VIDEO - Bill Burr of BPA & Karl Stollenwerk of Isola at today's EIPC Summer Conference in Milan
By Philip Stoten
Sep 13, 2012
As always the EIPC put on a first-rate business and technology conference, well attended and with excellent presentation. This morning combined industry trends, with excellent and thought provoking presentations from Hans Friedrichkeit and Walt Custer, with technology with papers on topics from thermal management to embedded electronics and MiB.
Here are a couple of my highlights:
Bill Burr talks MiB and PCB at EIPC's Summer Conference in Milan
This morning in Milan, Italy, William Burr of BPA Consulting addressed the audience of the EIPC's Summer Conference with a presentation entitled 'The Heat is On - MiB Comes of Age' during the lunch break I talked to Bill to discuss some of the assertions made and the future of the European PCB industry in the face of such challenging competition.
We talked about the importance of inspiration and innovation in allowing Europe to sustain its industry. Concerned about the number of grey haired colleagues in the audience, I asked Bill if he thought the future of the industry was threatened by a lack of young blood and a lack of desire on the part of graduates to want to be technologist, particularly in with such stiff competition from Asia and India, where graduate numbers entering engineering are so much higher.
Isola GmbH President (Europe), Karl Stollenwerk at EIPC's Summer Conference in Milan
Celebrating their 100th anniversary in business, one of the main sponsors of the event and the hosts of this afternoon's factory tour is Isola GmbH. Karl Stollenwerk, their European President sat down at lunchtime for a chat about the laminate business and the successes Isola had enjoyed over the last fifty years in the electronics industry (half of the companies life).
Karl talked about the importance of innovation as well as the significance of the people who make up the business, which is now a worldwide market leader. Isola's Alun Morgan opened today's event in his role as EIPC Chairman with a presentation on the development of the industry and of Isola in those 100 years.
EIPC event are always well attended and enjoyed. It's an absolute pleasure to catch up with old friends, the organization is always faultless thanks to the tireless efforts of Kirsten and Sonya, but surely there must be away of bring some younger people to the table...
