Judy Warner | Microwave Journal

Judy Warner is the western regional and RF/microwave market director of business development for Zentech Manufacturing, a contract manufacturer that offers fully integrated supply chain solutions for mil/aero, RF/microwave and medical markets. Zentech is based in Baltimore, MD near the high technology corridor of the Mid-Atlantic/Pentagon region. Judy has over 20 years of experience in the electronics industry, and has spent the past four years focused exclusively on RF and Microwave technology solutions. Judy also sits on the advisory board of eSurface technologies and contributes articles to a variety of microwave and electronic industry trade publications, including 3 years as a contributing guest blogger for Microwave Journal.

Notes from IPC Apex 2014

April 23, 2014

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I recently had the pleasure of attending the IPC Apex show in Las Vegas. This marked my second year as volunteer guest editor for IConnect 007’s Real Time with IPC. During the three day exhibition portion of the conference, experts from the PCB fabrication and assembly industries (and their suppliers) are interviewed, on camera, to share information and updates on developments in our industry. New product introductions along with IPC announcements are also made during this time.

“Less” is the New “More”

March 6, 2014

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It seems like, wherever we turn, we are all wearing more hats while being expected to produce more, faster, with less money and resources. Whether a sign of the economic times or an evolving marketplace “Less” is the new “More.”

Respect the PCB

A very belated part three!

January 6, 2014

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My, how time flies! I can hardly believe my last blog post was at the end of August 2013, and now here we are in 2014! Regardless, I want to keep my word and finish up the three-part blog series I set out to complete. So, here I am hat-in-hand, to do just that. I want to explore what challenges lie ahead for the RF/MW and high performance PCB. Only one problem, I'm only partially qualified to cover this subject!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T the PCB

Part 2

August 28, 2013

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Second part of RESPECT the PCB - covering costs and pricing

R-E-S-P-E-C-T the PCB

Part I

August 14, 2013

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When it comes to making printed circuit boards, fabricators often find themselves feeling like Rodney Dangerfield, devoid of all due respect. While Semiconductors and ICs bask in fanfare and glory, the stuff they sit on remains a thankless tangle of copper and laminate. PCBs have been cast in a role as forgettable as Barbara Hershey in the shadow of Bette Midler in Beaches—with no Wind beneath My Wings at the end of the day. For this reason, I thought I would spend a few blog posts putting a spotlight on the wonder of the PCB and those who make them.

IMS Seattle 2013: Sunny Side-Up

June 12, 2013

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What a gorgeous week to be in Seattle! The weather was more that gracious to the thousands that poured into the port city for Microwave week. All of us at Transline had a great time connecting with friends and customers from all over the country and enjoyed the rare privilege of all being together in one city. Seattle was a stunning backdrop with all the sights and sounds of The Pike Place Market, Elliot Bay and the towering Space Needle nearby. Everything we needed was well within walking distance of the Washington Convention Center. It was a short trip to Seattle center, via Monorail or taxi, to see the Space Needle or the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit (my personal fave!).

Drivers that Drive us Nuts

May 17, 2013

You know what amazes me? Design software. Agilent, AWR, Mentor Graphics, Zuken…all of them amaze me! The power, the flexibility and the add-on tools that I often read about are truly stunning. Of course, not being a designer or engineer I am relatively easy to impress. Yet I do remember the design tools of old, and they didn’t contain a fraction of the power and features today’s tools offer. I am also amazed by the people who so deftly use these tools to design PCBs. These designers lay out boards that would have seemed like science fiction just a decade or two ago.

Slowing down to Speed Up

April 16, 2013

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Its official: I have become my parents. Everything I swore I would never do or say—I do all the time. It is beyond annoying! Lately, I catch myself repeating myself, or telling the same story, to the same person…Argh! I feel the exasperation of my 16-year-old-alter-ego rolling her eyes and sighing hopelessly. That being said, I’m about to do it again and you will be my latest victim. Sorry. I guess now I understand what my folks meant when they used to say “some things bear repeating.”

Dinosaurs and Fab Drawings

March 18, 2013

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One frustration of making printed circuit boards these days is trying to make a board without a clear, respectable fabrication drawing. Apparently they have gone the way of the dinosaurs and are now extinct. In the old days, a board house wouldn’t quote a job, much less build it, a without a fab drawing. Back then I schlepped around big plastic-wrapped sets of film with giant “D” sized drawings, while talking on a mobile phone the size of a brick. In those days, jobs didn’t start without a drawing, period!

The Value of doing it Right…the First Time

November 29, 2012

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Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with a gentleman that, though now retired, spent a long and illustrious career in marketing and advertising. Some of his best known clients were Wendy’s restaurant, Budweiser and Coca cola. Since part of my job is marketing (in which I have no formal training) I took advantage of this opportunity to learn all I could. As he was going through some fundamentals with me, I was having trouble applying the theory to our printed circuit board business.