OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast

“One of the fundamental things that I'm very passionate about is continuous development.” - Stephen Chavez

We are thrilled to have Stephen Chavez on the podcast again! He is one of the respected Electrical Engineers in the electronics industry. Stephen is the chairman of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) and oversees the design team of a renowned military aerospace company. In this episode, Stephen will generously share his work experience and how he sees the evolution of the electronics industry. This is a not-to-be-missed episode as it will give you enough courage and motivation to keep on learning to become a successful electronics and design engineer of today’s generation! 

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Stephen and Zach’s best advice on how to get on top of things as the electronics industry evolves 
• Stephen’s career progress in the electronics industry and his affiliation with PCEA (Printed Circuit Engineering Association)
• The need for cross-collaboration as designing changes and gets complex
  • Altium 365 offers seamless collaboration in the cloud
• Digital thread or model-based design 
  • How’s the process today?
  • The evolution of toolsets
  • The difference between the tools of today and the past
  • Taking advantage of the tool you’re using versus the manual approach
• The importance of tool training 
• PCEA’s mission for the next generation engineers 
• Secrets of PCB Optimization with Rick Hartley
• What do you need to consider when designing circuit boards 
• Designer’s triangle
  • Layout solvability
  • Performance
  • Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
• Intricate details that go into designing a PCB
• What it takes to fabricate and assemble a printed circuit board especially for young engineers 
• Mike Creeden on Empowering PCB Engineers through PCEA
• Manufacturing aspect - filtering your suppliers
• Mistakes engineers make when choosing the materials for design 
• Balancing success in circuit design 
• Engineering learning practices in the past vs today 
• MCAD, CAD for tool collaboration 
• Autorouting in RF designs

Links and Resources:

Previous Podcast Episodes with Stephen Chavez

• Stephen Chavez Calls on PCB Designers to Get Involved
• Is IPC-CID Certification Really Important to Your Career?
• Stephen Chavez on Staying out of Your Comfort Zone
• Judy Warner and Stephen Chavez on the Approachability of the Pros

Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA)
AltiumLive 2022 Connect: Now open for registration
Connect with Stephen Chavez on LinkedIn
Connect with Zach Peterson on LinkedIn
Watch Zach’s latest Altium Academy courses on Youtube
Read Zach’s articles on Altium’s resource hub

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Altium Website
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Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics