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THE LEAD
Strategic shifts and technology breakthroughs are converging across the industry, with acquisition talk – and some completed. And Taiwan’s PCB makers are riding a seasonal wave, all while academic advances in chip stacking and PCB defect detection push the innovation frontier forward.
TECH NEWS
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology researchers have set a new record in microchip design, stacking six hybrid CMOS transistor layers for the first time, tripling the previous limit and paving the way for higher-density, large-area electronics.
A newly developed carbon felt electrode achieved nearly 68 percent copper removal from PCB wastewater, demonstrating stable performance and cost-effective metal recovery through electrochemical processes.
PCB West 2025 reported a 3.5 percent year-over-year attendance increase, drawing a strong international crowd to its Santa Clara conference and exhibition.
Adafruit has launched LED Glasses built on a custom PCB with 116 RGB LEDs and an onboard IS31FL3741 I2C driver.
YOLOv10 researchers have developed an improved multiscale edge-strengthening model to boost small defect detection in PCBs, achieving high precision while reducing model size.
San Francisco Circuits has detailed its heavy copper PCB manufacturing and assembly capabilities, highlighting improved current capacity, thermal performance, and structural strength for high-power applications.
Mike Buetow was honored as the inaugural recipient of the PCEA Lifetime Achievement Award and first inductee into the association’s new Hall of Fame during PCB West 2025.
Circuits Assembly opened entries for its 2026 NPI Awards, recognizing innovations in electronics assembly equipment, material and software.
PCEA announced Stephen V. Chavez as recipient of the annual PCEA Leadership Award, for his lifetime service in the pursuit of educating and training PCB design engineers.
PCEA awarded Troy Hopkins with its fourth annual PCEA Membership Award.
PCEA hosts an Oct. 28 webinar on RF PCB design and the transition from HDI to UHDI technologies.
Wally Rhines joins Mike Buetow to discuss the long PCB/MCM design tool rally, a massive jump in employment. broader strength across the ECAD industry, and the effects US policies toward China are having on the market on the latest PCB Chat podcast.
Abstracts for PCB East 2026 on PCB design, fabrication, assembly and emerging technologies, are due now.
Looking for networking opportunities? Join the PCEA Discord server, bringing together engineers and designers from around the world on a private channel for discussing technical questions and career opportunities.
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ROI
Sensors: The Unsung Catalyst Behind AI’s Value
While the world is flummoxed over the up-and-down nature of tariffs and the political drama they create, one bright spot in the news the past year or so, and impacting our industry more than any, is artificial intelligence, or AI.
PETER BIGELOW
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