Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/978458
44 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2018 Speed and Direction— Where Are we Going? The subtitle of IPC APEX EXPO 2018 was "Succeed at The Velocity of Technology." What did IPC mean by this? I have not asked the IPC staff what this phrase meant in real terms, but I have my own interpretation. For me, the velocity of technol- ogy has two components: speed and direction. The technology in electronics develops faster than ever. A user of mobile phones or com- puters may not understand the rate at which electronics changes, but if you see the devel- opment of components and the complexity of today's packages, you understand the speed. Driving a car is probably one of the areas where the user comes in direct touch with the technology development. And we understand the speed when we see how fast we get new versions of smartphones and other gadgets. But in what direction are we going? We all know that size and weight reduction is good. We get more function into the same space. At the same time, we increase the functionality— a mobile phone today can do more than a desk- top computer did some years ago. It has a bet- ter camera than the reasonably good full-size digital camera we still have in our drawers. I am a PCB geek. For me, it is interesting to see how technology development has affected the PCB, and in which direction we move. How do we see the velocity of technology in PCBs? (Almost) Born and Raised in a PCB Plant I was born in a PCB plant outside Oslo in June 1958. Norway had no PCB factories at that time, so my father saw the potential and started to etch boards in a garage using silk- screened etching resist and ferric chloride etchant. The boards had to be used fast to avoid corrosion; we only had a simple lacquer to protect the copper. Time went by and at 20-something I was set to lead a small PTH plant. We started to use photoimageable plating resist and infrared re- The Velocity of Technology— What Does It Really Mean? The PCB Norsemen by Jan Pedersen, ELMATICA