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92 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 Flexible Thinking by Joe Fjelstad, VERDANT ELECTRONICS "It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." –Yogi Berra Yogi Berra and several other more scientif- ically minded individuals (including no less than pioneering physicist Nils Bohr) have been proven right time and again with their sim- ple but astute observations about predicting the future. The future is indeed very difficult to predict, but certain things can be intuited with a modicum of logic and a bit of wild-eyed speculation. Some fellow soldiers and I, serv- ing with the 101 st Airborne, "invented" what is now called virtual reality (VR) and/or aug- mented reality (AR) in Vietnam 50 years ago during some of our less frenetic off-hours. It was based on our steel pot helmets, and it had a curved display that gave a 180° field of view and speakers placed around it that pro- vided 3D sound (we did not, however, envi- sion stereoscopic vision to provide 3D imag- ing, as I recall). Of course, we had no way to implement our outrageous ideas because the technologies re- quired to support our collective vision were not available until now. I am willing to assert without proof that there were likely others who may have had a similar and con- temporary inspiration. Most certain- ly, there have been numerous oth- ers who have had similar ideas since, as evidenced by the Ocu- lus VR headset, which is now available. We are seeing in- creasing interest in technologies that will allow one to make electronic sub- strates in near real-time using ad- ditive processing techniques and 3D printers. It is a true game-changer in prod- uct development. The surge in interest in ad- ditive manufacturing technologies shown in recent times—as indicated by the significant increase in published articles and press re- leases—suggests that the electronic intercon- Additive Manufacturing of PCBs