Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1493016
REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2023 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 85 REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2023 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 85 asking, what we can do. What shall we start with? As everyone was sharing, I said, "Why don't we conduct a PCB design competition so design people from different industries can come and take part? That could be very excit- ing." Everyone liked that idea and within the next few months, we conducted a PCB design competition; the response was great. At least 20 companies participated in the design competition, and we ran that event three or four times. Then IPC China showed a lot of inter- est, so we had a meeting; they shared their ideas and conducted their own design competition. I'm very happy that last year, even IPC USA conducted one; I was also a judge for that one. I'm very excited that we'll be hosting another design competition at IPC APEX EXPO 2023. So it's pretty much worldwide now? That's great, and you started it all. Yes, I feel very happy about that. Tell me a little bit about the company that you work for. I work for Sienna ECAD Technologies. We're a 25-year-old company. We started as a very small team of three to four members, and now we've grown to 150 members. Our core focus is on PCB design, layout engineering, and analy- sis services. We were acquired by Sienna Cor- poration in the U.S., an Avalon Group company. Our parent company is into manufacturing ser- vices, so we are a very good value-add for them. We offer complete turnkey solutions, every- thing from design to complete manufacturing. We are worldwide and have manufacturing facilities in the U.S. as well as here in India. Very interesting. What do you think is most exciting about our industry right now? That's an interesting question. We're all famil- iar with how everything is continually minia- turizing, always becoming smaller. High-speed, signal integrity issues, power handling, EMI, EMC, etc.—I can safely say that there are multi- physics problems right now. Those are real challenges to address in every part of the industry, whether in chip level, PCB design, or manu- facturing. Thinking about new, upcoming technology and how to handle those challenges is very exciting. Yes, and because of all the technology our industry has developed, you and I can talk to each other from opposite sides of the world without any delay. Just a few years ago, it would have seemed pretty amaz- ing. We can't do anything about the time differ- ence, but at least we can talk to each other. Yes, 5G/6G, etc., has enabled a lot. Any final thoughts about the industry and IPC? I would like to say that IPC is really for every- one. Now there are so many startups that have good ideas but lack the knowledge on either how to implement them or how to make their products workable and manufacturable. IPC standards mean that everyone can make their product robust and make it work. When I think back over the last 30 years of my time with IPC, that's what I feel most proud of. Thank you so much for your time and congratulations again. Thank you so much. S&T IPC Presidents Award