58 The PCB Design Magazine • December 2016
and to others it's simply a hurdle to overcome. And
for others, it is something to ignore altogether.
NASA Small Satellites Set to Take
a Fresh Look at Earth
Beginning this month, NASA is launching a suite
of six next-generation, Earth-observing small satel-
lite missions to demonstrate innovative new ap-
proaches for studying our changing planet.
U.S. Circuit Goes Green with Solar
and LED Installation
U.S. Circuit has just completed a $1 million in-
stallation of a 251 kWh solar system covering
their entire parking lot. This system makes U.S.
Circuit one of a kind within the U.S. PCB fabrica
-
tion industry.
NASA Aircraft Arrival Technology
Gets Big Test in 2017
Commercial airline pilots who as children played
"Follow the Leader" will have no problem with
a new air traffic control innovation NASA and its
partners are working on that also will make pas-
sengers happier.
IPC's President on IPC EDGE:
Cutting Edge and Education
Chatting with IPC President John Mitchell is always
a good time—he never fails to be upbeat and full
of ideas, and his eagerness to fill us in on what's
happening with IPC was evident during our recent
interview at the IPC Fall Committee Meetings, co-
located with SMTAI in late September.
Millennials in Manufacturing:
A Long-term Career Prospect
The next millennial in this series is Alex Johnson,
an associate engineer at Saline Lectronics, who has
been with the company for over two years. Even
though Alex received a lot of negative information
about manufacturing throughout his lifetime, his
work experience in engineering has directly chal-
lenged those preconceived notions.
All About Flex: Flex Circuit Specifications
for Commercial and Military Applications
Applications across the various markets for printed
circuit boards can have significantly different speci-
fications and performance requirements. Circuits
for toys and games logically have lower perfor-
mance requirements than those used in medical
devices. IPC-6013 is an industry-driven specifica-
tion that defines the performance requirements
and acceptance features for flexible printed circuit
boards.
The Sum of All Parts:
Three Keys to Successful Leadership
It is often easy to lose sight of, particularly in the
manufacturing sector, your most valuable resource:
people. You can't take purchase orders, operate
equipment and develop new strategies all on your
own. With so much focus being driven toward
quality, margins and customer satisfaction, upper
management develops a tendency to forget what
keeps all those things in the positive.
The Sun to Power the Starliner
Boeing will use solar energy to power the com-
pany's CST-100 Starliner for crew missions to and
from the International Space Station as part of NA-
SA's Commercial Crew Program. The sun's energy
offers a reliable and efficient power source for the
Starliner just as it does for the space station and
satellites.
Kitron Receives Contract from
Northrop Grumman
Kitron has been selected by Northrop Grumman
Corp. as an international source for manufacturing
of a sub-assembly for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
It's Only Common Sense:
ITAR—The Good, the Bad, the Ugly,
and the Very Ugly
Has there ever been a more nebulous qualification
than ITAR? It's one of those topics that everyone has
an opinion about, but no one really understands.
To some of us it's a game with ever-changing rules,
MilAero007
Highlights
