Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1335241
FEBRUARY 2021 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 23 ital twin readiness, followed by deeper dives into the use of digital twin data to enhance and improve design and man- ufacture, as well as how to uti- lize data in the field from digital twin products. We're excited about all three of these sessions. Johnson: Right. You have stan- dards like CFX, IPC-2591, etc., and this begs the question for a virtual IPC APEX EXPO 2021: How are you handling the com- mittee meetings? Jorgensen: e standards committee meetings are a key element of every IPC APEX EXPO, so we will have meetings again this year—with a twist. Being apart for this year's event is not ideal, but it gave us the opportunity to think outside the box a little bit when scheduling our meet- ings. Our committee meetings always run con- current with the technical program at the event. is means committee members oen must miss technical programming and our technical program attendees oen will miss committee meetings they would want to attend. is year, we will hold our IPC APEX EXPO committee meetings before and aer the week of the technical conference. As with past in- person APEX EXPO meetings, they will be open to anyone who wants to listen in on what a specific group or groups are working on and, if interested, get involved with those groups. We're already hearing positive responses to this approach from our committee chairs and members, so we anticipate event attendees will also be happy with this move. We will post the full meeting schedule and a mechanism for getting meeting invitations on the IPC APEX EXPO website very soon. Check out the list of meetings. If you see top- ics of interest, request the meeting invitations, and help to shape our industry standards. Johnson: Matt, IPC has been collaborating even more closely than in the past with several industry organizations. Can you tell us about this? Kelly: One thing that IPC has done in 2020 is to recon- nect in some cases—and then strengthen in others—our col- laboration with other industry groups. is is so that IPC can make sure that we're working directly with these groups to ensure that new information, new research, and new develop- ment efforts reflect state-of-the-art advance- ments and critical issues as best as possible. We've recently engaged with MTC, PSMA, and AIAG and continue our longstanding rela- tionships with iNEMI, HDP, and Navy Defense Base as well. iNEMI, for example, will be discussing 5G high-frequency challenges and opportuni- ties. HDP is reporting on latest 2019 and 2020 project updates. Topics include evaluating sol- der joint fatigue performance as a function of PCB thickness, accelerated thermal cycling, and photonic soldering rework. From the Navy DoD workgroup, we've got a session on the defense PCB industrial base and their technol- ogy roadmap—things like quilted circuit board assemblies and high-density interconnect development. When you look at the IPC APEX EXPO program, we have a very nice collection of other industry groups presenting their work. Jorgensen: Another group we have part- nered with for the last couple of years is the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America—or AFFOA. ey and their members have been engaged in our e-textiles standards activities for the past several years, and as that relation- ship has grown, so has our work together. We Chris Jorgensen