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108 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2025 TOP TEN EDITOR'S PICKS The H-1B visa has been a long-time friend of the U.S. technology and manufacturing sectors. It allows companies to bring high-level talent from other countries or transition university students with student visas over to the workforce. According to Mark Howard of the U.S. Department of Security's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. visa is, in fact, a public diplomacy program, whether it's for tourism, study, or work. U.S. Work Visas Demystified Tom Yang, CEO of CEE PCB, understands the importance of collaboration between U.S. and Chinese fabricators. He believes that to understand the current political and economic conditions between the two countries, we must maintain a level of international business cooperation. In this interview, we discuss market conditions under a new U.S. administration, how companies like CEE are responding to potential changes, and CEE's strategic move into Thailand. The Promising Future for CEE PCB in Thailand Dr. Diana Radovan joined IPC in August 2024 as the advocacy lead for sustainability policy, a role that requires awareness of global policy activities. From the IPC Munich office, Diana has been busy working as a policy analyst with Dr. Kelly Scanlon, IPC lead sustainability strategist. In this interview, she shares her background, her role at IPC, and what she wants to accomplish for the benefit of our industry. Meet Diana Radovan, IPC's Global Sustainability Policy and Advocacy Lead Andrew Kelley is CTO of Xact PCB, a company founded by engineers with firsthand experience in PCB fabricators. Xact PCB has developed a cutting- edge system to monitor and predict the registration of inner layers through advanced registration control systems. By leveraging data collected from various production stages, Xact PCB's GX tool enhances precision. It minimizes errors, ensuring that the final products meet their customers' exact specifications while eliminating the need for costly pilot lots. Data Paints a Picture—Can You See It? Flexible Thinking: Another PCB Design Paradigm Shift in the Works Spend a half-century engaged in any kind of manufacturing technology, and you will see a boatload of change, especially in the realm of printed circuits. Paul Eisler is often credited with the invention of circuit boards in the 1930s, but the patent was suppressed for strategic reasons in the run-up to World War II. It was a military application that ushered in the mass production of printed circuits. Since then, the rapid advancement of technology has altered the landscape of PCB design over the years. We have shared and codified what we have learned into industry standards.