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VOLUME 38 - NUMBER 9
Product Preview: The Battery Show
Etco launches line of connectors and tabs. Product previews begin on ...
Page 72 This Month’s Focus: Automation
Production and
ECD discusses thermocouple attachment methods and profile accuracy. Special features begin on ...
Page 60 EM Services
Rush PCB embraces the on- shoring of rapid prototyping. EM services begin on ...
Page 18 New Products
Keystone introduces continuous reel female quick-fit, PCB receptacles. New products begin on ...
Page 82
Silicon Mountain's manufacturing team at the company's facility in Nampa, Idaho.
THE GLOBAL ELECTRONICS PUBLICATION September 2023
Silicon Mountain Sees Significant Leap in Efficiency
NAMPA, ID — Silicon Mountain, a family-owned and operated electronics manufacturing company, has been making significant strides in the efficien- cy of its operations. Strategically located in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, the company takes
pride in its team of dedicated employees who are committed to delivering the highest quality prod- ucts to a diverse range of clients, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
What sets Silicon Mountain apart as a manu- facturing partner is its ability to tailor processes and use its manufacturing equipment to meet each customer’s specific needs. With more than 50 years of combined engineering and manufacturing expe- rience, the company is uniquely positioned to col- laborate with customers on all stages of production, from product development and design to full-scale manufacturing.
Operations Management
Efficiency and increased throughput at Silicon Mountain has taken a significant leap forward un- der the guidance of operations manager Eddie Gar- cia. With extensive knowledge in product develop- ment and contract manufacturing across various industries since 1993, Garcia’s experience has al- lowed him to implement diverse approaches to
Continued on page 8
EV Revolution Could Put Native Communities at Risk
PORTLAND, OR — Conditions are ripe for an accelerated tran- sition to electric vehicle (EV) use in the United States. The Biden- Harris administration has set a target that 50 percent of newly purchased cars in 2030 be elec- tric. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides significant tax incentives for pur- chasing electric vehicles and for companies that produce them. And that is good news for environmental justice (EJ), says Lisa Benjamin, author of a paper called “EVs as EJ?” forthcoming in Harvard Environment Law Review. Benjamin, associate pro- fessor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School, details all of the pos- itive impacts of EVs on environ- mental justice pursuits. But she also outlines the potential harm that could be done to Native com- munities without updated min- ing regulations and greater in- clusion in land-use decision- making.
The reason? The increase in
electric vehicle production is be- ing accompanied by an increase in domestic mining for the min- erals included in EV batteries. Many of these minerals, such as lithium and cobalt, are located on or near tribal lands, including sacred and culturally important sites.
EVs and Environmental Justice
Widespread adoption of EVs is critical to reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, a key driver of climate change. The transportation sector is the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions. According to the Unit- ed Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a 50 percent reduction in carbon must be achieved by 2050 — and as much as a 91 percent decrease by 2100 — to stay with- in the globally accepted goal of limiting the planet’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The rapid
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Stretchy Integrated Electronics
STATE COLLEGE, PA — There’s a barrier preventing the advent of truly elastic electronic systems, the kind needed for advanced hu- man-machine interfaces, artificial skins, smart healthcare and more, but a Penn State-led research team may have found a way to stretch around it.
According to principal inves- tigator Cunjiang Yu, fully elastic electronic systems require flexi- bility and stretchability in every component. Researchers have achieved this characteristic in most of the components, except for one type of semiconductor that is notoriously brittle. Now, Yu and his international team developed an approach to com- pensate for the frail and break- able semiconductor to advance the field closer to fully flexible systems.
“Such technology requires Continued on page 6
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