Rethinking PCB Design for AI Data Centers

As AI data centers, electric vehicles, energy storage, and advanced consumer electronics demand more power from increasingly compact systems, engineers are confronting an unavoidable consequence: heat. In this episode, Marcy LaRont talks with Shih-Wei Chang, Global Business Development Leader, about why thermal management has moved from a downstream design consideration to a fundamental part of system architecture. We explore how the PCB itself is becoming part of the thermal solution, why heat affects far more than the component generating it, and how advanced materials can help engineers balance thermal conductivity with electrical insulation, safety, and long-term reliability. As Chang says, the real opportunity lies in taking a system-level approach, bringing designers, manufacturers, and materials suppliers together early to manage power, heat, electrical performance, and reliability from the very beginning.

As PCB structures become denser, aspect ratios climb, and the margin for error gets smaller, fabricators are being pushed to rethink how they build the next generation of boards. Looking for ways to reduce process steps, their use of chemicals, water, and energy while generating less waste, manufacturers are finding new relevance in direct metallization, a technology that has been around for decades. In this episode of Meet the Author, Marcy LaRont talks with Carmichael Gugliotti, Line of Business Director for Primary Metallization at MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions and author of The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to Direct Metallization: A Guide to Complex PCB Fabrication. Gugliotti takes us inside graphite-based direct metallization, explaining how it works, where it can reduce process complexity and resource consumption compared with conventional electroless copper, and why the technology is attracting renewed attention.

Consumers want it all: smaller, lighter devices with more processing power, longer battery life, better cameras, faster connectivity, and increasingly sophisticated features. Making all of that fit is where the real engineering challenge begins. Marcy LaRont talks with Bruce Lee about the flexible circuitry working quietly behind the scenes to make today's smartphones, smart glasses, wearables, and foldable devices possible. We explore how flex enables designers to squeeze more functionality into ever-smaller spaces, why thinner isn't always better, and how materials must balance bendability, signal integrity, thermal performance, manufacturability, and long-term reliability. Bruce also discusses Qnity's latest material developments and why the next generation of flex may help enable product designs that, only a few years ago, simply weren't possible.

The PCB industry is navigating no shortage of change, from economic uncertainty and shifting supply chains to evolving customer demands and technology requirements. It is against this backdrop that Kelly Davidson stepped into her new role as president of North America for NCAB Group in December. In this episode of "Voices of the Industry," Marcy LaRont talks with Ms. Davidson about her long history with NCAB, what she is seeing in today’s market, and the challenges weighing most heavily on the company and its customers. Looking ahead, she shares her perspective on the shifts likely to shape the next several years, NCAB’s priorities going into 2027, and what excites her most about leading the company’s North American operations.

As AI computing pushes performance and power requirements to unprecedented levels, “smaller form factor” is taking on a whole new meaning. When it comes to the AI data center, the challenge isn't necessarily building a smaller PCB, but packing dramatically more bandwidth, power, and functionality into increasingly complex systems. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jin Hyun Hwang about what that means for PCB designers, fabricators, and materials suppliers. We explore the challenges of high-layer-count and sequentially laminated boards, the increasingly intertwined roles of signal and power integrity, and why technologies such as embedded capacitance, vertical power delivery, UHDI, and co-packaged optics are gaining attention. As Dr. Hwang explains, the next breakthrough in AI hardware may not come from any one technology, but from rethinking how materials, packaging, PCBs, power delivery, and system architecture work together.

In this episode, Marcy LaRont speaks with Rich Wessel, who explores how advanced materials enable electronics to perform reliably in demanding and mission-critical applications. From aerospace and automotive systems to AI infrastructure and humanoid robotics, we discuss the growing intersection of high performance and high reliability—and the thermal, electrical, and mechanical challenges engineers must overcome. We also look at how Qnity’s materials expertise and collaborative approach help customers design for performance and reliability from the start.

Qnity may be a new name in advanced electronics materials, but the technology behind it is anything but new. Separated from DuPont in November 2025, Qnity brings decades of materials science and some of the electronics industry's most recognizable material platforms into a company focused exclusively on semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. In this foundational episode of On the Line With… Qnity, Marcy LaRont talks with Jake Joo about the company's heritage, its Advanced Flex Technologies business, and the long history behind familiar names like Kapton® polyimide films and Pyralux® flex circuit laminates and adhesive systems. From materials that have traveled to Mars to today's increasingly complex consumer electronics and AI systems, we explore how Qnity is building on that legacy and helping OEMs and fabricators solve problems at the system level.

TTCI's president, Bert Horner, discusses the "Butterfly Effect" of Design for Test in his new book, "The Printed Circuit Assembler's Guide to... Design for Test." In his conversation with Nolan Johnson, Horner explains how planning for testability can pay huge dividends in reliability and profitability throughout the product's life cycle.

Authors Brian Chislea and Cody Schoener, PhD, share a conversation with Nolan Johnson on their latest book, "The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to... UV Curable Conformal Coatings." Chislea and Schoener talk about why this book is so important now, and the advantages and applications for UV curable conformal coatings. Central to the discussion is how such coatings can simplify manufacturing, improve product reliability, and return valuable floor real estate.

In the series wrap-up, Marcy LaRont discusses with CTO Kirk Thompson the turning point facing the PCB industry as innovation speeds up. With increasing data rates, power density, AI infrastructure, flexible electronics, photonics, and chiplet integration, traditional material assumptions are no longer enough. Kirk explains how advanced materials now enable higher speeds, better thermal management, and more precise dimensional control, while balancing manufacturability. The merging of PCBs and advanced packaging is both exciting and challenging, requiring substrate-like precision at scale. In the end, early collaboration across the ecosystem and smarter, more integrated materials will shape the next generation of cutting-edge PCBs.