progressing very well too, and attendance is good. I've been on some panel discussions, and now I have to prepare for a presentation. Cherie Litson Master design instructor (MIT, CID, CID+), EPTAC Corporation I'm having fun. I've been going around and going through the "passport to prizes" thing where you visit different booths, talk to people, and you get a little sticker. Once it's filled out, you can submit it for the chance to win a prize. When I've been talking with all of these dif- ferent companies about what they do, I ask, "How does a designer fall into place with that, and what would they like to see from the designers?" It has been a little give and take. I was just at the Universal Instruments booth watching the pick-and-place machine. One thing that comes up all the time in the CID course that I teach is, "Why do I have to orient my com - ponents all the same? Does that help?" With the new technology these days, it doesn't. But what I did ask is, "What format do you want to see from designers, and what works from you?" They said, "Anything but Gerber." And when I asked about the data format as it comes to them, they said they have to massage it like crazy. The most interesting thing I've seen besides the Tesla, which was a lot of fun to sit in, was a solder mask machine that would print out silkscreen super thin—10 microns—and read- able with one- to two-mil lines. The capability of being able to do that takes care of a lot of issues that we have with fine-pitch parts with- out being too expensive. Clay McElhany Director of operations, EE Technologies Inc. It has been a great year so far. We're looking at a lot of new technologies and equipment. AOI is something we're looking at as replace- ments for old equipment that we have, and I'm really impressed with what we're finding. Mauricio Mendez Senior PCB engineer, Plexus Corporation All of the printed electron- ics have been fascinating. I think it's good for wearables and these kinds of things. I want to bring that to our company too. The future of electronics is coming. It's awesome to see new PCB technologies and materials coming around. Gordon O'Hara Senior director of automation, Bright Machines We make robotic cells for this industry and also soft- ware and automation solu- tions. I see a lot of renewed interest, and I like that they distributed the large vendors, so there's more traffic all over the show floor as opposed to them picking prime locations. Leo Ortiz Business development manager, TestEquity I come to the show every year. I wouldn't miss it. The show has a lot of presence of different companies, and I see a lot of customers that I already know from Mex- ico, so it's really great to see them again. We're distributors of test equip-