No matter where you are in the global electronics supply chain, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “I need it now.” In this fast-moving, ever-evolving industry, we hear that a lot.

What drives what happens now? A critical combination of the latest technology and knowledge, which is what you’ll find at IPC APEX EXPO 2015.

Starting with the opening keynote with Robbie Bach, former president of entertainment and devices at Microsoft and Xbox visionary, you’ll learn about the triumph of a strategic process that brought together a disparate group of talented individuals who applied entrepreneurship to build a successful consumer business within the larger Microsoft structure.

On the show floor, you’ll see and compare equipment from more than 440 of industry’s top suppliers, discover new processes to gain greater efficiency and uncover news solutions that will help improve your bottom line.

In keeping with the event’s theme, “Upgrade Your Tech-NOW-ledgy” the technical conference will feature approximately 100 technical papers detailing original research and innovations from industry experts around the world.

For best practices in design, lead-free technologies, materials, process improvement, solder joint reliability, PCB fabrication and materials, quality and reliability, the more than 30 professional development courses will go beyond theory to provide practical solutions you can implement now.

With so many outstanding courses and technical papers to choose from, and the world’s elite subject matter experts to interact with, your best registration option is the All-Access Package. This package will save you a significant amount off a la carte options, but more importantly provide the maximum learning experience for your investment.

The All-Access Package includes the technical conference, conference proceedings, standards development committee meetings, a choice of up to five half-days of professional development courses, event essentials, luncheons, design forum, and if you’re a senior-level executive – PCB supply chain leadership or EMS management council meetings.

If you want to upgrade your tech-NOW-ledgy, IPC APEX EXPO 2015 is THE place to be. For more information or to register, visit www.IPCAPEXEXPO.org.

Forward from SMTNET.COM

The printed circuit board technology has seen great strides in electronic manufacturing, but the general construction of pcbs hasn’t changed in many decades. A sheet of copper is bonded to an insulating material such as FR4. Generally these copper planes are added in pairs with a single plane of FR4 between the two copper planes. Using this technology, up to 16 layers in extreme cases can be bonded together to form the PCB.

The most simple pcb design would be a 2 layer board. This would include two copper layers on the front and the back from which your component footprints, vias, and traces would be etched away. This will allow interconnect from the components and the top and bottom planes as needed. In order to keep the pcb manufacturing costs down only place components on the top side of your board. If you’re space constrained and run out of room it is permissible to place components on the backside of the board but look carefully at the soldering technology used to manufacture the board.

Going to a 4 layer board brings about another layer that you should become familiar with. Using a pair of layers for the boards main power is called the power planes. You’ll still keep the top and bottom layers for routing your nets, and the two inner layers become your main power and ground layers. These power planes are key to making your board routable in many cases, and they are critical for high speed pcb design.

There are many factors that can damage printed circuit boards. Today I'd like to talk about something that has damage to printed circuit boards.  Although printed circuit boards may be able to sustain high amounts of electricity and the movement of an immense amount of data from one component to the next, simple atmospheric and chemical interactions can render PCBs inert and useless. Some of these environments are overlooked often and can be incredibly damaging to circuitry. What circumstances do you need to be leery of when storing or placing these electronic devices?

a. Areas High in Static Electricity
Static electricity can do a great deal of damage to circuit boards especially if these devices are currently being used. Even statically charged dust can cause damage such as cleaning a computer case without shutting off the power. Your storage or project area should be free of any static creating products such as carpets and other kinds of fabric. Although it takes more static electricity to damage inert components, there is still the risk that it will.

b. Areas High in Moisture
Humidity and dampness can destroy electrical components. It is this reason that many project developers will utilize dehumidifiers within the project area or dry storage. While a television can certainly withstand some water damage without sustaining permanent, direct damage, any water crossing two channels on the PCB will cause a short unless it is completely dry. This is aside from the capability of developing molds on certain devices due to cold and damp areas.

c. Direct Animal Damage
In many warehouses and storage areas, mice and rats can deal damage to electronic products by turning wires and other PCB components into nests. Animals such as cats can ultimately destroy circuit boards by spraying urine on them. As feline urine is a similar composition to ammonia, it has the capacity to melt away many of the components on the PCB itself.

d. Areas High in Dust
Aside from statically charged dust particles, dust itself can be damaging if not cleaned from the PCB before use. This is often seen in electronic devices such as computers, televisions and other entertainment devices that have open ventilation. Dust acts like insulation that will reduce the efficiency of heat dissipation within any particular electronic device.

e. Chemical Storage Areas
Storing cleaning solutions and other chemicals near electronics can have adverse effects as well. As the fumes of some chemicals are corrosive in nature, these mixtures can slowly eat away at a PCB eventually destroying the unit. Some organizations have witnessed this outcome due to storing networking switches in cleaning closets and other areas where chemicals are often placed.

While quality PCBs can withstand more abuse when it comes to usage, most will be affected by any of the above situations. If your project is planned to be in direct contact with any harmful environment preventative measures can save you a lot of money and time.

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