I-Connect007 wraps up its six-part podcast series, PCB Materials: The Backbone and Future of Electronics, with Episode 6 and a discussion focusing on innovation. In Episode 6, Marcy LaRont speaks with Isola CTO Kirk Thompson about a critical turning point for the PCB industry as innovation accelerates. As data rates climb and demands from AI infrastructure, power density, flexible electronics, photonics, and chiplet integration intensify, traditional material assumptions are no longer sufficient.

A chance meeting at a family wedding the other week led to a conversation about numbers, an introduction to a book entitled Humble Pi, and how numeric misinterpretation can lead to all kinds of unexpected outcomes, some just costly, others tragic. It’s a good and amusing read, and as a result of this conversation with someone I had previously never met, I feel somewhat (at least temporarily) enlightened. One of the takeaways of the book is that humans are born to think logarithmically, and linear math has to be formally educated into our brains. That got me curious for more.

Vern Solberg is a distinguished member of the Global Electronics Association Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame and has served as chair or vice chair of many committees, developing technical standards and implementation guidelines, including the IPC-7090 series, which focuses on design for manufacturing and reliability for electronic assemblies. He’s a long-time contributor to Design007 Magazine, and he conducted a half-day tutorial at APEX EXPO 2026, where he addressed 2D, 2.5D, and 3D packaging and ultra-high density hybrid bond interconnect. I caught up with Vern at the show and asked about his pivot from addressing more standard design challenges to his focus on high-density circuits.