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82 I-CONNECT007 I SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE 2018 by Steve Williams THE RIGHT APPROACH CONSULTING This year's show was one of the best in recent history, both in attendance and enthus i- a s m . T h e ex h i b i t floor was sold out, and every single person I talked to was extremely optimistic about business in 2018. What follows are a series of observations and excerpts from conversations I had with some of the most interesting people I met. Dr. Kunal Shah Founder of LiloTree Don't let his PhD in material science fool you; Dr. Shah is just as likely to sit down with you over a beer and discuss sports as he is nanotechnol- ogy. Drawing upon his experience as a scien- tist with Intel, Shah found a niche as a problem solver for the who's who of the aerospace and medical industries when he founded liloTree. OEMs and prime contractors come to liloTree to help solve processing and functional prob- lems with both printed circuit boards and elec- tronic components. Like an advanced third- party failure analysis lab, liloTree can investi- gate and determine the root cause of process and product failures. Where liloTree separates themselves is in their ability to solve the prob- lem, either by finding an industry solution that already exists, or by developing one from the ground up. The latter path led to the develop- ment of an industry game-changer, ENIG-Pre- mium. Tasked with finding a solution for black pad, liloTree developed a proprietary barrier layer between nickel and gold that not only eliminates black pad, but also improves solder joint strength. Further, this proprietary process has applications in the semiconductor industry and is available right now. Fred Long Business Development with Matrix Fred and I spent some time trying to top each other with stories from the "PCB good old days," and I lost handily! Matrix is a supplier of printed circuit materials to the industry, and our discus - sion focused on Matrix's new automation con- tributions to Industry 4.0, which was the buzz of the show. Fred briefed me on some inno- vative, automated panel cleaning equipment solutions Matrix released, which is generating a lot of interest. The most interesting develop- ment Fred discussed is the new cut sheet lami- nator and handling equipment that strips off the Mylar from the laminated panel. Literally minutes before I ran into Fred, I was speaking with a PCB client who was at the show solely Conversations on the Floor: IPC APEX EXPO 2018