The mother of invention.(OUR LINE)

IN pursuit of improvement of processes and end-products, the electronics industry--from the design engineer's seat to the fab shop floor, and on through to the assembly process--have long been a focus of research and new product development attention.

In the early days of PCB design and lab, millions of dollars were spent annually by OEMs and suppliers in an effort to improve the processes. They used process yield and end-product reliability as their guiding principles and forged innovations in EDA, materials, plating and assembly to name a few.

The process of invention is a well-understood and logical procession. An idea is generated and perhaps some small demonstration of its potential pursued. This can be a physical demonstration such as a sample or perhaps just a concept drawing. Many of the inventions credited to Leonardo da Vinci are simply documented ideas.

The road between invention and commercialization can be long. The more revolutionary and the more unlike previous practice the idea is, the more difficult it will be to garner industry acceptance and market penetration. Along the road to commercialization, the first step is making it known that there is an invention and the potential benefits of the new idea.

But what really drives invention, and especially in an industry that is mature and moving toward commoditization? These past few months we have seen a resurgence of the "idea." Some of the inventions are well on their way to commercialization. Some are simply dreams. Most are evolutionary, but others have a more far-reaching and disruptive potential.

In the past month, for example, we have seen a new PCB developed in collaboration by SanminaSCI, Viking InterWorks and Shocking Technologies that incorporates embedded electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for components right into the board (sanmina-sci.com/pressroom/pres_rel.html).

Another recent process introduction follows the logical adaptation of nano materials into the printing process for manufacturing flexible circuits (dknresearch.com/products.html). Introduced by DKN Research and NY Industry, the process promises high-resolution capabilities through low cost, automated screening processes using conductive nanopastes.