32 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2023
the Defense Production Act (DPA). Transla-
tion: It is now a tenet of U.S. policy that man-
ufacturing more of the building blocks of
modern electronics in the United States is
essential to America's economic and national
security.
American Made Advocacy:
Taking the Fight to Capitol Hill E
PCBAA hosted its second annual meeting,
June 13–14, in Washington, D.C. It was great
to see our founding members as well as many
new corporate and individual members. On
the first day, we heard from senior officials at
the Departments of Commerce and Defense,
as well as several members of the House and
Senate. We spent the second day on Capitol
Hill lobbying for the Protecting Circuit Boards
and Substrates Act (PCBS).
Northrop Grumman Opens Taipei Office,
Names Country Executive E
Global aerospace and defense leader Northrop
Grumman has opened an office in Taiwan to
accelerate access to the company's technolo-
gies and strengthen partnerships with custom-
ers and local industry.
From AI to Nuclear: The Technologies
Driving UK Space Exploration E
e Space Exploration Technology Roadmap
will guide research and development activ-
ity and future funding decisions over the next
decade, putting the UK's growing space sector
in a stronger position to collaborate with inter-
national partners including NASA, the Euro-
pean Space Agency and JAXA ( Japan's space
agency).
And Now, a Word About Sustainability
With Stanley Merritt, Northrup Grumman E
IPC Community spoke with several members
of IPC's Sustainability for Electronics Leader-
ship Council on their company's sustainability
mission, reasons for joining IPC's Council, and
future Council leadership projects.
Mil-Aero Design: Not Just Another
High-rel Board E
Meijing Liu, CID+, is a senior PCB designer
for Microart Services, an EMS company in
Markham, Ontario, Canada. She recently took
a six-week mil-aero PCB design class from
IPC's Kris Moyer, and she was surprised at
how much content she was able to absorb in
such a short time. I spoke with Meijing and
we discussed some of her takeaways from the
class, and how it has inspired her to pursue
more design education in the future.
Lockheed Martin: Flying High
With Digital Twin E
While at a conference in Dallas, Barry Matties
listened to a presentation on digital twin from
Don Kinard, a senior fellow at Lockheed Martin.
Later, we reached out to Don, who was happy
to provide a deeper understanding of the role
of the digital twin in the manufacturing space.
What does digital twin mean when the prod-
uct your manufacture is an eight- or nine-figure
combat aircra packed full of electronics?
Good News for U.S. National Security E
In case you missed it, President Joe Biden
recently issued a presidential determina-
tion that prioritizes the domestic develop-
ment of printed circuit boards (PCBs) under
