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104 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2026 J iva is a newer company that bridges the divide between PCB fabrication and product circularity or sustainability. Jiva Soluboard is the first fully recyclable laminate material ever created for PCB fabrication, and it's not going unnoticed. Stephen Driver, CEO of Jiva, gave us an update at APEX EXPO, including an exciting certification achieve- ment in February. Marcy LaRont: Steve, we last chatted at produc- tronica, but I have been following Jiva and Sol- uboard for about two years now. How did Jiva come about? Steve Driver: The original story started with Jack Herring, who invented the product as part of a dissertation project. When he and I met, he had a proof-of-concept and asked me to help him com- mercialize the product. In 2021, we took it to a mini- mum viable product with a single-sided mouse for Microsoft, and they validated its functionality, mo- tivating us to continue. We've evolved the product since then. In 2022–23, we developed a plated through-hole version of the material, and more recently, we have been focused on obtaining UL certification for it. We are now in the validation and certification phase and working toward a successful multilayer build. We achieved UL94 V-1 last year. We are very active in the Information and Communica- tion Technology (ICT) sector, where these applica- tions require UL V-O, and I am pleased to announce that we achieved this in February. That's a big mile- stone for us and potentially a game-changer. Jiva Soluboard F E AT U R E I N T E RV I E W BY M A RCY L A RO N T, I - C O N N ECT 0 07 Getting the Attention It Deserves