Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1520492
12 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2024 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE tees and task groups that work on new and revised documents for the industry, by the industry. This year we had a "first" with the IC substrates working group welcoming leadership from China for the first interna- tional meeting of the the group developing IPC-6921, "Requirements and Acceptance Specification for Organic IC Substrates." The vibrant community of volunteers who ensure that our industry has the most current stan- dards all meet at APEX EXPO, and they enjoy seeing one another in person to share sto- ries of the great work they are doing for the industry. One of my favorite things about this event is the networking. I enjoy talking to all the new emerging engineers joining our industry; I like meeting keynote speakers and learning about their experiences, and I learn a great deal when speaking to industry professionals who have so much knowledge to share and do so generously as mentors and commit- tee members. I enjoy observing interactions between attendees. Hearing them greet- ing one another happily and watching the pleasure they find in each other's company is very rewarding. Each day at APEX EXPO is filled with the opportunity for attendees to connect, gain knowledge, and grow in this industry, and we could not be more proud of the work our team and volunteers do to pro- duce the event each year. We are already planning IPC APEX EXPO 2025, our 25th anniversary year, to be held in the Anaheim Convention Center. I hope to see you March 15–20, 2025. S&T Dr. John W. Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC, and an I-Connect007 columnist. To read his columns, click here. Julie Silk is a material reliability manager at Keysight Technologies who has been coming to this event for 15 years. What keeps you coming back? I keep learning new things. The industry continues to produce new, experimental work, which progresses into new phases. I like to learn about it so I can take it back to my company and educate everyone there. I'm an undergraduate working with IPC. For a green- horn in the industry, what can APEX EXPO do for me? Even just learning the nomenclature, the verbiage, the basic structures of printed circuit boards—it takes a while to get the hang of that. Coming back time after time, you get it a little bit more each time. You begin to understand what's going on and what people are talking about. You learn why they're so interested in this bizarre little thing called a printed circuit board. Why is that so impor- tant? Over time, you'll understand. Oh yeah, because it fails in this way. And it's hard to do that. And that helps you as an engineer design for manufacturability. Interview by Dylan Nguyen Julie Silk FROM THE