IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1543307
80 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2026 E L E M E N TA RY, M R . WAT S O N The engineer sees it clearly now: APEX EXPO is not just another event on the calendar, but a chance for the industry to meet today's challenges with curiosity, collaboration, and confidence. The engineer feels a renewed sense of hope. He realizes the challenges he faces in the job are real, but so is the community. He's not alone, just trying to get it right. Once again, the hall grows quiet. The Ghost of APEX EXPO Present has left, replaced by a new figure: the Ghost of APEX EXPO Future. His shape is never apparent, as if waiting on decisions yet to be made. The Ghost begins to dissolve, not into darkness, but into light. The space opens, and a new scene takes shape: the APEX EXPO of the future. It's like a scene from a science fiction thriller: The halls are brighter, technology and conversations richer, and there's a sense of how alive it feels. Your schedule adjusts in real time, and intelligent systems easily connect you with the right people and the correct problems. Standards become inter- active, more like living models that can simulate design choices, manufacturing tradeoffs, and reli- ability outcomes on the spot. The show floor blends physical machines with digital twins and AI, letting engineers "walk through" factories before they exist and see processes self-correct in accelerated time. But even in this future, APEX EXPO stays connected to its people, caring less about what we can build next and more about what we should build and how we do it responsibly. Suddently, the ghosts are gone. The hall is quiet again, just as it was before. The engineer opens his eyes. Was that real? He's still alone. The work is still piled around him. But something in him has changed. He feels a renewed sense of purpose, realizing that he'd been missing meaning, not motivation. He remembers the true meaning of APEX EXPO: to build with care, to protect quality, and to pass on what he knows so the next generation can build even better. It's no longer about just attending the trade show. The engineer is stepping back into a shared mission, an industry built on knowledge, collabora- tion, and the simple truth that what we build, and how we build it truly matters. I-CONNECT007 John Watson is a professor at Palomar College, San Marcos, California. To read past columns, click here. " The space opens, and a new scene takes shape: the APEX EXPO of the future."