Contact: Dan Green 847-790-5371 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IPC HIRES CONFERENCE DIRECTOR FOR NEW ELECTRONICS ASSEMBLY TRADE SHOW Northbrook, IL 12/30/98 IPC -- Association Connecting Electronics Industries today introduced electronics industry veteran Martin Barton as conference director for a major electronics assembly event sponsored by the IPC/SMEMA Council. The event, Electronics Assembly Process Exhibition and Conference (APEX), takes place March 12-16, 2000, in Long Beach, CA, at the Long Beach Convention Center. Barton, principal and founder of Preferred Designs, a TX-based electronics manufacturing consulting firm, provides conference management and educational training services. For the past 15 years, he has been heavily involved with surface mount technology. He is past director and president of the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) and co-founder of SMI. Prior to starting his consulting business, Barton was employed at Rockwell International, where he was instrumental in introducing and implementing SMT into the company's line of telecommunication products. "As the conference director for Surface Mount International (SMI) for the last eight years, Martin has a proven track record of pulling together a technical conference second to none. That is what we wanted for APEX and with his leadership, I'm confident we will have it." says IPC Vice President of Standards and Technology David Bergman. "To ensure attendees receive "the most bang for their buck," says Barton, "the conference will focus on electronics manufacturing - from the bare board to tested assembly. Selected topics include: · development of industry standards, · advances in all types of manufacturing equipment, · skills-based training courses (using video and computer techniques), · professional development courses · application-oriented workshops, · free forums addressing "hot"topics, and multiple high-level keynote speakers." Leading companies in the electronics assembly equipment industry formed the IPC/SMEMA Council. The IPC/SMEMA Council Trade Show Committee, which is leading the effort to organize APEX, includes representatives from: Speedline Technologies, Universal Instruments, Fuji America, Panasonic Factory Automation, BTU International, JOT Automation, Mydata Automation, Siemens Energy and Automation, Zevatech, DEK, Philips EMT, Quad Systems, and Heller Industries. For more information on APEX, contact IPC Vice President of Industry Programs Tony Hilvers at (847) 790-5337, or e-mail [log in to unmask] The IPC is a US-based trade association dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its nearly 2,500 member companies which represent all facets of the electronic interconnection industry, including design, printed wiring board manufacturing and electronics assembly. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of a $26 billion US industry employing more than 250,000 people. ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################