And we’re back!

After a (too long) break, PCEA meetups have restarted with a bang, with two local chapter meetings, plus the first national event in PCEA history.

Professional development was the focus of both chapter meetings. This can be looked at two ways: one in terms of technology advancements and the other tied to learning the basics of placement and routing.

The pandemic is driving change, not just to the way we work, but what we work on. Per John Watson of Altium, who spoke at both meetings, “Advancements in technology are partially a result of the pandemic.” The industry “forced us into redoing the way we do things.”

As reported by PCEA chief content officer Chelsey Drysdale, Watson says designs for IoT, drones and nanotechnology, among others, were “science fiction” just a decade ago. Today, they are commonplace, and others (additive manufacturing?) are right behind them.

Yet, while today’s designs are typified by higher frequencies, smaller boards, and bigger, heavier stackups, the industry is losing experience. A survey shared by Watson suggests more than half of designers plan to retire in the next 12 months.

ATLANTA – Overall electronic component sales sentiment for April beat expectations by more than 13 points, as the index measurement grew from 113.6 to 119.6, according to ECIA’s latest survey.

NEENAH, WI – Plexus Corp. saw fiscal second quarter revenue of $888.7 million, up 0.89% year-over-year and 8.7% sequentially.

TORONTO – Celestica’s first quarter revenue was $1.57 billion, growth of 27% year-over-year.

MIAMI – Element Solutions reported first quarter electronics net sales increased 21% year-over-year to $427 million. Organic net sales increased 8%.

PASADENA, CA – Continuing electronics supply chain challenges at the beginning of this quarter suggest there will only be pockets of relief through the remainder of 2022 and into 2023 for many commodities, according to new data from Supplyframe.

ARENDAL, NORWAY – Kitron today reported first quarter revenue was NOK 1.4 billion (US$153.1 million), up 52.3% year-over-year.

PENANG, MALAYSIA – Electronics manufacturer Escatec partnered with Zagreb, Croatia-based electronics design house Byte Lab. The deal enables Escatec to offer product development, design and prototyping services in Europe, while Byte Lab will be able to offer its customers manufacturing locations in Malaysia, Switzerland, the UK, the Czech Republic and the US.

TEMPE, AZ – Benchmark Electronics reported first quarter revenue of $636 million, up 25.7%% year-over-year and 0.47% sequentially.

SIEVI, FINLAND – Scanfil reported first quarter revenue was €196.6 million (US$210.7 million), an increase of 20.4% year-over-year.

FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, FRANCE – Icape Group is preparing its IPO. The printed circuit board distributor had revenue of €169 million (US$182.4 million) in 2021, up 34%. The company aims for revenue of €500 million by 2026.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — The newly appointed IPC Apex Expo Technical Program Committee is inviting engineers, researchers, academics, technical experts and industry leaders to submit technical conference abstracts for IPC Apex Expo 2023, to be held at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 24-26, 2023.