50 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023
American Made Advocacy:
Taking the Fight to Capitol Hill E
Two decades ago, the United States had more
than 2,000 companies designing and manufac-
turing printed circuit boards to satisfy 30% of
the global demand. Today that number is less
than 150 companies, representing only 4% of
PCB production.
Carol Handwerker Appointed to NIST
Advisory Committee E
We oen hear words and phrases that naturally
go together: Salt and pepper, touch and go,
trace and space. When it comes to the work of
IPC member Carol Handwerker, however, the
collocations are much more nuanced, deeper,
and have greater significance. You're more
likely to think of phrases such as standards and
technology, lead-free and solder, or advanced
packaging and heterogeneous integration.
[Men•tor]: A Wise and Trusted Guide E
Christina Trussell of Blue Origin was new to
her career and eager to learn. Garry McGuire
of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center was an
established contributor to dozens of IPC stan-
dards. Aer they met at an IPC APEX EXPO
Newcomers' Reception, the two built a strong
mentor/mentee relationship.
NASA's New Detectors Could Improve
Views of Gamma-Ray Events E
Using technology similar to that found in smart-
phone cameras, NASA scientists are developing
upgraded sensors to reveal more details about
black hole outbursts and exploding stars—all
while being less power hungry and easier to
mass produce than detectors used today.
Teledyne FLIR Defense Delivers
1,000th MTRS Inc II (Centaur)
Robot to U.S. Army E
Produced at the FLIR Defense facility in
Elkridge, Maryland, the MTRS Inc II ground
robot (also known as Centaur) is used by
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams
to disable improvised explosive devices, land-
mines, and unexploded ordnance and to per-
form similar dangerous tasks.
Developing Trustworthy AI
to Inform Decisions When Every
Moment Counts E
DARPA has selected performers for the In the
Moment (ITM) program to create the founda-
tion for trusted algorithmic decision-making
in challenging domains, such as medical triage.
ITM has two phases that address decision-
making at different degrees of complexity. e
first phase will look at triage for small military
units in austere environments, and the second
phase will scale up the complexity of decision-
making by looking at triage for mass casualty
events.
Raytheon Gives Airlines New Insights
Into System Health with Connected
Galley Inserts E
Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies
business, is introducing a cost-effective wire-
less connectivity solution for airplane gal-
ley inserts (the appliances used to prepare
inflight food and beverage), providing oper-
ational efficiencies and cost savings for air-
lines while also supporting improved passen-
ger service.