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50 The PCB Magazine • June 2014 by Pete Starkey I-ConneCt007 ECWC13: "Connecting the World" The Keynote Presentations First held in London, UK, in 1978, and tri- ennially since then, the 13th Electronic Cir- cuits World Convention came to Nuremberg, Germany on May 7 – 9 2014, running in parallel with the SMT Hybrid Packaging Exhibition. Alun Morgan, chairman of EIPC and also of the ECWC13 Committee, welcomed an en- thusiastic international audience to a superbly organised and managed event that offered a programme of 123 papers in 26 sessions, pre- sented by leading experts from industry and academia keen to share their knowledge and experience in printed circuit technology and market trends. His welcome was echoed by Da- vid Lai, WECC secretary general, who acknowl- edged the support and cooperation of WECC members CPCA, EIPC, HKPCA, IPC, IPCA, JPCA, KPCA and TPCA, and extended his grati- tude to Mesago for their efforts in coordinating the event, and to Isola, Ventec and Somacis for their sponsorship. Dr. Stefan Mengel added his welcome on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, emphasising the im- portance and significance of cross-border col- laborative research and European cooperation. Representatives of all of the WECC mem- bers assembled for a grand ribbon-cutting cer- emony, with stirring musical accompaniment from a traditional oom-pa band. "Where would we be without the PCB?" The opening keynote presentation was delivered by Dr. Marc Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electron- ics. He described how innovative PCBs would form an integral part of customised solutions to enable the future technological, environmental and cost-efficiency demands of the automotive industry to be met. The automotive industry contributed 190 billion euros to the German export market; electronics represented 25% of its manufactured cost and supported 800,000 a r t I C l e