It was in 1997 when I visited Ireland for the first time. I was 30 years old then, and had lived in metropolitan cities (Chicago, Providence) for most of my adult life.

Even then, I was fairly well traveled for my age: three continents, 40+ states. And, like many 30-year-olds, I was well acquainted with local nightlife, its various charms and debaucheries, and especially, its demographics.

Through years of travel for business or pleasure, I had come to the realization that most bars (or pubs or haunts or dives or whatever colloquialism you prefer) aimed at a certain clientele. That customer base varied by the place, but in general, there were the bars and clubs for the younger crowd, the pubs for the middle aged, and the lounges for the older set.

Every so often, of course, we “young ones” might venture into the territory of our elders, be it out of curiosity or convenience. Likewise, the “parents” might wander into the joints that were typically the provenance of the college crowd – on football game days or alumni weekends, for instance. But for the most part, each generation generally stuck to its own designated spots.

GESEKE, GERMANY – Variosystems has announced the acquisition of Heicks Industrieelektronik, a German technology company specializing in electronic solutions for the aerospace sector.

HELSINKI – Incap reported full-year revenue of €230.1 million ($239.4 million), a year-over-year increase of 3.8%.

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – The PCEA membership elected its board of directors for the next two years at its annual meeting in October.

ZHENGZHOU, CHINA – Foxconn has broken ground on a new headquarters building here in China's Henan province.

SANTA ANA, CA – Ducommun announced $197.3 million in fourth quarter revenue, up 2.7% over the fourth quarter of 2023.

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – PCEA Training today named respected industry veteran Paul Fleming technical director, PCB design.

CUPERTINO, CA – Apple will spend $500 billion in US investments in the next four years that will include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers and add about 20,000 research and development jobs across the country, Reuters reported.

MILPITAS, CA – The global semiconductor manufacturing industry closed 2024 with strong fourth quarter results and solid year-over-year growth across most of the key industry segments, SEMI announced in its Semiconductor Manufacturing Monitor (SMM) Report, prepared in partnership with TechInsights.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – Orders, capacity utilization, and backlogs all increased in the past month, pushing electronics industry demand higher according to IPC’s February Sentiment of the Global Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chain Report.

OULU, FINLAND – Scanfil reported €779.8 million ($816.9 million) in full-year sales, a decrease of 13.5% compared to the previous year.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American PCB shipments in January were up 19.9% compared to January 2024, IPC announced in findings from its North American PCB Statistical Program. The book- to-bill ratio stands at 1.24.