Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1183414
84 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 I recently kicked off a presentation on flex and rigid-flex by asking for a show of hands of those who had never worked with flex materi- als or considered themselves to be just learn- ing how to design with flex. Over half of the room raised their hands, which excited me be- cause I could help them learn something new, but it also surprised me a bit. After all, flex is the fastest-growing portion of the market and has been for several years. But change can be hard and uncomfortable, and there is a natural tendency to avoid change until there is no oth- er choice, especially in a work environment. Over the next few years, one thing that I think is going to change in our industry is more and more people will be forced to embrace change and adopt new technologies and materials at a faster pace than we have had the luxury of in the past. The industry is moving at a rapid pace, with new materials and processes rolling out quickly. Electronics are becoming increas- ingly complex in smaller and lighter packages. We all serve different areas of the electronics market and work with varying levels of tech- nology. For some, change could mean mov- ing to flex and rigid-flex to take advantage of space, weight, and packaging benefits. For oth- ers, change could mean leaning into semi-ad- ditive PCB processing because line width and space requirements need to be much smaller than we are able to reliably achieve with tradi- tional subtractive processes. Fabricators serv- ing that technology segment will deal with changes and adjustments to processes and work with new technologies and materials that challenge how we think about PCB design. In my opinion, the best way to lessen the challenges and uncertainty of change is to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible. Yes, I think internet searches and YouTube vid- The Challenge of Change Flex Talk by Tara Dunn, OMNI PCB