Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1443477
JANUARY 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 9 the inspiration for so much of the research and development underway in Europe. With this issue, we endeavored to bring you some sage industry perspective. e result is interviews with NCAB's Anders Forsen, CCI Eurolam's Alain Kahn, and Tarja Rapala-Vir- tanen from EIPC. Karl-Heinz Fritz at Cicor shares his perspective as a fabricator, while Dr. John Mitchell, IPC president, turns his atten- tion to Europe in his column this month. To capture some of the R&D work under- way, we contacted EIPC Technical Snapshot presenters from the Q4 2021 webinars to talk about their recent presentations. Not every- one was comfortable sharing their work quite yet, but we bring you a peek into the work of the EIPC. e argument can be made that the information shared within the EIPC is valuable but oen overlooked by U.S. manufacturers. Finally, we turned to Israel for an interview with Ralph Birnbaum at ioTech to learn about how this company is innovating additive tech- nologies. All in all, the work coming out of Europe is very interesting. Of course, our columnists deliver, as ever, with dispatches from Mike Carano, Happy Holden, Steve Williams, and a new column from the PCBAA launches this month. As this issue goes to publication, many of us will be converging on San Diego, California, for IPC APEX EXPO. From all of us here at I-Connect007, we look forward to seeing you there. PCB007 References 1. "Global Consumer Electronics Market Worth $838.85 Billion by 2020," Grand View Research, September 2015. that reason, we chose to start the new year by focusing on the European market. Our goal with this issue was to highlight the innovative research, development, and man- ufacturing efforts currently underway in the wider European region. We wanted to learn about important new technologies and solu- tions coming out of Europe and identify any challenges Europe is trying to overcome with its technologies. What are the hurdles? What new technologies have been adopted that have made a significant impact in the European market? Part of this may include discussion of the application markets Europe is targeting. Some readers may already be familiar with the EIPC, a European-based, independent organization for PCB technologists to share their ideas, discuss their research, and move the industry forward collaboratively. We con- tacted the EIPC for this issue and spoke exten- sively with EIPC technical director Tarja Rapala-Virtanen. e EIPC traditionally has hosted quarterly two-day, in-person confer- ences. During the sporadic COVID lockdown phases, EIPC began hosting instead a monthly online "Technical Snapshot Webinar" series, with four to five presenters sharing their most recent R&D, market research, etc. In my interview, Rapala-Virtanen said, "I would say it's a time of innovation. e require- ments are becoming harder, but engineers are clever. ere are some very interesting new technologies coming." When I asked her about the influence of automotive on the entire indus- try, she said, "For me, the telecom side, like 5G and automotive, are moving toward similar types of products. e new autonomous vehi- cles are like a small base station because they need to communicate with the network." Her point was clear: e innovation available to us, thanks to 5G, will require further improved telecom services, which will be the ether host- ing the data mesh that keeps the smart vehicles running safely. ey all are developing inde- pendently, but within the automotive applica- tion, they all come together. is confluence is Nolan Johnson is managing editor of PCB007 Magazine. Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electronics design and manufacturing. To contact Johnson, click here.