PCB Chat

Wally Rhines, chairman emeritus of Mentor and spokesman for the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance Governing Council discusses the latest PCB and semiconductor design software market results with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow.

Steve Pudles has held executive positions in management and engineering at electronics manufacturing services companies for more than 30 years. Last month, he led a team that acquired Zentech, a mid-Atlantic US-based EMS company that focuses on the military and aerospace markets. He speaks about the company's strategy and the background to the deal with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow.

Yash Sutariya is the President of Saturn Electronics Corporation, Saturn Flex Systems, and Saturn PCB Services, all PCB-centric operating entities. Today, we’ll discuss what every buyer of printed circuit boards should be concerned about and Yash will offer a few auditing tips that would be helpful when auditing or selecting a PCB supplier. Yash is the author of "PCB Reliability: Auditing Your Supply Chain to Insure It," a paper he presented at SMTAI 2018.

Automated optical inspection (AOI) and solder paste inspection (SPI) system supplier Brian D'Amico covers AOI and SPI best practices with Mike Konrad. Modern circuit assemblies are difficult, if not impossible, to inspect without the aid of advanced inspection systems. Brian has been in the electronics assembly equipment industry for 36 years. His knowledge (and passion) for inspection technology is truly impressive.

Zach Dismukes is manager of sales and service for Bowman Analytics on the West Coast and a specialist in XRF products. He has spent the past decade in XRF and x-ray technology. He also has a masters in chemistry from the University of Illinois.

He discusses use of XRF as a quality control tool, measuring coating thickness, compares benchtop versus handheld units, and explains how to ensure consistency throughout the workday with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow.

What happens when an electronic contract manufacturer follows their customer’s instructions to the detriment of the product? Product failures, blame, drama, and a really big lawsuit. 

What's the optimal way to handle and store solder paste for electronics assembly? Tim O'Neill of AIM Solder shares advice and tales from the front in the latest edition of The Screw-ups.

Jim Barry is sales & marketing manager and technical liaison at PCB Technologies, a fabricator of rigid, rigid-flex and flex PCBs for high-rel applications. Jim has been in the PCB industry since the 1970s, and has prior experience with flex fabricators like Parlex and Eltek and EMS companies including Bull Technologies. He is one of the presenters at the upcoming SMTA Capital Chapter Technical Day in June. This all-day workshop features three talks on DFM/design for reliability/thermal and RF mitigation concerns. He previews the workshop with PCB Chat host Mike Buetow.

Kent McLeroth has been chief executive of Zuken Americas since 2015. He joined the PCB design software developer in 1995 after more than a decade designing hardware for a major defense contractor, where he was a Zuken customer. He discusses Zuken's growth, strategic acquisitions and outlook with PCB Chat's Mike Buetow.

Kyle Miller is Zuken's manager of Lightning, Design Force and related routing technology. He has a doctorate in artificial intelligence, and is heading Zuken's efforts into applying AI and machine learning to develop next-generation PCB placement and routing. He speaks with PCB Chat's Mike Buetow from Zuken Innovation World, where he gave a presentation on the progress of AI in ECAD, and why designers shouldn't fear for their jobs.