62 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2023
had on the world, as well as the many learning
opportunities offered by actively participating
in IPC. Nick urges aspiring young professionals
to reach out and create the lasting connections
that will guide them throughout their careers.
NextFlex Launches $4.4M Hybrid
Electronics Funding Opportunity E
NextFlex, America's Flexible Hybrid Electronics
(FHE) Manufacturing Institute, released Proj-
ect Call 8.0 (PC 8.0), the latest call for proposals
that seek to fund projects that further the devel-
opment and adoption of FHE while addressing
key challenges in advanced manufacturing that
support Department of Defense priorities.
Insulectro and LCOA Install R&D Lab With
Partner Kyocera in Orange County E
Insulectro, the largest distributor of materials
for use in the manufacture of printed circuit
boards and printed electronics, has opened a
testing and development laboratory for Kyo-
cera tools in its Lake Forest, California head-
quarters. e lab was created in association
with backup and entry materials manufacturer
LCOA in that company's plant.
A Quantic Leap into Foils and
Embeddeds With John Andresakis E
Andy Shaughnessy talks with John Andresakis
about how the merger of resistive foil tech-
nologies from Ohmega and Ticer has evolved
under the new ownership of Quantic. Andre-
sakis also shares how these materials are find-
ing new applications, especially in the embed-
ded component application space, as the com-
pany reaches out to the new generation of
PCB designers and design engineers.
Trackwise's Flex Technologies Inspire
Diverse New Applications E
Trackwise Designs plc has revealed that its
length-unlimited flexible printed circuits
( FPCs) are dr iving product innovation in
many sectors, as design engineers apply the
Trackwise-patented Improved Harness Tech-
nology (IHT) FPC technology to solve their
design challenges and enable smarter and more
advanced products.
FLEX Conference 2023 to Spotlight
Flexible Hybrid Electronics, PE,
Advanced Packaging E
e FLEX Conference will gather industry
experts July 11-13, 2023, at the Moscone Cen-
ter in San Francisco for keynotes, panel discus-
sions, technical sessions and product-based
demonstrations highlighting the latest inno-
vations in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE),
printed electronics and advanced packaging
including heterogeneous integration.
Asia/Pacific Wearable Device Market
Slowed to 1.8% Growth in 2022 E
According to the International Data Corpora-
tion (IDC) Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker,
wearable device shipments in the Asia/Pacific
(excluding Japan) region slightly increased by
1.8% in 2022 to 259.1 million units, recording
its lowest annual growth ever.
Nick Koop: A Commitment to
Lifelong Learning E
Nick Koop, director of flex technology at TTM
Technologies, reflects on the powerful impact
the electronics manufacturing industry has
