Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1236528
10 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2020 I-Connect007 was working diligently to re- search and report on "Going Green" for the April issue. Although it was a good topic, sometimes, the world has other plans. As the COVID-19 outbreak went global, all plans changed for the electronics industry. As I write this column, orders for medical devices— ventilators, respirators, and viral detec- tion equipment, especially—are the manufacturing priority, all while a large portion of the world's population shel- ters in place (as the U.S. tends to call it) to slow and eventually stop the viral spread. All the w h i l e, Wu h a n — a n d China as a whole—start to reemerge. Seemingly overnight, we pivoted to respond to a health crisis. We're inundated by pan- demic news on the main- stream media. We know what's happening in the U.S., China, Tai- wan, Spain, Italy, the U.K., and elsewhere around the globe. There is hardly a conversa- tion to be had on any topic that doesn't in- clude mention of the pandemic. While going green was our original topic, current events demanded that we pivot, devoting this issue to the breaking news and changing dynamics COVID-19 has brought us. Around the world, we shelter in place and wait. We work from home and take over the frontline duties of educating our children. In some ways, with some people, we are coming closer together. In other ways, we are enacting strict social distancing to keep each other safe. And yet, we still find new ways to reach out. I live in a building with about 90 loft-style apart- ments in a mostly-urban neighborhood on the west coast of the U.S. Before the outbreak, my neighbors were consistently aloof. Now, though, it's different. We keep our physical distance, sure, but we stop when we encounter a neighbor and check on one an- other. Are they in need of something? A walk down the hallway will now regularly include bags of groceries or household items left on a neighbors' door- step by someone else in the building. Human connection means so much during this time, and we're helping each other by sharing our resources. Read IPC's Dr. John Mitchell's most re- cent interview in this issue, and you'll find the same story amongst those of us in the indus- try. These times demand teamwork among ri- vals—an immediate stop to business as usual on the competitive front because, right now, we all need to work together. Mitchell also shares some anecdotes he's heard—some of which IPC found itself directly involved in—where companies have banded together to help everyone. A prime example Nolan's Notes by Nolan Johnson, I-CONNECT007 Sometimes, You Have to Shout 'Stop the Presses!'