Apex a Sign of Trade Show … What, Exactly?

IPC Apex Expo came to a close on March 27, completing its annual three-day run at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The trade show, the electronics assembly industry’s largest in the US, appeared to most observers to have attracted slightly more attendees than last year’s event in San Diego, and exhibitors on the whole seemed relatively upbeat about the year ahead.

For those who count on the electronics industry for big feats, it’s been a remarkable couple of years. The Mars Science Laboratory (which includes the better-known Curiosity rover) flew some 350 million miles before settling down on the Red Planet, where it continues to compile and beam new information back to we land-lovers on Earth. It’s a stunning engineering feat. And given the many millions of dollars spent to get there, thank goodness it succeeded.