It's been almost a month since Autodesk acquired Cadsoft, and more importantly, its Eagle line of CAD tools, from distributor Premier Farnell. Yet there's been nary a peep from Autodesk on how it plans to adopt or implement its new toys.

Transparent printed circuits were a popular item showcased at the JPCA Show 2016. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) use to be the dominant material used for transparent substrates in optical circuits and devices and generated a huge amount of sales from touch screen panels. Many engineers and designers still searched for other heat resistant & transparent substrate materials because the heat resistance with PET could not stand up during the standard connection processes that use soldering and wire bonding. Polyimide films have a superior heat resistant tolerance as well as favorable electrical and mechanical properties, but their colors are brown making the transparencies challenging.

While other industry efforts at charting the future are losing steam, iNEMI’s is still going strong.

Could a mix of finishes hold up after 20 years in storage?