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MARCH 2023 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 87 specifications that allowed them to more eas- ily transfer knowledge from one generation of workers to another. e U.S. has lost a great deal of its tribal knowledge by the transfer of manufactur- ing to China and elsewhere over the last few decades. ere is a great deal of concern in the U.S. today relative to the future of the industry as the older generation of engineers and tech- nicians is "graying out" of the industry. is has not gone unnoticed, fortunately, and IPC, SMTA, and the DoD, along with some higher education providers, are actively supporting efforts to shore up, prime, and refill the pipe- line of talent. We hope we are not too late. PCB manufacturing has been a great career for me. e myriad processes and technologies required to make a printed circuit have not greatly changed in intention and purpose, but they are endlessly fascinating and challenging to try and perfect. In closing, I highly recommend that you take a moment to skim through the two earlier books I've cited. I think you will be amazed at how prescient the pioneers of the PCB industry were. ere you will find a "genetic link" to nearly all of the processes we use today. We are blessed to be able to follow in their footsteps. DESIGN007 References 1. "Printed Circuit Techniques," National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, nvlpubs. nist.gov. 2. "New Advances in Printed Circuits," U.S. Department of Commerce, nvlpubs.nist.gov. Joe Fjelstad is founder and CEO of Verdant Electronics and an international authority and inno- vator in the field of electronic interconnection and packaging technologies with more than 185 patents issued or pend- ing. To read past columns or contact Fjelstad, click here. Download your copy of Fjelstad's book Flex- ible Circuit Technology, 4 th Edition, and watch his in- depth workshop series "Flexible Circuit Technology." Compliant and conductive carbon nanoma- terial could be the perfect fit for on-skin elec- tronics. A soft and flexible electronic "e-skin," so sen- sitive it can detect the minute temperature dif- ference between an inhaled and an exhaled breath, could form the basis of a new form of on-skin biosensor. The ultrathin material is also sensitive to touch and body motion, suggesting a wide array of potential applications. "The skin plays a vital role in our interactions with the world," says Vincent Tung from KAUST, who led the work. "Recreating its properties in an e-skin could have profound implications for wearable electronics, as well as for sensory prosthetics, soft robotics and human-machine interfaces," he says. A carbon nanomaterial called hydrogen-sub- stituted graphdiyne (HsGDY) could be ideal for the task, Tung and his collaborators have shown. "The implementation of HsGDY into e-skin has long been touted by theorists, but had yet to be demonstrated experimentally," Tung says. The team were able to show what the the- ory had predicted: the resulting material was highly twistable, stretchable and mechanically durable. "At around 18 nanometers thick, our e-skin is a fraction of the thickness of human skin, enabling conformal contact and long-term adhesion to the body with maximum flexibility and comfort," Tung says. (Source: KAUST) Soft Touch Sensitivity Vincent Tung