Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1478618
SEPTEMBER 2022 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 81 We can provide the screen-printing standards. I don't know what your opinion is on that, Mike. I haven't been at any standards meetings in a long time. Wagner: e last one was probably 2018 or 2019. I served on the committee, and then we just started transitioning into anything new in printed electronics. But it's so diverse com- pared to the general membrane switch stan- dards. No standards really exist right now for wearables or stretchable type things. at's a totally different set of variables. ere are different folks in those industries working on those. IPC was involved, as well as some of the textile associations. Outside of printing, they're also looking for the same threads, conductive threads, and things that they might be knitting with. So, they need stan- dards for the garment itself, whether it's knit- ted into the garment or applied through a TPU process. It's not where it needs to be, because there are so many unique applications. I don't know if they can harness all of that. ey must take it chunk by chunk. As Tom said, we see more customers doing the end validation and testing, maybe asking, "Can it do this?" en we take it from there. Shaughnessy: When PEC first started to spread, the OEMs seemed to be the ones driving the development. When customers come to you, are they knowledgeable about PEC or do you have to educate them? Bianchi: We see both cases. For some custom- ers, we demonstrate the technology, and they find an application for it. ere are other times they come up and say, "is is how we want to use your printed electronics technology." We help them design for manufacturability. Some- times, they can come up with a concept, but they don't always engineer it to be cost-effec- tive manufacturing. Wagner: I concur with Tom. From the stretch- able and wearable standpoint, some custom- ers, say from a printed heater standpoint, don't know that the technology even exists—that I can print a heater that stretches. ey're still hung up on different technologies to do that. So, educating them is important. en they can approach you and say, "Hey, this is what we're trying to accomplish. Can your technol- ogy work in this application?" en we start the dialogue. John Voultos: It's still about education. e aver- age electrical engineer graduates from college and they understand all about a printed circuit board. But flexible circuits, printed electron- ics—we must elevate our game for those who are graduating. As they're joining EMS com- panies, make them aware that this technology exists and why they should be considering and evaluating it. It should not be a solution, "Oh, by the way, we need to use printed electron- ics. Oh, by the way, we need to use a flexible circuit, etched copper." We should be educat- ing the industry, the young. It's about form-fit- function. John Voultos