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24 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2021 Automotive electronics is obviously a very important area now with rapidly emerging requirements to operate in extreme condi- tions. As such, we've built a dedicated ses- sion on automotive electronics advancements resulting from our engagement with AIAG and with IPC members working in the automotive sector. In this session, we'll be addressing top- ics like improvement of automotive designs through proper material choices, technology verification for reliable smart surfaces, and reli- ability of solder alloys for harsh environments. One thing that I think readers will note is there's less content being offered on conven- tional assembly process technologies. e main reason is we had overwhelming demand for new technology content. We turned away over a third of abstracts this year for the tech- nical conference. is stat alone shows the strong demand for new Factory of the Future topics and PCB board fabrication advance- ments—specifically, microvia and other HDI technologies. Johnson: at seems to be the focus for those in assembly and EMS, for sure. Kelly: Again, I want to stress, as a reader looks at this program, it's not that we're not inter- ested in assembly processes, it was just the overwhelming demand for these new technol- ogies and that's very exciting. Johnson: Let's circle back to the Factory of the Future. You have quite a lot going on there. ere's the ongoing work with IPC-2591, Con- nected Factory Exchange, which is the back- bone for Factory of the Future, plus you'll be showcasing the Factory of the Future. What can I expect to see when I visit the showcase during APEX EXPO? Kelly: What you can expect for IPC APEX EXPO 2021 Factory of the Future is a solid and well-rounded grouping of topics that we've explained. We put so much emphasis approached AFFOA last year to gage their interest in putting together a technical session on e-textiles. e interest in this among their members was so high, we wound up with two technical sessions out of it. ese two e-textiles sessions provide a solid opportunity to learn about e-textiles technol- ogies and applications. ere will be presen- tations on textile capacitive touch sensing, power harvesting for e-textiles, wireless wear- ables, and then functional fibers and fabrics that are used to construct these products. You wouldn't expect to see two technology tracks on e-textiles during IPC APEX EXPO, but because this is a growing technology area and deals with electronics manufacture, we feel these sessions are a perfect fit within the technical conference. is is a way for any- body in the industry, whether you work in automotive, aerospace, consumer products, so or stretchable electronics, to learn about these technologies. Johnson: What do you have planned for the other two technical conference tracks? Kelly: As we mentioned earlier, the core of our technology focus remains very strong, and we've compiled really good content within the PCB Fabrication and Materials track and the Quality, Reliability, Assembly, Test and Inspection track. We have a variety of topics included in the PCB Fabrication track such as microvia design and material reliability improvements, 3D embedded modules, additive build-up pro- cessing, mixed VIPPO structures, and measur- ing high speed/high frequency signal integrity characteristics, to name a few. For the Quality, Reliability, Assembly, Test and Inspection track we have a nice mix of con- tent including topics such as AI-assisted qual- ity inspection using edge computing, thermal interface material advancements, flex PCBA design, conformal coating evaluation, and RF plasma cleaning.