Keynote and Featured Speakers

Session and Panel Speakers

Extensive and 25+ year career in printed circuit board manufacturing, having spent time with both Sunstone Circuits and TTM Technologies. Experience includes process engineering, new process introductions, support of nearly every manufacturing process, and extensive knowledge of Continuous Improvement, ISO, IPC and various other industry requirements. Working with production teams and leading the charge in […]

Graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Engineering Science in 1985, focus on materials. Materials and Process Engineer at Lockheed Missiles and Space in Austin, Texas for 5 years. Manufacturing Engineer at Oki Semiconductor Manufacturing plant in Tualatin, Oregon for 10 years building memory chips and ICs for Honda engines. 15 […]

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Michigan State University Former Staff AI Software Engineer at Intel Corporation AI Educator on LinkedIn Learning with over 300K learners Instructor at Columbia University (Data Science) and Portland State University (Marketing Analytics) Founder of DigiFab AI, specializing in AI solutions for digital fabrication

Pat Duggan is manufacturer’s Rep at Temco Northwest since 1996. Distribution Manager, Sales Engineer. On the board of directors for the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) for over 25 years. He has a degree from the University of Washington.

Mike has worked in the Engineering department at Screaming Circuits for over 16 years. As a side gig, he has been a motorcycle safety instructor for over 12 years.

Darren Hitchcock (Panasonic Electronic Materials) has over 30 years of experience in the PCB industry.  He obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University in 1992.  He began his career at Tektronix as a mechanical process engineer in their circuit board division (Building 38).  This division of Tektronix was later spun off as […]

Jim Kaigh is a seasoned sales consultant and Outsourced VP of Sales for Sales Xceleration, with over two decades of commercial leadership experience. He specializes in helping small to medium-sized businesses optimize their sales processes and achieve sustainable growth. Operating most often as a part-time, fractional VP of Sales, Jim builds robust sales infrastructures for […]

I have been a mergers & acquisition intermediary since 1994. I have been the President/CEO of IBA, the region’s oldest & largest business brokerage firm since 2000. One of the firm’s and my areas of expertise is the facilitation of transactions involving the purchase & sale of manufacturing industry companies in Washington & Oregon.

My career started in manufacturing at a factory in Portland. I worked in warehousing and redesigned much of the process flow and inventory management systems. Then, I moved into software engineering and became a partner in Isolary Design, a Portland company that specializes in marketing and software design and development. After that, I took on […]

I have 25+ years of experience in process improvement, accounting, reconciliation, training, mentoring, and HR recruitment in my diverse skill set. This helps me identify a variety of creative solutions for solving both business and personal organizational challenges. It’s my passion! As a member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM) and the […]

Mike Schindele has over 40 years’ experience with high technology companies in a leadership role within global operations & supply-chain management. Specific responsibilities included manufacturing operations, manufacturing outsourcing, materials management, logistics, planning, and supply-chain management.  Prior experience with local companies ranges from start-ups to fortune 100 companies including InFocus Systems, FLIR Systems, Solectron, RadiSys, VersaLogic, […]

I’ve been in the pcb assembly industry for the last 36 years. I started at Intel-Hawthorne Farms in the early 90’s, where as a Technician, I cut my teeth on early versions of SMT products, equipment and processes. Over my career, I’ve worked for both OEM and Contract assembly houses, starting as a Technician and […]

Jerry Vieira is a Certified Management Consultant and President & Founder of The QMP Group, a Portland-based consulting firm specializing in market strategy and marketing and sales organizational effectiveness. QMP has helped clients from Montreal to New Mexico, Seattle to San Diego, and Chicago to Dallas meet the challenges of growth. Author of three books, […]

Justin is a Senior Member of IEEE and served as Chair and other positions with the IEEE Oregon Section for several years. Justin has over 20 years of experience in patent matters, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications before the USPTO, portfolio strategy development, patentability studies, validity evaluations, and infringement analysis. Justin has […]

Blaine Watson has over 17 years of experience in successfully leading start-ups and growing businesses in the B2B and B2C markets. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University where he studied cognitive psychology, evolutionary neuroscience, and human-computer-interaction. Blaine’s research includes work in human perceptual & memory systems at OSU and exploring the network […]

Leonard Weitman provides executive coaching and manufacturing consulting services.  He has managed operations around the US and overseas with titles that included VP Technical Operations, Project Director, Director of Operations, and Manufacturing Manager, at technology companies including Tektronix, Applied Materials, Mentor Graphics, Bend Broadband, ASM International, and Veeco.  In addition to working across the US, […]

Angela Wilhelms is a native Oregonian with more than twenty years of experience in public affairs. As president and CEO of Oregon Business & Industry (OBI), a statewide association that advocates on behalf of businesses of all sizes, from all industries and in all parts of the state, Angela leads a team committed to creating […]

Laura serves as Director, IP Counsel for Software and Artificial Intelligence at Thermo Fisher Scientific, joining Thermo Fisher in 2021 after 13 years in private practice.  Laura holds undergraduate degrees in engineering and mathematics from Swarthmore College, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a […]

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