30 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2015
PCB007
Highlights
U.S. Circuit Celebrates 30 Years of
PCB Fabrication
President Mike Fariba has built U.S. Circuit into a
successful business through his guiding principles of
hiring the best people, providing the customer with
high quality products and service, and using the lat-
est leading edge technology, all with a commitment
to continuous improvement.
PCB Industry
to Achieve CAGR of
4% over 2015-2020
The major drivers of the PCBs market are grow
-
ing demand for 3C applications (communication,
computer/peripheral,
and consumer electronics),
advancement in PCB technologies, and increased
demand of aerospace and defense products.
AT&S Hits Record Revenues in
Preliminary Results 2014/15
"We saw a disproportionately high benefit from the
strong growth in the area of mobile devices, especial-
ly smartphones, and from the constantly increasing
share
of electronics in the automotive sector through-
out the year. This led to the highest revenue in the
company's
history to date," says Andreas Gerstenmay-
er, chairman of the management board of AT&S AG.
TTM Posts Q1 Results, Sees Benefits
from Acquisition of Viasystems
"We are pleased to report strong operating results
in the first quarter, with revenue at the high end
and non-GAAP earnings above our initial guidance
ranges," said Tom Edman, CEO of TTM. "Viasystems
will bring TTM meaningful strength in the automo-
tive end market and will complement our position
in
other end markets, enabling us to continue to
broaden our product portfolio to address an in-
creasingly diverse set of end markets."
Continental PCB Technology
Receives PACE Award
Designed for transmission control units, the bare
die high-density-interconnect (BD-HDI) printed cir-
cuit board substrate technology from Continental
replaces
traditional ceramic solutions with high-
temperature resistant materials and significantly im-
proves technical and cost performances.
A Conversation (and Day)
with Joe Fjelstad
I-Connect007 Publisher Barry Matties and industry
veteran Joe Fjelstad, CEO and founder of Verdant
Electronics, recently spent a day together enjoy-
ing the Oregon community of McMinnville
(home
of the Spruce Goose), where their conversation
ebbed and flowed between a wide variety of top-
ics. The result is this five-part interview series
that
covers a lot of ground, from the war on process
failure and the future of the electronics industry,
to political shenanigans, the direction of lead-free,
and more.
Design Considerations:
Flexible Circuit vs. Traditional PCB
The tactics for flexible circuit design don't dif-
fer much from that of traditional PCBs. All of the
typical
specifications still apply and we add a
few more things that require special attention.
Cover
layers require bigger openings than tradi-
tional solder mask, trace directions matter in the
flex
areas and miters should be round instead of
angular.
Impact 2015: An In-Depth Look
IPC understands that presenting a unified voice for
the electronics industry is essential for advancing
policies that affect the industry's long-term future
and strengthens the U.S. and global economy.
That is why 22 IPC member-company executives
descended on the nation's capital for IMPACT
2015: IPC on Capitol Hill, IPC's annual advocacy
event.
AT&S Boosts Investments in Chongqing
China Plant
AT&S is one of the globally leading manufacturers of
high-end HDI and any-layer printed circuit boards.
Key trends in this industry include the ongoing min-
iaturisation and increasing modularisation.
German PCB Sales Up 2.6% in March
March PCB sales in Germany went up by 2.6% com-
pared to the same period last year, mainly driven by
the
industrial electronics sector, according to ZVEI
PCB and Electronic Systems.
30 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2015
