Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1515990
FEBRUARY 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 13 Gumminger: Yes, and to be clear, IPC APEX EXPO is not an invitation-only conference, but this year is different because of the global reach of ECWC. Each year the technical conference puts out a Call for Participation that can be answered by anyone in the industry. With the participation of the WECC member countries, there was a concerted effort to recruit authors from those representing countries. It is also important to distinguish that there are two parts of the Technical Conference. In 2023, for the first time ever, we created the ursday Special Sessions, which were curated by IPC and featured invited speakers. is year, IPC leadership, in consultation with the co-chairs of this committee, have designated two techni- cal topics—advanced packaging and EV/auto- motive—to be highlighted in the two Special Sessions. ose presentations are by invitation only and feature highly curated content. is is separate from the peer-reviewed technical conference of papers. e special sessions are very much complementary but in a different style. It's a nice way to close out the week. Kelly: e challenges and needs in printed cir- cuit boards and ultra HDI will be discussed in the ursday morning advanced packaging special session. Hannes Voraberger of AT&S will be speaking about the advances and chal- lenges in fabricating UHDI PCBs and sub- strates. We want PCB fabricators to be aware of the state-of-the-art and how to push the lim- its in terms of miniaturization, materials, and changes. Udo and Stan, is there some synergy with that and the EV session as well? Udo Welzel: ere is always synergy with EV in automotive. EV applications are exposed to very harsh environments, and the functional requirements typically require a very high volt- age. is unique combination of harsh envi- ronments and very high-voltage applications presents critical challenges to the PCB manu- facturer. Overcoming these issues is crucial to achieving a wide distribution of EVs. Also, it's worth highlighting that IPC's Tech- nical Program Committee has always put a strong focus on PCBs. For this conference, due to combining forces with ECWC, we have a global outreach and representation of broader expertise through contributions that no other regional event can achieve. at's very attrac- tive to attendees. Matties: From the bare board fabricator's per- spective, what stood out in the conference paper submissions as most important? Welzel: HDI and substrates. Related to that are issues within advanced packaging around emerging technologies like additive manufac- turing, printed electronics, and sustainability. Of course, some of these technologies provide an opportunity to make much greener elec- tronics compared to what we are doing now. LaRont: Are these topics specifically covered within the Technical Conference? Gumminger: We have 100 paper submissions in peer review right now. We believe we will have about 80 presentations delivered during Tues- Udo Welzel