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REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2022 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 145 early in his career and challenged everyone to stay on top of industry trends, grow in their careers, and advance the industry. Congratula- tions to Joe on a well-earned award. 2. Technical Conference: Many participants said it was the best technical conference in years. at's a testament to the IPC staff and volunteers who organized four tracks and set a very high bar for the papers delivered. e four tracks focused on Factory of the Future implementation; PCB fab and materials; qual- ity, reliability, test, and inspection; and assem- bly materials and environment. Stay tuned for an announcement soon on how you can access these papers and past papers as well. By the way, a special shout-out is due to Auburn University Ph.D. candidate Mohamed El Amine Belhadi, who along with peers authored the best student paper, "Reliabil- ity and IMC Layer Evolution of Homoge- nous Lead-free Solder Joints During ermal Cycling." Auburn is a center of excellence on all things lead-free, including the DoD's lead-free electronics R&D, for which IPC has secured federal funding. 3. EMS Leadership Summit: Last year, IPC brought on Mark Wolfe as its executive EMS advisor. Mark worked closely with IPC staff to shape this year's EMS Leadership Summit, and the content was compelling and timely with a focus on supply chain, cybersecurity, workforce, and government advocacy. Industry leaders, including Zentech CEO Steve Pudles and TTM CEO Tom Edman, were featured throughout the day. What surprised me was the large number of new attendees in the room. A couple have already followed up with me to get involved in IPC's government relations. 4. Executive Agent Meeting: e DoD's Executive Agent for Printed Circuit Boards hosted its 14th Defense Electronics Supplier Roundtable. My top takeaway: e U.S. gov- ernment's heightened interest in the electron- ics supply chain will drive changes in federal policy and appropriations in the months and years ahead. Expect more Biden administra- tion supply chain reports that touch on our industry in February and March, as well as new rules governing how defense-related electron- ics must be sourced. 5. Show Floor: Overall registration for the show was down somewhat, but you wouldn't have known it by talking to exhibitors. Why were they so thrilled with this year's APEX EXPO? Attendees were looking to buy. Put another way, those who attended APEX EXPO came with clear objectives, making the qual- ity of customer interaction about as good as it gets. And with economic growth projected to remain strong in the year ahead, many compa-