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June 2015 • The PCB Design Magazine 47 ing to a presentation about future careers in the industry. Many booths give out free samples or eye- catching novelties while others serve candy or treats, all in an attempt to get the show attend- ees to remember them for future business rela- tionships. It is tempting to stock up on some of these free giveaways, but I don't want to pack it all home. (Those who pick up these tchotchkes for their kids and grandkids refer to this last lap around the show floor as the "loot run.") Later in the day a group of high school kids touring the show stop by our booth, and we talk with them about careers in software development. And then, the show closes and it is all over. Well, it's not quite over for us; we still have to disassemble the booth and pack it up. The disassembly goes quickly but we have to wait a couple of hours for the convention staff to bring out our shipping boxes. But once that is complete we head out for our final dinner to- gether. We enjoy another fine meal followed by the trip to the airport where we say goodbye to each other until the next show. My flight is delayed so I have plenty of time to reflect over the last several days. The show was a success for us; we met with a lot of people and were able to show them how our software could help them with their design needs. We also spent time with our customers and busi- ness partners and made some new friends as well. Soon I am on the plane and headed for home. After touching down in Portland, Oregon, I re- trieve my truck and drive through a lightning storm laced with heavy rain. I am worn out and happy to finally pull into my driveway. Once upstairs, I find my dog at the foot of the bed guarding my sleeping wife. The dog rolls over and gives me his "Oh, it's you" look and per- mits me to rub his tummy before he rolls back over and goes to sleep. The saying "It's comforting that some things in life never change" echoes through my mind as my head hits the pillow and I too surrender to sleep. But before too long, I'll be heading to the airport for another trade show. Let's face it: I enjoy working trades shows and meeting new people. I have a great job and I can't really complain, and no one would listen if I did! But I'm always glad to be home. PCBDESIGN IT'S TRADE SHOW TIME continues tim's takeaways Tim Haag is customer support and training manager for Intercept Technology. A method for making elastic high-capacity bat- teries from wood pulp was unveiled by research- ers in sweden and the us. using nanocellulose broken down from tree fibres, a team from KTh Royal Institute of Technology and stanford uni- versity produced an elastic, foam-like battery ma- terial that can withstand shock and stress. "It is possible to make incredible materials from trees and cellulose," says Max hamedi, who is a re- searcher at KTh and harvard university. one ben- efit of the new wood-based aerogel material is that it can be used for three-dimensional structures. The process for creating the material begins with breaking down tree fibres, making them roughly one million times thinner. The nanocel- lulose is dissolved, frozen and then freeze-dried so that the moisture evaporates without passing through a liquid state. In terms of surface area, hamedi compares the material to a pair of human lungs, which if unfurled could be spread over a football field. similarly, a single cubic decimeter of the battery material would cover most of a football pitch, he says. "you can press it as much as you want. While flexible and stretchable electronics already exist, the insensitivity to shock and impact are some- what new." Trees Bear Source for High-Capacity Batteries