“TRACES THROUGH TIME”: THE FIRST EXHIBITION ON THE EVOLUTION OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD DESIGN COMES TO VICENZA

AN UNPRECEDENTED JOURNEY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, HISTORY, AND DESIGN TELLS THE STORY OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS AT THE FOCUS ON PCB 2025 TRADE FAIR, SCHEDULED FOR MAY 21–22 IN VICENZA.

MAY 7, 2025 – On the occasion of Focus on PCB 2025 – From Design to Assembly, the only European trade fair entirely dedicated to the printed circuit board industry, “Traces Through Time: The Evolution of PCB Design” will make its debut. This is the first exhibition in Italy to retrace the fascinating history and evolution of printed circuit board (PCB) design, with a visual and chronological narrative spanning over a century of technological innovation.
“Traces” refers both to the copper tracks running through every circuit board and to the marks left over in time by a technological evolution that has transformed how we live, communicate, and design.

Curated by Gianluca Lualdi and Simone Tameni, the exhibition offers a journey from the first hand-wired wooden frame boards to today’s sophisticated AI-assisted design tools. It features a unique selection of historic circuit boards, original drawings, working software from the 1990s, technical manuals, and vintage instruments, many of which come from corporate archives and private collections.

A story for everyone
“Traces Through Time” is not just a show for industry professionals: it is an engaging journey through technology, design, and industrial culture aimed at captivating a large audience as well. Across five thematic sections, visitors will discover how PCB evolution has shaped our daily lives—from early radios to today’s smart devices.

“With this initiative, we want to offer an accessible and engaging overview of the history of a key component of modern electronics,” says Stefania Calcaterra, Managing Director of Focus on PCB. “The idea was to accompany the trade fair with a story that has long been missing: the history of printed circuit boards not only as technical milestones but as a reflection of how this technology has transformed our lives.”

“Traces Through Time: The Evolution of PCB Design” is the first exhibition initiative in Italy to bring the historical memory of PCB design to the public through a visual, narrative, and accessible format.

“From hand-wiring to today’s sophisticated EDA tools, PCB design has gone through an extraordinary evolution. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence and new production technologies like 3D printing, the future of PCB design will continue to push the boundaries of innovation,” emphasizes Gianluca Lualdi, owner and sales manager at LDx Solutions S.r.l.

“Many of the items on display came from company storage and archives—often forgotten. Recovering, studying, and showcasing them means preserving the technical and cultural memory of a sector that has made a decisive contribution to innovation. It’s also a valuable opportunity for the new generation of designers to understand where it all began,” adds Simone Tameni, CEO of PCB Design S.a.s.

The exhibition will display examples of circuit boards from different eras, tools for manufacturing, original projects, software, manuals, and original packaging, along with other vintage materials that help recreate the technical and cultural context of each period. These are true “relics” preserved in the storage rooms of various companies that have kindly contributed to the realization of this one-of-a-kind exhibition.

A historic free exhibition within Focus on PCB 2025
The exhibition “Traces Through Time: The Evolution of PCB Design” is free to attend and part of the side events at Focus on PCB 2025, which will take place on May 21–22 at Pavilion 7 of the IEG Exhibition Centre in Vicenza. Organized by NürnbergMesse Italia, promoted by the PCB Group of Assodel, and hosted by IEG – Italian Exhibition Group, the trade fair is a key international event for the PCB, PCBA, and EMS industries, with the patronage of ANIE Electronic Components.

NÜRNBERGMESSE ITALIA
NürnbergMesse Italia has been active in the Italian market since 2009 as the Italian branch of the NürnbergMesse Group, one of the world’s 15 largest trade fair companies. It includes NürnbergMesse GmbH and its 15 subsidiaries and affiliates. The Group employs over a thousand people across eleven locations in Germany, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Greece, Austria, and the United States. It also has a network of international representatives in more than 100 countries. Its portfolio includes around 120 national and international exhibitions and conferences, held both in-person and as digital events, focused on five macro-sectors: Retail & Consumer Goods, Building & Construction, Process Technology, Electronics & Security, and Social & Public.
These events help preserve jobs and generate billions of euros in annual revenue and purchasing power, making NürnbergMesse a key economic engine for both the Nuremberg metropolitan region and Germany as a whole. As an employer and organizer of major events, NürnbergMesse takes responsibility for people and the environment. Its corporate actions are guided by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim of achieving climate neutrality in its energy supply by 2028.

Press contact
Vertigo Srl – Press office Focus on PCB
Tel. +39 02 70 60 52 54
Stefano Cazzani cazzani@vertigonet.it
Elisa Bellintani bellintani@vertigonet.it