Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1483130
74 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2022 Todd Brassard, vice pres- ident and COO at Calumet Electronics, participated not only in the IPC Advanced Packaging Symposium in Washington, D.C., Oct. 11-13, but also met with congressio- nal staffers at the Capitol dur- ing his visit. Todd does not back down from a challenge, and the one in front of him is no different. It's why his com- pany is at the forefront of the conversation, and he plans to keep it that way. Nolan Johnson: Calumet is showing up repeat- edly in the conversation around advanced packaging; you're established as a company at the forefront. Meredith LaBeau, your chief technology officer, was mentioned and sat on a panel here. You've been talking to Senate staff on the Hill as well. at's a lot of activity. What's your takeaway? Todd Brassard: is is the first time IPC has done a micro- electronics symposium; today was a new venture for them. T h e r e s e e m s t o b e m o r e than 100 companies here. I am pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the conversa- tions, the depth of the infor- mation and the insights that are being shared, and the uniformity of the problem. We've seen discussion from the most advanced technol- ogies right down to the fun- damentals, and the messag- ing is consistent: We need to do it in the U.S., and we need to do it fast. ere are poten- tially imminent threats devel- oping, and we must be capable of producing the technologies that keep the country safe and keep the country competitive. Johnson: It seems like the moti- vation is strong to ask Calumet how this works and how to get there. You are blazing a trail. Brassard: If you listen to the dialogue, you hear a variety of "PCB shops can participate or PCB shops can't participate. ey should; they shouldn't." We feel that maybe it's not for every PCB shop, but it's certainly not out of the bounds for those PCB shops that want to advance. Where substrates are today, that's where PCBs will be a decade from now. Minia- turization will continue. ings will get smaller. Maybe someday the substrate won't be the interposer, but the PCB will be the inter- poser. Because everything is built at the microelectronic scale and the PCB just scales it up to interface with the sys- tem. ere are many reasons for a PCB shop to explore what they're interested in. Johnson: Excellent. anks. Brassard: ank you, Nolan. Trailblazing Substrates in PCB Fabrication Todd Brassard Meredith LaBeau