Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1498723
16 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 Our industry increases in complexity as it grows. It's difficult to do an excellent job of design because documents that apply to aerospace and high speed may not apply to automotive, which emphasizes more high reli- ability, high current, and high voltage. Matties: Where should the designer turn their attention in terms of material selection? What are the most important metrics, Doug? In today's world, everybody looks at Df at 10 GHz. If I'm making a decision tree and I'm designing something new, it usually has to do with low-frequency antennas and different things. at seems to be what I hear most. Dk goes along with that. It falls over to some of the reliability factors like the Z-axis expansion and Td, the decomposition temperature, and then spills over to glass transition temperature. But you could almost put together a deci- sion tree based on what we see today with low- Df materials. It starts with Dks and Dfs, then goes to the thermal reliability characteristics, which include Tg, followed by things like peel strength and CAF resistance. ose seem to be the key factors. Matties: Doug, we thank you so much. ank you. DESIGN007 How does a company protect its most valuable electronics manufacturing information? How can designs and processes be kept safe? IPC-1791 is an industry-driven and industry-written standard that focuses on protecting two things: controlled unclassified information (CUI) and controlled tech- nical information (CTI)—the information that would be devastating for a company to lose. IPC Validation Services plays a critical role in ensuring that you can keep your information safe. This is the team that performs the Qualified Manu- facturer List (QML) audits, validating the manufactur- ing process to the four pillars: quality, supply chain risk management, security, and chain of custody. To learn more about how IPC members participate in the process, we spoke with John Vaughan, vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, who provides insight into his company's IPC Validation Services journey. If you're working with defense primes, he says, this certifica- tion is vital. John, please tell us a little about Summit Interconnect. Summit is the largest privately held printed circuit board manufac- turer in North America, featuring eight highly inte- grated facilities, over one-half million square feet of advanced technology processing capability, and approximately 1,300 employees. Why did Summit Interconnect decide to certify to IPC-1791? We operate in very compliance- and certification- driven markets, and we support a heavily DoD and military prime customer set. Our customers have very high expectations in terms of Summit protect- ing controlled unclassified information (CUI), supply chain risk management (SCRM), chain of custody (CHoC), quality systems (AS 9100), ITAR/EAR, and compliance to NIST 800-171. The IPC- 1791 audit and standard is focused on compliance to all these and our position on the IPC-1791 Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) as a Trusted Fabricator gives our customers third-party assur- ance through the IPC Vali- dation Services that Summit meets specific criteria that are important to them. To read the rest of this inter- view, which appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of IPC Commu- nity, click here. The Journey to IPC-1791 Validation