It’s Show Time
A lot of us travel for work; it’s part of the job. It recently dawned on me that I’ve spent over a year of my life in California. (I’m surprised I don’t have a surfer accent and purple hair by now.) California has its share of issues, natural and manmade, but the Golden State remains the high-tech capital of the US.
That’s why we’re heading to Silicon Valley for PCB West 2026. The conference kicks off Sept. 29 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, running through Oct. 2, with a trade show on Sept. 30.
I’m slightly biased, but it’s no exaggeration to say that the instructors teaching at this year’s technical conference are the top experts in PCB design and manufacturing today. Classes will address topics such as controlling noise and EMI, RF and mixed-signal design, signal integrity in UHDI boards, thermal management, stackup design, copper pour, and – of course – AI.
And the show floor continues to expand, with over 100 companies exhibiting this year. An exhibit pass gets you onto the show floor, plus free food and drinks and access to the Free Wednesday classes.
Retire the Respin
This year’s keynote speech bears the audacious title “It’s Time to Retire the Respin.” Keynote speaker AJ Cooper is the CEO of Itera, and he believes his company’s liquid metal processes could make respins a thing of the past. Itera’s patented process, built on an electrowetting platform, replaces copper traces with reconfigurable liquid metal.
Cooper says this technology can iterate hardware 1,000 times faster than the traditional design process. In his speech, he’ll explain how this process works, how it could eliminate the PCB respin cycle, and why he believes hardware updates will eventually be as simple as software updates. This will be an interesting keynote.
Designer Career Day
PCEA is launching a new program at PCB West this year: Designer Career Day. This daylong event takes place on Sept. 30 and is targeted at students, recent grads, and anyone interested in a career in PCB design.
Chaired by Matthew McBride and John Burkhert, Jr., the program will feature speakers and a moderated panel. The topics include education, training, technology, job-seeking skills, social media, the realities of being a PCB designer, and more.
Bring some smart, young, tech-minded students to the show so they can get first-hand knowledge about what a career in PCB design is really like. We need to spread the word about PCB design, because most high school and college counselors are still unaware that this career even exists.
The Future of PCB Design
What’s next for PCB design? That’s what the panel discussion “The Future of PCB Design” will address on Sept. 29. Moderated by Matt Leary of Newgrange Design, the panel will examine the role of AI in PCB design, interposer boards, the latest in high-speed and high-current design, and the integration of optical interconnects. These issues will be affecting mainstream PCB designers sooner rather than later.
The PCB Market Outlook
Dr. Hayao Nakahara will share his thoughts on the past, present and future of the PCB market, the forces driving the industry, and the effects of AI. “Naka” has been compiling his NTI-100 ranking of the top PCB makers since 1999, and his discussions are always informative and entertaining. The class takes place Sept. 30.
The Assembly Track Returns
We also have classes for those on the assembly side. Chaired by consultant Chrys Shea, the assembly track takes place September 29-30, with 11 presentations on circuit assembly processes. Classes run the gamut from fundamentals of assembly to advanced processes, with a half-day workshop on solder paste qualification.
The “Aha” Moment
For design instructors, nothing is more satisfying than an “aha” moment, especially when attendees realize that they’ve been doing something wrong for decades, and then learn a better, faster way to perform that task.
At PCB West a few years ago, I witnessed an “aha” moment in a roomful of senior designers and design engineers attending a DfM class led by Mike Tucker and Ray Fugitt. (This class is part of Free Wednesday on Sept. 30.) Many of them had no idea what happened to their design package after they hit “send.” One designer spoke for the crowd: “I didn’t know that’s what happened in CAM, and I’ve been a designer since the 1980s.”
If you haven’t attended PCB West in the past, what are you waiting for? Visit pcbwest.com and register today. You just might have your own “aha” moment.
See you at the show!
Andy Shaughnessy is content architect of PCD&F/Circuits Assembly; andy@pcea.net.