EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 18 - June 2013

NEWS FROM THE EIPC

CALL FOR PAPERS ‐  13th Electronic Circuits World Convention   Dear Colleague,  The 13th Electronic Circuits World Convention (ECWC13) will take place from 7 ‐ 9 May 2014 in conjunction with the SMT Hybrid Packaging exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany. The conference is organized every three years alternately by the members of the WECC. In 2014, for the first time in eleven years the conference will be hosted in Europe. Participants from all over the world will meet in Nuremberg and benefit from extensive networking and knowledge transfer.   Become a part of ECWC13 as a speaker or poster presenter. Take the chance to present your know‐how to an audience of qualified specialists. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 13 September 2013. We are looking forward to your submissions.  Best regards The EIPC Team  

     

PRODUCTRONICA 2013  

Productronica will be held in the usual place in the usual city from November 12th to the 15th, and EIPC will be on Stand 134 in Hall B1, where all the best people are, of 

course! 

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 18 – June 2013

NEWS FROM THE EU

Labour to abstain on EU Referendum Bill vote Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg are expected to tell their MPs not to bother voting on the 5 July on the Private Members’ Bill to guarantee a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU by 2017. A senior Labour source said, “We will not be voting on this bill at second reading. We are absolutely certain that this bill is not going to make it to the statute book.” Labour sources stressed that Mr Miliband would do everything in his power to prevent the referendum plan becoming law, including delaying tactics in the House of Lords. Open Europe blog Telegraph Telegraph 2 Sun Express City AM German government “categorically rejects” Commission plans for eurozone bank resolution mechanism Handelsblatt reports that the German government has “categorically” rejected the European Commission’s proposals for a common eurozone resolution mechanism for stricken banks, which the Commission intends to present at this month’s EU leaders’ summit. The paper quotes a German government source as saying that “We will oppose an EU solution politically and also legally if necessary”. Meanwhile, German MPs yesterday voted to approve handing supervision over key financial institutions in the eurozone from national regulators to the European Central Bank. FAZ DWN DWN 2 France rejects last-minute offer to break deadlock over EU-US trade talks EU trade ministers will today discuss the European Commission’s mandate to negotiate a free-trade deal with the US. France is threatening to veto the launch of EU-US trade talks unless the audio-visual industry is completely excluded. In a bid to break the deadlock, the European Commission and the Irish EU Presidency have proposed asking EU member states to give unanimous approval to any parts of the draft agreement affecting the audio-visual industry once the negotiations on that specific sector are concluded. However, Le Figaro quotes a source from the office of French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq as saying, “We already have a veto on the conclusion of the agreement, so [the offer] doesn’t change anything for us.” AFP Le Figaro Economist: Charlemagne Süddeutsche NOS FT

Eurozone agrees on €60bn cap on direct bank recapitalisation from ESM; No agreement on final liability or using funds retrospectively The WSJ reports that eurozone officials are close to agreeing a deal which will allow the ESM, the eurozone’s bailout fund, to directly recapitalise European banks using up to €60bn of its funds. The plans will see an ESM representative sitting on the board of any recapitalised bank. There is no agreement on whether the funds will be allowed to be used to retroactively remove the burden of bank bailouts from government books. It is also unclear whether the final liability for the loan remains with the national government or ESM – although the loans would still need to be channelled through government institutions. The decision is expected to be finalised at the Eurogroup meeting on 20 June. WSJ The FT reports that the German Government is seeking to delay EU membership talks with Turkey scheduled for June 26, in response to Ankara’s crackdown on mass demonstrations.Reportedly a diplomat in Berlin pointed out that France, Italy, Sweden and Finland were also leaning towards halting the negotiations. FT Spanish bank BBVA announced yesterday that it faced losing €35m in net profit following a Spanish Supreme Court ruling which stated that some interest rate floors on Spanish mortgages were not presented to clients clearly and therefore must be removed. The ruling could also hit profits of other banks. FT Reuters WSJ Die Welt reports that according to new UN population figures released yesterday, Germany’s population is projected to fall from 82.7m in 2013 to 72.6m in 2050. Welt Greek PM moves to ease coalition tensions but large divisions remain Kathimerini reports that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to ease tensions within the governing coalition yesterday, announcing that he will hold a meeting with his coalition partners on Monday with the aim of reaching a compromise over the closure of national broadcaster ERT. However, he suggested he would not back down from plans to close ERT and relaunch a new streamlined broadcaster. Both junior coalition partners have agreed to seek an immediate reversal of ERT’s closure, but accept that the body needs significant restructuring. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 CityAM FT FT Editorial Le Figaro: Anastasiades 100 days ahead of Germany’s federal elections, a YouGov/INSA poll for Bild has found that only half of Germans have said they are certain to vote, with 24% saying they are unsure or have definitely decided not to vote, with disillusionment with the political parties and/or the whole political system cited as reasons. Bild

The Bundestag yesterday approved a new law establishing a 3% threshold in elections to the European Parliament after the German Constitutional Court ruled against the previous 5% threshold. However, many smaller parties are still unhappy and are set to launch a fresh legal challenge. Süddeutsche In an interview with FAZ, the Head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling suggests that he is in favour of abolishing the EU/ECB/IMF Troika because “in the long term, eurozone states have to stem such programmes by themselves”. He also says that “the IMF ridicules the [EU] stability [and growth] pact”. FAZ: Regling FAZ Le Monde New Bank of Spain figures published this morning show that Spanish public debt reached a new record-high 88.2% of GDP in the first quarter of 2013. El País El Mundo Expansión A report on immigration released by the OECD yesterday showed that around 34,000 Greeks and 28,000 Spaniards moved to Germany between September 2011 and September 2012. El País WSJ FT City AM reports that EU officials have reached a deal in principle to update MiFID to account for technological advances and new trading techniques. CityAM The Commission is pushing to find an agreement with industry firms on the Solvency II plans which would see a significant shake-up of life assurance companies’ capital requirements. FT Two close aides to Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas are among eight prominent political, business, and intelligence-service figures arrested in overnight raids by a police unit specialising in the fight against organised crime. BBC European Voice Ceske Noviny Ceske Noviny 2 Iceland’s Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson has told the European Commission that his island’s EU membership bid is over saying: “This is how democracy works,” pointing out that both parties in the new government had campaigned against EU accession. EUobserver

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 18 – June 2013

NEWS FROM THE UK

eXception Board announces successful completion of FastPrint acquisition for PCB Solutions business 

 The Board of eXception Group Ltd has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of its PCB Solutions Division by FastPrint HongKong Co., Ltd 

In January 2013 eXception accepted an offer from FastPrint HongKong Co., Ltd (FastPrint) to acquire 100% of the “PCB Solutions” division of eXception Group Ltd located in Tewkesbury and Calne, United Kingdom and Penang, Malaysia 

PCB Solutions will continue to trade as a UK registered company with two legal entities, namely eXception PCB Ltd (01338479) and eXception VAR Ltd (01583316).  eXception’s offshore supply chain structure will be strengthened by the addition of FastPrint’s new facility to support high‐mix, low‐volume PCBs in Shanghai, China 

Mark O’Connor, CEO of eXception Group Ltd commented, “This successful conclusion comes after a period of due diligence where all areas of the eXception business continued to work diligently and successfully towards its end of year goals.  I feel confident that PCB Solutions will continue to have a long and successful future and play an important part in the growth of FastPrint’s global PCB business” 

He concluded, “Throughout the process we have continued to work towards our own annual financial goals, and indeed eXception EMS has recorded yet another year of growth, up 10% for the third year and is now a debt free business since being established as eXception in 2005.  Our EMS business continues to be a leading Global CEM Solutions provider in our chosen markets.” 

 

 

Polar Instrument’s upgrades Atlas Si™ insertion loss test system with Bidirectional SET2DIL  

Key Facts: 

• Supports the recent IPC® proposal to enhance SET2DIL testing 

• Offers compatibility with the intelligent Atlas 800ESD protection unit 

• Existing Atlas Si™ users will be offered a no‐cost upgrade 

 

Polar Instruments announces that its Atlas Si™ SET2DIL insertion loss test system will 

be upgraded to support Bidirectional SET2DIL from June 2013. This upgrade follows 

the recent IPC® proposal for SET2DIL insertion loss testing to be enhanced with 

Bidirectional SET2DIL. Polar Instruments’ customers using previous versions of the 

Atlas Si™ test system will be offered an upgrade, at no cost, to support Bidirectional 

SET2DIL testing. 

 

“The addition of Bidirectional SET2DIL testing will enable customers to increase the 

repeatability of microstrip and stripline trace testing,” explains Martyn Gaudion, CEO 

of Polar Instruments. “The upgraded version of the Atlas test system is also fully 

compatible with the recent introduction of the Atlas 800 intelligent ESD protection 

unit, which features both dynamic probe sensing (DPS) and automatic discharge 

monitoring (ADM) for maximum protection against TDR ESD and EOS.” 

 

The Polar Atlas Si™ insertion‐loss test system enables PCB fabricators to achieve 

multi‐GHz performance using the most economic PCB laminates and enables 

accurate testing to be carried out, in a fraction of the time of traditional frequency 

domain testing, by either QA or production‐line operators. Atlas Si™ can be used as a 

standalone test system or in conjunction with other Polar tools such as the Si9000e 

for end‐to‐end management of insertion loss. 

 

About Polar Instruments  Polar Instruments is a market leader in design and manufacturing tools to simplify and enhance the design, fabrication and testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Their innovative tools include the industry‐standard Controlled Impedance Test System (CITS) which provides the global PCB industry with an easy‐to‐use test system for high‐speed digital and RF boards, as well as class‐leading tools for fast and accurate design and testing of controlled impedance in PCBs. Polar also leads the 

industry in tools for automated PCB layer stackup design and documentation. Polar Instruments was established in 1976 and has offices and branded operations in the US, UK, Europe and Asia Pacific.  www.polarinstruments.com SMART Group European Conference Looks to Be the Best Ever  SMART Group, Europe’s largest technical trade association focusing on surface mount and related technologies, announces that its annual SMART Group European Conference & Table Top Exhibition will be held from 2‐3 October 2013 at the Spread Eagle Hotel in Cornmarket Thame, Oxfordshire, England.   As the competitive advantage swings back to Europe, successful companies will benefit from the resulting business opportunities. The SMART Group’s upcoming conference can help attendees and their companies be ready to recognize and attain these opportunities. The conference will feature quality papers by international speakers targeted to benefit managers as well as production and quality engineers. The supporting table top exhibition will provide delegates with the benefit of meeting experts from specialist suppliers.  “As business returns to Europe, it is imperative that companies improve their efficiency in order to win this new business,” said Keith Bryant, SMART Group’s Chairman. “The objective of the conference is to provide focused sessions that will help our members as well as the industry be placed well and informed enough to take advantage of these opportunities.”  Four high‐quality sessions will deliver theoretical and practical information to drive down costs while improving efficiency. The session topics will focus on production and quality control as well as management and compliance issues: • Material selection, selecting the appropriate specification for the job in particular • Answering the age‐old question “How Clean Is Clean” • Latest techniques in fault analysis and inspection • Update on the latest compliance and environmental standards and how to turn legislative costs into benefits • Protecting against counterfeit components  The three production/quality control sessions will emphasize material selection, process improvement and shop floor issues. The fourth session is designed for management level and will concentrate on cost reduction, specifically turning EHS issues into cost savings rather than compliance costs.  For additional information or to register to attend, contact Tony Gordon at info@smartgroup.org or +44 [0]1494 465217. 

 

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 18 – June 2013

NEWS FROM THE USA  Slow Growth Ahead  for Economy and Electronics  Industry, According to IPC   Global economic growth  is picking up, but the continuing economic crisis  in the 17‐nation  euro  area  is  delaying  a  meaningful  recovery.  Leading  macroeconomic indicators and electronics supply chain indicators point to slow growth in the second quarter of 2013,  according  to  IPC’s quarterly  report, Electronics  Industries Market Data  Update.  The  May  2013  edition  reports  the  latest  global  and  regional developments  in  the  economy  and  the  electronics  industry,  including  selected findings from IPC’s industry statistical programs and leading indicators.  In  the  global  electronics  supply  chain,  only  laminate  and  semiconductors  showed positive  year‐on‐year  growth  in  Q1  2013,  but  the  growth  rates were meager.  In North  America,  Q1  results  were  more  mixed.  Sales  of  solder  and  assembly equipment  in the region enjoyed strong growth, while the EMS, PCB,  laminate and process consumables industries fell short of last year’s sales levels.  Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded in March for the fourth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 46th consecutive month. IPC’s North American Electronics  Industry Performance  Index©  reflects an outlook for  slow  growth  in  the months  ahead.  Another  leading  indicator  for  electronics supply  chain  sales  growth  in  North  America  is  the  PCB  book‐to‐bill  ratio,  which reached  a  34‐month  high  in  April  at  1.10,  indicating  that  sales  across  the  supply chain may resume positive growth momentum in the latter half of 2013.  IPC’s Market Data Update is free to IPC members, who can access the latest edition via  a  log‐in  page  at  www.ipc.org/Update.  It  is  also  available  by  subscription  at www.ipc.org/MDU‐subscription. For more information on IPC’s Market Data Update and other IPC market research reports, go to www.ipc.org/IndustryData. 

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 18 - June 2013

PRINTED ELECTRONICS NEWS

3D printing looks set to pack a $4B punch by 2025

Rapid growth 3D printing has come of age, surpassing $1B in revenues during 2012 and with growth expected to continue across all target markets to 2025. Across the board printer manufacturers are reporting a surge in sales, some cannot meet demand, as awareness of the technologies and what they offer grows.   Highest growth will be seen in the medical and dental fields, as well as the jewellery, designer products, and architectural areas, although this will not be monotonic as 3D printing locks into the capital investment cycles of the aerospace and automotive industries, as discussed in the new report from IDTechEx 3D Printing 2013‐2025: Technologies, Markets, Players     Figure 1: Market size by applicational sector in US$ million 

   

Source: IDTechEx report "3D Printing 2013‐2025: Technologies, Markets, Players" (www.IDTechEx.com/3D) 

  Growth will also be relatively strong in the aerospace sector, especially towards the end of the period considered (2025), by which point aerospace companies expect to be employing 3D printing with a vengeance as qualification hurdles are jumped.   Several capex cycles in manufacturing industries are now turning over which will drive a relatively modest fall in the market in coming years with an expected compound annual growth rate of about 7.5% for the period 2012‐2016. A (nearly) unique selling point 3D printing opens up the opportunity for the introduction of cheap complexity into manufacturing. Unitized, albeit currently relatively small, structures can be printed which either could not be manufactured via alternative means, or would have been prohibitively expensive to do so.   Avenues for cost effective mass customisation now exist, a fact that has not been missed in the medical fields who are increasingly adopting 3D printing for the manufacture of prosthetics and orthopaedic implants which are optimized to a particular patient through CT or MRI scan data.   Swedish Arcam AB claim that more than 20,000 implants have been generated via its electron beam melting technology which now has both CE‐certification and, more recently, has been FDA‐cleared.   The generation of customised implants derived from CT or MRI scans is not a novel concept however and a number of medical device companies worldwide have for many years been using CNC machines (see below) to do exactly that. Whilst 3D printers are certainly capable of generating more complex structures, CNC machines are compatible with a wider range of materials and do not suffer from some of the weaknesses which can be associated to 3D printed parts. Many orthopaedic implants are also relatively simple in structure.   

Figure 2: High speed CNC milling of a knee joint 

   

Source: Siemens   3D printer manufacturers must place themselves clearly in this market against an incumbent technology in order to ensure that the medical sector clearly understand the benefits offered.   Potential for low volume high value manufacturing also exists in the aerospace industry, and ducts within the F‐18 military aircraft for example are already 3D printed in engineered plastic. Qualification of processes and materials remains an issue in this field, as does the limited size of unitized components that can currently be printed. Price Price remains an issue at the high end of the market however, with several users reporting that prices of these printers have not moved significantly, in contrast to the low to mid‐range printers. Printers that used to cost $1M still cost $1M, whilst printers that used to sell for $100K are now coming in at price points half of that value. Volumes are still too low at the high end of the market for printer manufacturers to have gained economies of scale and this is inhibiting uptake. The relatively small number of manufacturers with highly differentiated products and high entry costs to this market mean that prices are unlikely to fall at the top end for the foreseeable future.   Materials prices also remain at a premium with 3D printer manufacturers reporting that their materials are optimised to their machines, effectively reducing competition. Prices for a kilogram of titanium powder for printing have been reported as high as US$700, where a kilogram of titanium comes in at well under US$100.  3D printing vs. CNC machines The report, informed by interviews with both major players in 3D printing as well as end‐user organisations, addresses all aspects of 3D printing including the technologies, current and future applications, patent and publication trends, company profiles, and detailed forecasts are provided in comparison to the growth of the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) market.   

CNCs are used across a similar range of target markets as 3D printing. CNC machines are used for rapid prototyping, tooling, and low volume production runs. Customers include the aerospace and automotive industries, also the medical sector and specialised machines exist serving the dental and jewellery fields. A modest "hobbyist" market of CNC home‐users exists.   Most telling of all are the facts that the advent of CNC machining was described as an industrial revolution by many and that its inventor, John T. Parsons, was awarded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers with a plaque in 1975 naming him "The Father of the Second Industrial Revolution".   The market for CNCs exhibits a well‐established periodic nature due to the capital expenditure cycles of the markets it ‐ and 3D printers ‐ serve, and the 3D printing market will observe a similar periodicity as it penetrates into the same sectors.   During times of capex turnover, revenues for the 3D printer manufacturers will be bolstered by continued materials sales, although many users will remain careful with materials usage whilst prices remain so high. Geographic breakdown The market for 3D printers is strong in the USA with activity also picking up in Europe, although Asia remains relatively weak for now (see figure 3).   Figure 3: Revenue breakdown by region, 2012 

   

Source: IDTechEx   China has not yet seen much commercial activity in 3D printing, although academic centres have been rigorously publishing in the academic journals on the subject. Revenues for exports of Chinese printer manufacturers remain in excess of their domestic sales. Report 

The report 3D Printing 2013‐2025: Technologies, Markets, Players will give the reader a broad and yet detailed overview of 3D printing and knowledge of the key organisations engaged in relevant industrial R&D or academic research. Insights into end‐user requirements and perspectives will also be gained together with the challenges ahead for 3D printing. Detailed market data and forecast are provided from 2012 through to 2025.   A 3rd industrial revolution is unlikely, but an industrial renovation is certainly on the cards. 

IDTechEx announces Printed Electronics Europe 2014 on 1‐2 April  

Europe's leading printed, flexible and organic electronics show will be held on 1‐2 April in Berlin, Germany. Located at The Estrel Convention Center this growing event ‐ which increased by over 20% in 2013 ‐ will encompass the commercialisation and progress of printed electronics and associated technologies.  End users from verticals such as consumer goods, consumer electronics, healthcare, transportation and media are the target of his event ‐ bringing together suppliers and buyers. Exhibitors can now book for the event at the early bird rate and obtain preferred floor plan positioning. For details see www.PrintedElectronicsEurope.com.   Feedback from attendees and exhibitors at Printed Electronics Europe 2013 was superb, and included comments such as:  "Excellent show and well attended as usual, guaranteeing high value traffic to our stand. Enquires were up 37% on previous years so very productive to exhibit." Trelleborg, USA  "We made many new contacts and I was surprised how many more I made by exhibiting rather than just attending this event as we have done previously. The quality of contacts was higher than at many other shows we have exhibited at in Europe" RK Siebdrucktechnnik GmbH, Germany  "A very nice event and rich in networking opportunities" Solvay Interox, UK  "We very much like focus of IDTechEx on applications and markets. This is the way for Printed Electronics industry to move from R&D to volume business and convince investors and OEM companies to adopt these new and exciting technologies". ISORG, France  "The event was well organized and attended and offered a lively forum for the exchange of new ideas and concepts in this fast moving market. If PE is important to you, I urge you to participate." FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc., USA  "A very professional and high value conference.  I travel to many conferences around the 

world and in terms of information quality, yours was one of the best in many years."  Industrial Minerals Magazine, UK    

"Highly informative with the right players in attendance."  Flint Group, USA  IDTechEx host a global series of events on Printed Electronics and related technologies occurring in three continents annually. These are:  Printed Electronics Asia, Tokyo, Japan, 9‐10 2013 July www.PrintedElectronicsAsia.com  Printed Electronics USA, CA, USA, 20‐21 November 2013 www.PrintedElectronicsUSA.com  Printed Electronics Europe, Berlin, Germany 1‐2 April 2014 www.PrintedElectronicsEurope.com  

 

Flexible electronics could transform electronic devices

Nearly everyone knows what the inside of a computer or a mobile phone looks like: A stiff circuit board, usually green, crammed with chips, resistors, capacitors and sockets, interconnected by a suburban sprawl of printed wiring. But what if our printed circuit board was not stiff, but flexible enough to bend or even fold?   It may sound like an interesting laboratory curiosity, but not to Enrique Gomez, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Penn State. "It could transform the way we make and use electronic devices," he says. Gomez is one of many scientists investigating flexible electronics at the University's Materials Research Institute. Others are doing the same at universities and corporations around the world.   Flexible electronics are in vogue for two reasons.   First, they promise an entirely new design tool. Imagine, for example, tiny smartphones that wrap around our wrists, and flexible displays that fold out as large as a television. Or photovoltaic cells and reconfigurable antennas that conform to the roofs and trunks of our cars. Or flexible implants that can monitor and treat cancer or help paraplegics walk again. 

  Penn State's interest in flexible and printed electronics is not just theoretical. In October 2011, the University began a multi‐year research project with Dow Chemical Corporation. Learn more about the partnership.   Second, flexible electronics might cost less to make. Conventional semiconductors require complex processes and multi‐billion dollar foundries. Researchers hope to print flexible electronics on plastic film the same way we print ink on newspapers.   "If we could make flexible electronics cheap enough, you could have throwaway electronics. You could wear your phone on your clothing, or run a bioassay to assess your health simply by wiping your nose with a tissue," Gomez says. Before any of this happens, though, researchers have to rethink what they know about electronics.   That means understanding why conventional electronics are victims of their own success, says Tom Jackson, Kirby Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering. Jackson should know, because he helped make them successful. Before joining Penn State in 1992, he worked on IBM's industry‐leading laptop displays. At Penn State, he pioneered the use of organic molecules to make transistors and electronic devices.   Modern silicon processors integrate billions of transistors, the semiconductor version of an electrical switch on tiny slivers of crystalline silicon. Squeezing so many transistors in a common location enables them to handle complex problems. As they shrink in size, not only can we fit more transistors on a chip, but the chip gets less expensive to manufacture. "It is hard to overstate how important this has been," Jackson explains. "Remember when we paid for long‐distance phone calls by the minute? High‐speed switching drove those costs way down. In some cases, we can think of computation as free. You can buy an inexpensive calculator at a store for $1, and the chip doesn't even dominate the cost. The power you get is amazing."   That, says Jackson, is the problem. Semiconductor processors are so good and so cheap, we fall into the trap of thinking they can solve every problem. Sometimes, it takes more flexibility to succeed.   Source and top image: Penn State University 

 

INTERNATIONAL DIARY  NPL webinar: Electronics operating in harsh environments: June 20th 2013 http://www.npl.co.uk/events/20-jun-2013-electronics-operating-in-harsh-environments Contact: events@npl.co.uk   EIPC SUMMER CONFERENCE The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg June 27th & 28th www.eipc.org EMPC 2013 European Microelectronics Packaging Conference EUROPOLE, Centre de Congrès, Grenoble, France, 9-12th September 2013. www.france.imapseurope.org IMAPS 37th International Microelectronics & Packaging Conference 22nd – 25th September 2013 Kraków, Poland Email: askwarek@ite.waw.pl IEF International Electronics Forum 2nd – 4th October 2013 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin, Ireland Register On-line at: http://www.futurehorizons.com/form/5/International-Electronics-Forum-2013 PRODUCTRONICA November 12–15, 2013 Munich, Germany www.productronica.com EIPC Booth with co-exhibitors @ Productronica B1-134 HKPCA SHOW November 27-29, 2013 Shenzhen, China www.hkpca-ipc-show.org iMAPS UK Annual Conference MicroTech 2014 20th March 2014 Rutherford LABS, Didcot, OX11 0QX http://www.stfc.ac.uk/About+STFC/51.aspx

IPC APEX EXPO Mandalay Bay Convention Centre 25th – 27th March 2014 www.ipc.org SMT Hybrid Packaging Nuremberg, Germany May 6-8, 2014 http://www.mesago.de/en/SMT/ 13th Electronic Circuits World Convention (ECWC13) Nuremberg, Germany May 7-9, 2014 www.ecwc13.org or www.eipc.org