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10 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2024 On the cusp of another IPC APEX EXPO, we focus on how bare board fabricators can maximize their time and investment at the show. We visited with Matt Kelly, IPC chief technologist, and Julia Gumminger, IPC pro- fessional development and events manager, as well as Udo Welzel and Stanton Rak, the chairs of the technical program committee, to discuss the technical depth and breadth that the 2024 show will bring to fabricators and profession- als all along the supply chain. With IPC host- ing the Electronic Circuit World Convention (ECWC16), this show presents an opportu- nity to highlight the most cutting-edge and rel- evant technical expertise available from across the globe. What PCB Fabricators Should Know Barry Matties: IPC is hosting ECWC16 at APEX EXPO 2024. How will this year's technical conference be different from IPC APEX EXPO 2023? Julia Gumminger: e conference's Technical Program Committee has grown to a 35-per- son advisory group of subject matter experts from around the globe—about half of them with PhDs—working in various sectors of our industry with different areas of expertise. Stan Rak and Udo Welzel, the co-chairs, have done a fantastic job welcoming the new members representing the World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC) countries' organizations. e committee membership, made of WECC and IPC reps, have solicited technical papers Feature Interview with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team