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The PCB Design Podcast features conversations on all facets of PCB Design and Hardware Development
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
Tuesday Aug 17, 2021
A Silicon Valley rising star advocates higher efficiency in electronics manufacturing.
In this episode, Andrew Scheuermann, CEO, and Co-founder of Arch, shares his company’s mission to drive digitization and sustainable innovation in electronics manufacturing. He will discuss Surface Mount Technology machine optimization and how factories can benefit from advanced analytics.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Watch the video, click here. [link to website live page]
Show Highlights:
- Introduction to Andrew and the founding of Arch Systems
- Understanding the founders, Andrew Scheuermann and Tim Burke’s experimentalist and theoretical personas, respectively
- The key to finding their niche
- Starting Startx - top 5 startup in the world
- Platform mindset - software and hardware technology that could be deployed to any kind of machine
- Become a world expert in Surface Mount Technology (SMT) machines
- Industrial Automation, how does software makes the world go round?
- Opportunity identified for SMT industrial control automation and useable, meaningful data
- Data-driven, smart manufacturing
- In-depth analytics-getting data out of legacy machines
- Digital Proof of concept, why is this valuable?
- 20 - 40 or even 60 percent improvement in manufacturing efficiency
- Predicted quality, 99% OK what do you do with the 1%?
- How do you get data out of the machine and translate them into meaningful solutions?
- Universal translation, aggregation, data security
- Andrew explains ArchFX broker being deployed on-premise
- The benefits of advanced analytics - Improved Quality, reliability, speed, better-increased margins, Informed CapX spend
Arch Systems Website
Arch Systems Overview Video
The ArchFX Platform: The Proven Fast Track to Transformation
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Learn More about Altium Nexus
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Aug 10, 2021
Tuesday Aug 10, 2021
The dean is in!
In this episode, Eric Bogatin, the Dean of Signal Integrity Academy is here to talk about empowering PCB designers to become their own experts. Eric shares the inspiration behind his new book, PLUS you may have a say in what he will be writing next.
Watch now or listen on the go, and make sure to drop a comment on our YouTube channel here, to vote on which topic Eric should tackle in his next book.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Watch the video, click here.
Show Highlights:
- Out of this world (literally) storytime, Eric shares facts about the Crab Nebula Supernova
- Two Books from Artech, the inspiration behind Eric Bogatins “Practical Guide To...”
- Bogatin’s Practical Guide to Transmission Line Design and Characterization for Signal Integrity Applications
- Bogatin's Practical Guide to Prototype Breadboard and PCB Design
- What does it take to successfully build a prototype
- The important focus in Eric’s classes and books
- the introduction to the signal integrity of switching noise
- how do you design circuit boards for connectivity
- “I don’t like throwing rules” - Eric Bogatin
- Quick Poll, which book do you want Eric to write?
- Compilation of All Eric's Rules of Thumb
- Hacking interconnects using S-parameters
- How to Use an Oscilloscope
- Check out more resources authored by Eric on Signal Integrity Academy and Signal Integrity Journal
- What is a Turbo Encabulator?
- OnTrack Virtual Bookclub
- News about AltiumLive 2021
Links and Resources:
Bogatin’s Practical Guide to Transmission Line Design and Characterization for Signal Integrity Applications
New Book (Pre-order): Bogatin's Practical Guide to Prototype Breadboard and PCB Design
Join our “Virtual” OnTrack community Book Club on Amazon!
Eric’s Author page on Amazon.com
Subscribe to Signal Integrity Journal
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
Tuesday Aug 03, 2021
“Software guys, stop blaming the hardware guys for messing up the boards” - Ari Mahpour
What is Hardware-in-the-loop testing and how it can save you time and resources when designing your board? In this episode, our guest Ari Mahpour, an engineer with broad experience in designing, manufacturing, testing, and integrating electrical, mechanical, and software systems. He will talk about how you can perform automated hardware testing in the comfort of your home without using any expensive or complex test equipment.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introduction and Ari’s background in the military and aerospace industry
- What is a Hardware-in-the-Loop testing and the inspiration behind it
- Taking a costly testing infrastructure to the comfort of your home lab
- Headstart up to 75% of your board testing
- The problem around the prevailing way of designing and testing—retesting every step of the way using expensive testing equipment, and takes more time for your design engineer, plus the back and forth can blow up your cost quickly
- The importance of designing and testing simultaneously and proactively—design engineers have to be part of the test process
- The impact of Covid-19 on product development and testing
- The need for software-based approach to the hardware development design
- Maker movement and hobbyist around the world contributes to less expensive and accessible test solutions (plug-and-play)
- Design board, prototype, and watch it fail
- Rework the board
- Run test in 3 minutes in couple hundreds of bucks
- Ari explains how the software in the embedded system works
- Ari shares complete details of automated low-cost testing in his article: Low-Cost Solutions for Automated Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing
- The concept is to use a simple device that can drive analog signals, read analog signals, generate various protocol serial streams, and analyze waveforms.
Links and Resources:
Ari’s article on Low-Cost Solutions for Automated Hardware in the Loop Testing
Read all Ari’s Industry Expert articles on Altium Resource Page
Book: Test-Driven Development for Embedded C
Ari Mahpour on LinkedIn
Email Ari Mahpour
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
“Engage your suppliers early on the design process” - Ed Becze
Everyone wants a lower price, and often the “real cost” is not realized until it’s too late. In this episode, Ed Becze of Pegmatis, a highly experienced R&D company with end-to-end product development capabilities, joins us to help start-ups and design engineers like you avoid electronic product development failures.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Watch the video, click here.
Show Highlights:
- Introduction and the interesting origin of Pegmatis’s company name
- Ed explains the foundation of a good product development process
- A thoughtful development plan mitigates risk early on—engage vendors and suppliers early on the design process (understand parts, availability, vendor capabilities aligned with your product)
- Holistic understanding of electronic product development: strategy, cost, and your design team’s experience level
- Start-up challenges, how to prevent failures:
- Understanding the risk of “development by demo”
- Address the lack of system-level design experience (use external expertise if needed)
- Don’t trust the data sheets—only 5% of chipset providers give adequate design rules to follow. The rest, you are on your own.
- Manufacturing test is absolutely critical—test equipment and test development are often overlooked
- Engage early on the design process. Ed stresses the benefits of nurturing your relationships with your vendors and manufacturers.
- Successful product development relies exclusively on your network—find capable vendors
- Supply chain intelligence, plan ahead when coping with supply challenges
- Cost reduction—do it, but follow the process that is within the constraints of what you intended to create.
- What are the costs of NOT thoughtfully designing? It’s huge! Money and time. Delays inTime to market are extremely expensive.
Links and Resources:
Pegmatis Website
Ed Becze on LinkedIn
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Copper roughness has an impact on high-speed digital designs. Choose your copper wisely!
In this episode, circuit materials expert John Coonrod of Rogers Corporation shares his extensive knowledge on copper roughness. Watch this episode or listen on the go; it will help a PCB designer make a sound decision about picking the most suitable copper to use on your next design.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Watch the video, click here.
Show Highlights:
- Introduction, John Coonrod’s role, expertise, and experience in the Rogers lab
- How the two basic types of copper are made (Rolled and ED) electric deposit (check out the slide)
- Copper overview
- Surface Roughness, the rougher the copper, the more the bond area
- Copper Treatments
- What is a reverse treat? The benefits, thermal properties, and adhesion
- IPC classifications of Low Profile (LP), Very Low Profile (VLP)
- Surface roughness for different types of copper and different types of surface roughness measurement units (check out the slides)
- Best practices when selecting a material
- Normal variations of copper for thickness, roughness, and etching differences
- Copper roughness impact on high-speed digital designs
- Copper roughness impact on RF concerns
- Future MMW 9 micron copper
Links and Resources:
Rogers Advanced Connectivity Solutions Website
Rogers (Free) Technology Support Hub
DesignCon 2021 August 17-19, San Jose, CA
PCB West 2021 October 5-8, Santa Clara, CA
Copper Foils for High-Frequency Circuit Materials
Different Copper Foils for Different Reasons
Choosing Copper Foils for High-Frequency PCBs
Materials for High Speed Interconnects: Physics & Chemistry of Copper Clad Laminates
How Copper Properties Impact PCB RF and High-Speed Digital Performance
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
High-density designs, simplified. Averatek offers a disruptive solution for complex electronic design.
We are very fortunate to have the powerhouse executive team from Averatek Corporation, a company that develops and licenses advanced manufacturing processes for a variety of electronic products including very high density printed circuit boards, semiconductor packaging, and RF and millimeter-wave electronics.
Haris Basit, Averatek’s CEO together with Mike Vinson the COO, and Tara Dunn the VP of Business Development and Marketing will share with us some exciting breakthroughs in miniaturization technology.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introductions, and Averatek Technology Overview
- Founded out of SRI in Silicon Valley
- PCB Industry in North America is ripe for disruption
- Definitions: MSAP, ASAP and Subtractive processes
- ASAP is Averatek semi-additive process and is achieved with a liquid metal ink catalyst and plated up from the seed layer
- PCB design benefits of Averatek technology
- Simplify the design
- Reduction in number of layers and lamination cycles
- Increased density and miniaturization
- Signal integrity improvements
- Applications are military, medical and communications
- Material suitable for ASAP high-performance design:
- Epoxy-based substrates
- High-frequency materials (including Teflon)
- High-speed materials
- Some flex materials
- Thin materials
- Shorten the learning curve for PCB designers with Tomas Chester design project in partnership with Averatek coming soon on Altium Resource Hub
- Example design optimization:
- Smaller footprint, increased panel usage
- 12 layer board became 8 layer board
- 3 lamination cycle to 1 lamination cycle
- Simplified design, increased reliability, significantly lower costs
Links and Resources:
Averatek Website
Fabricators offering Averatek:
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
“Working to reduce risk and provide a better customer experience in electronics manufacturing.” - Chris Church
Macrofab offers a better electronics manufacturing experience for the customer, from PCBA manufacturing to complete product assembly, testing, and fulfillment. Chris Church is here to explain the inspiration behind Macrofab, the solution it offers to design engineers, and the value they add to get your product out fast and efficiently.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Watch the video, click here. [link to website live page]
Show Highlights:
- Chris Introduction and overview of Macrofab (“Pool of Capacity”)
- The how and why of Macrofab’s innovation and the value proposition to the electronics hardware market:
- Macrofab offers seamless solutions to electronics manufacturing challenges
- “AWS” of manufacturing. A fully managed marketplace
- Technological capabilities and faster turnarounds
- Customer demographic and addressable market (North America, Engineering and Purchasing professionals, small to medium enterprise companies in Industrial, IoT, Communications and Robotic markets)
- Meeting the needs of design engineers and purchasing without breaking company policies
- Proactive vs. Reactive--cost drivers and availability
- Providing amazing customer experience
Links and Resources:
Macrofab Website
Macrofab Podcast
Chris Church, LinkedIn Profile
Press Release: Shared Transformation Vision, Altium Investment
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium Website
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Learn any issues upfront before sending your board design to manufacturing.
In this episode, we are honored to have both Anaya Vardya and John Bushie of American Standard Circuits, Inc. They will share the inspiration behind their popular technical Ebook series that help design engineers to design a manufacturable circuit board.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introduction and overview of American Standard Circuits, Inc (ASC)
- The eBook series answers the frequently asked PCB design questions
- Four Books overview:
- Fundamentals of PCB Technologies
- Flex and Rigid-Flex Fundamentals
- Thermal Management: A Fabricator Perspective
- Fundamentals of RF/Microwave PCBs
- Creating manufacturable circuit boards, more than once
- Technical Webinar series
- Lifelong learnings that will benefit every PCB designer
Links and Resources:
Technical Webinar Series (Free and On-demand)
Download your Altium Designer Free Trial
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Joining us in this episode is Greg Wood of IHS Markit, a global information company serving financial, automotive; energy and engineering; product design and manufacturing industries.
Greg will share his 20 years of experience in the electronic parts management space to help design engineers like you cope with the current electronics components shortage. Stay tuned for tips and ideas to expand your opportunities to acquire inventory.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Daily Distribution/Manufacturing information provided to IHS (Audit/Clean up reports)
- Aggregate counts lead times remaining for active parts for part types
- Average lead times for counts, regular basis—since covid
- Presentations: spreadsheet, graphs, trends
- Monthly report on lead times, pricing, inventory quantities (products this summer)
- Webinars
- What’s driving component shortage?
- “The Crazy” Findings, learnings, stories—use cases.
- Coping strategy for design engineers
- Impact on overall business: previous post acquisitions. previous versions cross-reference, replacement reduce time by at least 50%
- Significant impact on automotive industries—shocking impact!
- Where are we now
- Big move to fabrication
- TSMC: Agreed to 100 Billion to increase capacity
- What do I need to do NOW?
- Procurement advise
- Pay close attention to available products
- Heavy investment on infrastructure: 50 Billion in incentives
Links and Resources:
IHS Markit Webinar Page
IHS Website
Electronic Components Shortages, Insights from John Watson
Design Survival Guide in a World of Parts Shortages
SnapEDA Google for Electronic Components with Natasha Baker
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Wednesday May 26, 2021
In this Ontrack episode, Altium’s Chief Ecosystem Officer, Ted Pawela, and Altium’s Chief Software Architect, Leigh Gawne, join us to give us information about the launching of Nexar. Who is Nexar for? What’s the vision behind it and the strategy (the Why) of this new business unit? They explain how Nexar addresses critical needs for design engineers and delivers direct and frictionless access to the entire ecosystem of electronics tools and service providers.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- The first year of Altium 365: adoption trajectory, feedback, latest advancement, and plans
- Launching of Nexar: What is Nexar? (Open Ecosystem, zero cost)
- Nexar ties together with Altium 365, APIs released April 30th (Octopart), and Partner Dashboard. What can be expected in the following weeks and months?
- Types of partners, goals for those partners, and access to users/Octopart
- Benefits and opportunities for both users and partners
- Mcad slide (workspace)
- What’s in it for users and Industry at large?
- Electronics is still in its infancy.
- Ecad: Walled Garden.
- Cloud is an enabling force to bring electronics into this century and make transformation a reality.
- One of the drivers of this technology is smart and connected devices (cloud-enabled)
- Cloud Security: AWS, the most secure platform, continual improvement
- Work with top experts in cloud security (bank safe vs. bed mattress)
Links and Resources:
Nexar Website
Nexar Official Press Release
Altium 365
Open Source Ventilator (30 days to realization with Altium 365)
Transitioning a global team to Altium 365 during Covid Lockdown
Full OnTrack Podcast Library
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Understanding Semi Additive Process (SAP) and Modified Semi Additive Process (MSAP)
- MSAP isn’t new, but it’s growing to adoption, what’s driving that?
- What makes MSAP especially applicable now?
- Benefits of Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) for PCB designers and manufacturers
- What are the design implications and benefits? What exactly can you do with it?
- The methods/materials used for this technology?
- Chemical Technology, Averatec
- Ultra-thin copper, Insulectro
Links and Resources:
Insulectro Webinar on MSAP
Insulectro Website
(Insulectro Webinars Library available near the bottom of their homepage)
Chris Hunrath LinkedIn profile
Averatek Podcast on Additive Manufacturing
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Today's guests are Rick Hartley and Mike Creeden
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introduction, Rick Hartley and Mike Creeden
- Printed Circuit Engineering Course: PCE EDU
- Why not PCB-EDU
- Who is this course for?
- What is contained in the course, and the inspiration behind it?
- Who authored the course and where can Design Engineers sign up?
- How will this course be proctored for certification purposes?
- PCE EDU will be offered in universities
- Closing remarks
Links and Resources:
Eptac PCE EDU Course page
PCEA (Printed Circuit Engineering Association)
Rick Hartley’s LinkedIn Profile
Mike Creeden’s LinkedIn Profile
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Listen to this episode with Gerry Partida.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introduction to Gerry Partida and Summit Interconnect
- Why knowing and following IPC standards are critical for Design Engineers
- AABUS: What is it, and when to use it (Edge clearances)
- Removing non-functional pads
- Watch for 3.5 mil minimum dielectric rule IPC 2221. Work around
- How to access standards, talk to your fabricator: IPC Expertise
- CTA: Follow Gerry on LinkedIn for tips and tricks
- Summit Interconnect Website
- IPC website
Links and Resources:
Gerry’s LinkedIn Profile
Summit Interconnect Website
IPC Website
DFM Article: PCB Front-End Engineering
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
“Don't get your ground plane, there's never really a good reason to do that.” - Dr. Todd Hubing
Dr. Todd Hubing debunks the EMC myth. Dr. Hubing has authored or co-authored over 200 papers and presentations on electromagnetic modeling, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and the design of reliable electronic systems. In this episode he shares with us 30 years worth of knowledge, tested and proven facts about EMC.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Introduction. Get to know Dr. Todd Hubing.
- Learn EMC, Resources and Courses
- EMC question of the week from 2017 - 2020 compiled in a book, available now.
- EMC design guidelines: Top 4
- Solid ground planes should be gapped between analog and digital circuits.
- The decoupling capacitor should be located as close as physically possible to the IC’s power pin.
- On multi-layer boards, the best stack-up is ...
- To suppress common-mode noise, the power input on a circuit board should have a common-mode choke.
Links and Resources:
- Learn EMC Website (Resources and courses)
- EMC Resource Page on the Learn EMC Website
- Book: EMC question of the week: March 2017-December 2020. Now available.
- EMC Design Guideline Collection (including the top 4, with over 30 years worth of wisdom here!)
- Find Learn EMC and Dr. Todd Hubing on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
More than 15 million components to choose from to design your board, where do you begin?
Today’s guest is John Watson, a seasoned PCB designer with 40 years of experience in the electronic industry and now Altium’s Customer Success Manager. He will talk about everything you need to know about library management and how you can successfully keep it organized and functional for your PCB design needs.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- John Watson, 40 Years in Electronics, 22 Years in PCB Design, 5+Years PCB Design Manager for a global team of 65 Design Engineers
- What is Data Management and who are the stakeholders that use it?
- It’s the management of part data throughout the entire process of PCB design and manufacturing.
- Part Choices (Electrical Engineers-Circuit Designers, Schematic)
- MCAD (Mechanical Engineers)
- Procurement (Purchasing and Material Management)
- EMS Supplier (Suppliers)
- Recent data management webinar: Office Hours - Component and Data Management , Part Two: Follow up session and Homework
- Octopart part numbers: 15.1 Million!!
- “Eating the Elephant” Start with the item right in front of you. Full explanation on webinar
- Cost of doing it wrong, or benefit for doing it right: Time, Money, Delays, TTM, safety, job security
- The importance of accurate footprints, pin #1, orientation
- How do you stay ahead of component supply chain issues such as end of life, obsolescence, and shortages?
Tools that help: Active BOM, Octopart, IHS, Concord Pro
Links and Resources:
PCB Design 007 Magazine: Footprints
Chris Denney Podcast: 5 Things your EMS Company wants you to avoid
Octopart Website
Webinar Series: Avoid BOM stock cost and lifecycle surprises as you design
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Where are we going in these crazy times? Mike Buetow, an exceptional journalist in the electrical engineering space, gives us the state of the industry—what to look out for, the current trends, and what will help you be a better design engineer in 2021.
This is an episode full of valuable information about major industry trends. Make sure to check the extra resources below, and watch the full episode or listen on the go on any of your favorite podcast apps!
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- What lasting effects will the pandemic have on Trade Shows?
- PCB East and PCB West: Game On! in Massachusetts and California
- 3 Major Industry Trends to watch for:
- Component Shortages, Caps, Resistors, Memory, and Microchips
- Smart Manufacturing: Offshore Giants like Universal Scientific have achieved Industry 4.0 in scale
- Geopolitical Impacts: Keep your eyes on Taiwan!
Links and Resources:
PCB East
PCB West
TTI Market Eye
ESD Alliance (EDA market stats)
Circuits Assembly Article: Lights-Out Factory at USI (Universal Scientific, Inc)
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Get out (or online) and learn! This episode with Tomas Chester is all about engaging and contributing to the design community. He shares with us his motivation to self-educate and how he invests in his career through a dedicated effort to connect with the engineering community. Tomas shares how to make the most of your learning style and utilize educational resources.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Tomas shares the challenges, opportunities, and what motivates him to contribute to the design community in forums and social media.
- Get to know your learning style and design style.
- The welcome road to becoming an Altium Designer Beta group contributor and an Altium Certified Instructor
- Essentials vs Advanced Course. Utilizing available resources such as Altium Academy and YouTube Channel, free training, Altium documentation on the website.
- “Playing” with your tools, and learning from your coworkers
- Time constraints crowd out time for education but carve out time anyways
- Always explore available resources: PCB West, Design Con, Embedded World, YouTube, EIPC, Trade associations, PCEA
- AltiumLive: Tool Training and Principles-based
Links and Resources:
Tomas Chester on LinkedIn
Altium Designer 21: What’s New Webpage
Chester Electronic Design Website
Altium Forum
Altium Training Resources (Worldwide)
Altium Webinars
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
What’s in your soft skill toolbox? Eli Hughes is a true full-stack hardware engineer and a co-founder of Tzero Brew. He joins the OnTrack podcast to share his insights on how to foster innovation, manage upstream failure, build trust with your fellow engineers and stakeholders, and develop your soft skills—and other non-technical skills we use to communicate with each other and solve problems effectively.
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Show Highlights:
- Intro to Eli
- Meeting the challenges of working remotely
- A lesson in engineering from a kindergartener
- ”Soft skills for hardware”; humanity in engineering
- Timing and Perception: Shifting targets as customer needs change
- Too easy to be negative; finding positivity in global challenges
- How constraints foster innovation
- Wants vs Needs: building trust with fellow developers
- Jeremy Blum’s take on ‘Empathic Engineering’
- You make it, you fix it: managing upstream failure
- Believing in the Mission: how ordinary people do extraordinary things
- The Part vs the Whole: Lee Ritchey’s homemade Apollo 11 boards
- Elon Musk & Tony Stark: the power of unification
- Expanding your sphere of influence by thinking holistically
- How students at TU Delft is helping paraplegics walk again
- Mining Sci-fi and fantasy reading for soft skills
- Now is the time: get out of your comfort zone!
Links and Resources:
Eli Hughes AltiumLive Presentation: Crossing the Chasm
AltiumLive 2020 Presentations
Jeremy Blum AltiumLive 2018: Empathic Engineering
OnTrack Insight with Lee Ritchey
Altium Stories: Project March (Exoskeleton)
Eric Bogatin Amazon Author Page
OnTrack Insight Videos
Article: 5 Essential Soft Skills for a Successful Career in Engineering
Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
On May 16, 1994, the Signal Integrity List (SI-List) was founded, with just 30 members on its charter email list. Today, there are more than 4,000 members worldwide, and the list includes Signal Integrity gurus like Istvan Novak, Todd Hubbing, Steve Weir, and Scott McMorrow.
In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, one of those world renown SI gurus, Scott McMorrow, CTO of Samtec Inc.’s Signal Integrity Group, connects with Judy Warner to discuss signal integrity concerns, and especially Samtec’s Webinar series, gEEk spEEk.
Work from Anywhere. Connect with Anyone.
Watch the video, click here.
Show Highlights
- Scott McMorrow, CTO of Signal Integrity Group at Samtec Inc
- A quick overview of Samtec
- What is gEEk spEEk?
- Learn something in 60 minutes; gEEk spEEk’s online content
- How to sign up for gEEk spEEk
- Using gEEk spEEk for internal training
- How Signal Integrity List got its start
- Judy’s big question: “When did you know you were gonna be an engineer?”
Resources:
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Altium 365 Podcast Listener Discount
The OnTrack Podcast welcomes John Coonrod back to the show. John is Technical Marketing Manager at Rogers Corporation and a senior engineering professional with a rich background in PCB design, fabrication, processing, and modeling. John also has extensive experience with circuit materials, making him the ideal candidate for the topic of today’s podcast: insertion loss.
Show Highlights
- 01:45—Clarifying terms: a quick overview of Microstrips vs Striplines
- 02:20—Exploring laminates, multilayered circuits, and plated through-holes
- 06:42—Applying electromagnetic fields: a prerequisite for understanding insertion loss
- 09:25—The four components of insertion loss
- 13:10—RO4350B™; a friend to all fabricators?
- 15:10—Pros and Cons of electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG)
- 18:13—John’s advice to design engineers on modeling for ENIG’s performance range
- 21:33—Navigating the relationship between solder masks and insertion loss
- 24:20—A call to viewers and listeners: Got a copper-related topic you’d like to hear John and Judy discuss? Submit your requests!
Resources:
John Coonrod on Linkedin
Rogers Corporation Website (Advanced Connectivity Solutions)
(Includes Coonrod’s corner videos, data sheets, calculators and more)
Autonomous driving Resource Page (Guides, Videos and Material selection)
ROG Mobile App (Resources accessible from your smartphone or tablet)
White Paper High Performance PCBs: Judy Warner, Chris Savalia, Michael Ingham