Historic downtown Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted the sold-out EIPC Summer Conference, June 9–10, where 175 participants gathered at the AC Hotel, including representatives from the Global Electronics Association, FED, and four other industry associations. This year also included representation from 14 European PCB companies, and one—TTM— from the U.S., something that hasn’t happened for quite some time.

Cleanliness is a critical factor in the production of every electronic component, from wafer fabrication to final product assembly. Unclean surfaces and parts can ruin entire batches of products, negatively affecting product performance, production yield rates, and overall operational costs. Any lapse in production quality or excessive downtime can be detrimental to an electronics manufacturing facility.

I’ve met people in business who act like curiosity is a weakness. They think asking questions makes them look inexperienced or uninformed. They throw around buzzwords and charts. They look serious in meetings, yet hope no one asks them a direct question. Meanwhile, the truly smart people in the room are willing to raise their hands and ask for the explanation. Curious people almost always outperform know-it-alls. Why? Because curious people keep learning. The world changes far too quickly for anybody to stop learning. Especially now.