58 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025
My Top 10 Highlights from IPC APEX
EXPO 2025 u
Every year, I am reminded what an exciting and
fast-paced whirlwind IPC APEX EXPO is—the
friends you run into, the new people you meet,
the innovations you encounter, and the fasci-
nating discussions you dive into. Every year, I
track the technologies, topics, and moments
that capture my attention and distill them into
my annual Top 10 APEX EXPO Highlights.
Statement from IPC on 'Liberation Day'
Pressing for Domestic Manufacturing
Strategy u
For decades, IPC has worked to restore U.S.
leadership in electronics manufacturing, urg-
ing the government to recognize its strategic
importance and invest in rebuilding critical
domestic capabilities. We welcome President
Trump's commitment to strengthening Amer-
ican manufacturing, particularly his focus on
revitalizing the Defense Industrial Base. Elec-
tronics design and production are the back-
bone of innovation and industrial resilience
across all sectors of the economy, and we stand
ready to work with the administration on a
bold strategy to rebuild this vital sector.
Photonic Selected for DARPA's Quantum
Benchmarking Initiative Stage A u
Photonic Inc., a leader in distributed quantum
computing, is pleased to announce its selection
for Stage A of the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) Quantum Bench-
marking Initiative (QBI). In this effort, Pho-
tonic intends to demonstrate to DARPA that its
large-scale quantum computing approach will
reach industrial scale. Open to organizations
around the world, QBI seeks to cut through
the "hype" by evaluating approaches to utility
scale quantum computing.
CACI Awarded $54 Million Task Order to
Support the U.S. Army with Advanced
Ground Sensors u
CACI International Inc. announced that it has
been awarded a five-year task order valued at
up to $54 million to continue supporting the
U.S. Army Product Manager Ground Sensors
(PM GS) under the Department of Defense
Information Analysis Center's (DoDIAC)
multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle.
Connected Commercial Drone Market to
Reach $37.3 Billion Worldwide by 2029 u
Berg Insight, a leading IoT market research pro-
vider, today released a new report covering con-
nected commercial drones used for industrial
and governmental purposes. e global market
for connected commercial drones is forecasted
to grow from US$ 18.6 billion in 2024 at a com-
pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per-
cent to reach US$ 37.3 billion in 2029.
Acquisition of MADES Strengthens
Cicor's Pan-European Leadership in
the Aerospace & Defence Sector u
Cicor Group announces that it has signed an
agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of
Spanish electronics company Malaga Aero-
space, Defense & Electronics Systems S.A.U.
(MADES). With this planned acquisition,
Cicor continues to build the leading pan-Euro-
pean platform for electronics design and man-
ufacturing services for the fast-growing Euro-
pean defence market.
