IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1543955
10 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2026 behind the companies that make our industry thrive. To that end, it's what I love so much about the March issue of I-Connect007 Magazine. We're covering the industry from a broader perspective rather than a specific theme. From the pivotal role of AI technology in design tools to the challenge of managing cumulative tolerances, these articles tackle issues that influence how PCB designers and fabricators approach their work every day. Here are some highlights. By all accounts, Quilter appears to be a disruptor in the auto-routing space. Ben Jordan comes from a traditional EDA tool environment, but he's passion- ate about the pivotal role of AI technology. Whether this tool will change designers' minds is yet to be determined, but OEMs are certainly taking note. By contrast, Stephen Chavez challenges compa- nies not to lose the human touch. Their smartest play, he says, is to invest in PCB designers them- selves, calling it "a strategic imperative for any or- ganization aiming to gain a competitive advantage, or better yet, to lead the future of electronics." I couldn't agree more. Next up, Kristin Moyer states, "GND has taken on a legendary or mythical status as the place where noise disappears into the ether: no current flows, and no voltage exists. These are all erroneous statements." Read this article to learn what Kristin says is a better acronym: RTN. Meanwhile, fellow designer Kelly Dack uses his own acronym (WYSI- WYG) to discuss pouring copper. Classic Kelly! I learned a new term from Barry Olney, "ReRAM," that advances the design discussion to ad- dressing very small geometries (16 and 12 nm) and, he says, is emerging as the "better choice" for an array of end-products that require speed, endurance, low power, density, and flexibility. Bridging the design-fab divide, Chris Clark of Flexible Circuit Technologies discusses the realities of cumulative tolerance in flex and rigid-flex PCB manufacturing, while Don Ball approaches the topic from the materials side: copper foil weights and tolerances all the way through the etch process. Given the number of processes involved and the variation of each, he rightly ponders the wonder of actu- ally achieving the high-quality product we consis- tently ship out the door. Steve Williams wraps up his three-part series detailing his professional development story, and PCBAA encourages U.S. industry members to sup- port its efforts to pass H.R. 3597, the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates (PCBS) Act. I've got a fun interview with outgoing Student Board Mem- ber Emily Daley, and Richard Nichols at Green- Source Engineering explores novel copper extrac- tion, which he says offers a better and greener alternative to traditional LLE control systems for cupric chloride etch. If you are attending APEX EXPO this week, be sure to make the most of everything it has to offer. I'm so impressed with the breadth and depth of the classes, meetings, and technical conference. We'll do our best to cover it all, so watch for our special five-issue Show & Tell Newsletter, publish- ing every Friday, starting March 27. Don't miss out. I-CONNECT007 Marcy LaRont is the manag- ing editor of I-Connect007 Magazine and executive director of IPC Publishing Group. Marcy started her career in PCBs in 1993 and brings a wide array of business experience and perspective to I-Connect007. To contact Marcy, click here. M A RCY 'S M U S I N G S