Senior Vice President & GM of LimFlow, Inari Medical
Search every verified Tara Dunn interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Tara Dunn, Senior Vice President and General Manager of LimFlow at Inari Medical, appeared on the OnTrack Podcast in September 2018, where she discussed cost drivers in flex circuit design and workforce development. Dunn identified three primary cost drivers—materials selection, panel utilization, and technology—and added a fourth: understanding a fabricator's capabilities. She noted that adhesive-based materials are typically less expensive for simpler applications, while adhesive-less materials are recommended for higher layer counts and rigid flex. Dunn described a case where switching to adhesive-less materials in a military application eliminated a 90% field failure rate due to cracking, despite only reducing thickness by three mils. She advised designers to involve fabricators early in the process to leverage their expertise. Dunn also discussed the Flex Factor program by Next Flex, an entrepreneurship program that exposes high school students to flexible hybrid electronics and advanced manufacturing. She stated that the program grew from eight students in 2016 to thousands, and that visits to manufacturing facilities help change students' perceptions of the industry. Dunn reflected on her own early career experience working on the manufacturing floor, which she described as invaluable. She mentioned that her job allows her to travel and work remotely, and that she has recently taken up attending live concerts.
“We often talk about three primary cost drivers: materials selection, panel utilization, and technology. I kind of like to throw, a little bit tongue-in-cheek but not really, a fourth one in there, which is understanding your fabricators capabilities and making sure that you're matching their capabilities with your desi...”
“Typically, the adhesive-based options are going to be a little bit less expensive. They are typically used in single-sided, double-sided, maybe three or four layer flex applications. As you go into higher layer count or rigid flex, the adhesive-less material becomes necessary and is highly recommended for rigid flex.”
“Although the material costs were higher, the overall cost of that flex circuit dropped dramatically by eliminating the need for laser cut coverlay and button plating, and using a more standard four layer rigid flex construction.”
“In a military application with about 90% failure in the field due to cracking, simply redoing the stack up and switching from adhesive-based materials to adhesive-less materials eliminated the cracking issue, even though it only reduced the thickness by three mils.”
“My advice is always to identify a few fabricators that you think will be good partners and then involve your fabricators early in the design because they're doing flex and rigid flex all day and have learned a lot of lessons that you can take advantage of.”
“The Flex Factor program by Next Flex is an entrepreneurship program centered around flexible hybrid electronics that reaches out to high school students, exposing them to advanced manufacturing and giving them college credit for product development and pitching ideas.”
“Kids often think manufacturing is a dark, dank building, but when they visit facilities like J Bell or TTM, they see robotics, chip shooters, clean rooms, and high-tech equipment, which changes their perception completely.”
“The Flex Factor program has grown from eight students in 2016 to thousands participating now, showing rapid expansion and increasing interest in advanced manufacturing careers.”
“I was lucky enough to work on the manufacturing floor for a few months early in my career, which gave me invaluable hands-on experience that I didn't appreciate at the time but now realize was critical to understanding the process.”
“With my job, I can travel quite a bit and work remotely from anywhere, which allows me to enjoy traveling to warm places like the beach or desert areas, and recently I've become a music buff with several concerts booked.”
More than ever, people are doing Flex and Rigid Flex for the very first time as industries drive for smaller, more user-friendly ...
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