Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1490123
10 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2023 Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 Jan Vardaman is president at TechSearch International and was a keynote speaker at the IPC Advanced Packaging Symposium in Octo- ber, where she laid out the problems and chal- lenges ahead for new technology. To follow up, Nolan Johnson asks Jan to speak about imple- mentation details to bring substrate manufac- turing to regions outside Asia. Nolan Johnson: Jan, would you provide a short overview of the IPC report on advanced pack- aging? Jan Vardaman: e IPC report outlines why you need to have an ecosystem in the U.S. to support the next level in packaging. What you do aer you fabricate it on a semicon- ductor chip doesn't do much good. To have a semiconductor chip and send it back over to Asia for assembly doesn't shorten your supply chain. Johnson: at's why this is so strategically important for the U.S.? Vardaman: You could certainly use your exist- ing supply chain, but it doesn't address the problem of making the supply chain shorter. Cycle time concerns were the whole reason this got started. Historically, we like to use our existing supply chains. Currently, most seem to be planning just to fab the silicon here and ship it back to Asia for assembly. Johnson: At least until such time as there's an alternative? Substrate Manufacturing: What Does it Take? Photo credit: John Harrington