Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/474043
56 The PCB Magazine • March 2015 was a fitting tribute for a man who spent most of his life in service of and teaching industry colleagues around the globe. Another highlight of the week was the in- duction of Gary Ferrari to the IPC Raymond Pritchard Hall of Fame. Ferrari was the first ex- ecutive director of the IPC Designers Council and was instrumental in organizing and struc- turing the training courses that have been the backbone of design instruction for entry level PCB designers as well as the certification of sea- soned ones. A couple of other items of note caught my interest and attention. The first was a signifi- cant departure of tradition. This year's keynote session had a sponsor, eSurface. The compa- ny presented an impressively produced video which provided a visually captivating overview of their novel circuit manufacturing technol- ogy. Doubtless, it caught most everyone off guard. It was a foray into new territory for IPC and a significant break from tradition; frankly, I like such experimentation and the breaking of traditions. It could presage a future when, like the Super Bowl, such commercial productions, if done to a similar high level as this first one, could prove of as much interest to attendees as the subject of the keynote. Finally, on the morning of the last day, there was the inauguration of IPC Town Hall, an open event, the purpose of which was to engage se- nior staff members, including president and CEO John Mitchell, directly with members in attendance with the intent of creating a dialog relative to what might be missing and or im- proved on with IPC programs and services. Dis- cussions were lively and the challenges discussed were both real and important. I look forward to attending future such events. I think it could prove a great way for frontline members of IPC to express their desires and needs and hopefully help guide the association to improve its services to both members and the electronics industry. In many ways new and old, the 2015 IPC APEX EXPO is going to be a tough act to follow. PCB 2015 iPC aPeX eXPo show review show reView