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September 30th, 2026
News and Resources for PCB Design, Fab and Assembly Professionals Subscribe •  Advertise •  PCD&F •  Circuits Assembly •  Tell A Friend
THE LEAD

PCEA recognized seven significant contributors at PCB West, while OpenAI cancels the planned release of GPT-6.1 Astra over safety concerns.

TECH NEWS

PCB West 2026’s sold-out exhibition opens today in Santa Clara, featuring more than 100 exhibitors, free technical sessions and networking opportunities.

PCEA recognized Rick Hartley, Susy Webb, Gary Ferrari and Hayao Nakahara with 2026 Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contributions to the printed circuit industry.

PCEA presented its 2026 Leadership Awards to Edward Dodd and Matthew Leary and its Membership Award to Michael Burns at PCB West.

OpenAI has canceled the planned release of GPT-6.1 Astra after tests showed the model could mislead users about its actions and exceed the scope of assigned tasks without permission.

Donghua University researchers have developed a microfluidic spinning method that builds electronic circuits into flexible fibers for potential use in wearable devices and soft robotics.

Tamil Nadu plans to fund 10 engineering student teams to develop satellite subsystems and CubeSat models as it builds a skilled workforce for ISRO’s upcoming Kulasekarapattinam launch facility.

Ford is recalling 11,405 2026 Rangers after a cracked ceramic capacitor on the infotainment display’s printed circuit board was linked to a short circuit that can disable the screen and backup camera feed.

At Singapore's Innovate Together 2026 conference, equipment makers including ASM, ASMPT, and KLA said the challenges facing next-generation advanced packaging are expanding beyond the performance of individual tools to hybrid bonding.

PCEA announced 11 free technical sessions and a keynote for PCB West 2026, covering topics including AI, PCB design, signal integrity, flex, UHDI, fabrication and assembly on Sept. 30 in Santa Clara, CA.

PCB West 2026 will feature a panel examining AI, interposers, high-speed and high-current design, and optical interconnects shaping PCB design through the end of the decade.

PCEA announced two fall webinars covering the role of the PCB designer and signal routing for controlling energy, signal integrity and EMI in digital PCBs.

PCB West 2026 will feature 11 presentations on electronics assembly processes, including a half-day solder paste qualification workshop and sessions covering SMT printing, stencil design, reflow soldering and more.

PCEA will host a 3.5-hour webinar on Nov. 4 led by Susy Webb covering signal routing techniques to improve signal integrity and EMI performance.

CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY is accepting entries for the 20th annual New Product Introduction Awards, with submissions for electronics assembly products due Dec. 14.

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.

ROI
When the Government Stops Checking
As the US government stresses the importance of quality and cybersecurity, changes to independent certification and auditing requirements raise questions about whether its actions match its warnings.

PETER BIGELOW

Peter Bigelow





















BUSINESS NEWS

Key Tronic’s 2026 revenue fell to $386M as its net loss widened to $47M.

Wus Printed Circuit plans to invest approximately $3M in LanKun Micro.

China’s 2026–30 electronic information manufacturing plan aims to strengthen semiconductor, component and PCB assembly supply chains while expanding AI hardware, smart manufacturing and workforce development.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals plans a roughly $39M fan manufacturing plant near Hyderabad that would include in-house PCB assembly and motor production.

Taesung has received a letter of intent from Simmtech and is negotiating a deal to supply via-fill copper plating equipment for Simmtech’s planned SOCAMM production line.

Navitas plans to acquire Claros in a deal valued at up to $232M.

SRX Melbourne is strengthening its sourcing and manufacturing capabilities through Scanfil’s global EMS network.

Cetec ERP and Boardera Software have integrated Cetec’s live parts inventory data into Boardera’s PCB assembly quoting platform.

TCL has signed a multiyear partnership with the Green Bay Packers.

Kyzen announced Cesar Gazcon’s retirement and named Rolando Partida regional manager for Central Mexico.

SEEING IS BELIEVING
Old Man, Round Two, Not Half Bad
My father owned a printed circuit fabrication company. I apprenticed at that company as a teenager, learning a trade I could always fall back on should more glamorous options vaporize. As an apprentice, I attended many meetings. My job was to listen and learn. My father used to employ an old management trick in those meetings.

ROBERT BOGUSKI

Robert Boguski






















TECHNICAL ARTICLES

Heat Staking vs. Ultrasonic Welding for PCB Assemblies
PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY


Programmable Spinning of Integrated Circuit Fibres
Nature Electronics


Vision-Based PCB Defect Detection Using YOLOv5 and MobileNetV2 with Grad-CAM
Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Intelligence

 


EVENTS

Sept. 29-Oct. 2: PCB West 2026, Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center
Oct. 16, 23, 30, Nov. 6, 13: Certified Printed Circuit Design Training, online
Oct. 20, 2026: PCEA webinar: Coin-Style PCB Heat Sinks, online
Oct. 20-22, 2026: TPCA Show, Taipei
Oct. 21, 2026: PCEA webinar: How to be a Great PCB Designer, online
Nov. 4, 2026: PCEA webinar: Designing the Signal Routing to Control Energy in Digital PCBs, online
Nov. 17, 2026: PCEA webinar: Sourcing PCBs Globally, online
Feb. 17-19, 2027: Nepcon Japan, Tokyo
Apr. 27-30, 2027: PCB East, DCU Center, Worcester, MA


 

BOOK-TO-BILLS/MARKET TRENDS
             July Trend
EMS 1.29 Down
Semiconductors          135%        Up
PCBs                                      1.46 Down
Component Sales Sentiment 141.6 Down
Changes are year-over-year.    

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ABOUT

PCB Update is a digital newsletter for PCB design, fabrication and assembly professionals, brought to you by Printed Circuit Engineering Association™. E-mail industry press releases or links to the editors of CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY or PCD&F: pr@pcea.net.


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