OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast (Altium LLC.)

Listen to the latest episode of OnTrack to hear a round up of the key PCB design trends from 2023. Explore themes such as evolving manufacturing dynamics, including shifts closer to the United States and Europe, influencing future innovations. Dive into the world of packaging design advancements and emerging trends such as robotic vision and new tools shaping the future of PCB design and the broader electronics market.

Scott McMorrow, Strategic Technologist for Signal Integrity Products at Samtec Inc. who's well-renowned for his expertise in signal integrity, discusses revolutionary techniques in PCB design on this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast.

We delve into Scott's journey in the electronics industry, his approach to overcoming complex PCB layout challenges, and his predictions for the future of signal integrity in PCBs. Learn how Scott's methods are transforming the way designers approach PCB layouts, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.

Join host Zach Peterson as they explore Scott's influential work at Samtec, his experience in consulting, and the innovative strategies that earned him a nomination for Engineer of the Year at DesignCon.

Having Steve Sandler in this episode is such a treat! He talks about his presentations at the upcoming DesignCon 2023 in Santa Clara. He gives us a deep dive into some very complex engineering topics, including measuring the PDN Flatness and the state space model.

Download this episode

Show Highlights:

• Steve Sandler is in the running for Engineering of the Year along with Ken Wyatt
• Steve is doing a two-and-a-half-hour tutorial on PSMR, PSOR, and PSMR testing at the DesignCon. Molex and Tektronix are both participating in the live demonstration
  • He s also doing a presentation with Heidi Barnes, Bandanin, and Ben Denon
• A lot of conferences are going virtual. The reach is undeniably great, however, what are the pros and the cons? What is valuable to who?
• Steve talks about the conception of Picotest in the US
• Picotest made the very first water-cooled probe which he will be showing at the DesignCon
• Innovative solutions can take decades from conception to fruition, Steve shares his PdD thesis from 2011 that got him ahead of the curve
• Steve deeps dive into the water-cooled probe, how it works, and the problems it eliminates
• 21:34 Power supply stability is critical in space, 
• 23:28 What does it mean to quantify the flatness of the PDN? Steve co-authored a paper with Scott Witcher which will be presented at the DesignCon
• 26:25 Steve Sandler wrote a paper in 2015: Target Impedance Limitations and Rogue Wave Assessments on PDN Performance
• 31:29 FACTS! Computers in Space Station are being reset every 40 minutes
• 33:13 Steve stresses the importance of simulation and gives engineers a tip: “Start out with proven models and you'll get there. Get enough confidence.“
• 34:39 Steve explains why it is necessary to find the “Q” to measure PDN Flatness
• 43:19 Innovation could have happened earlier, Steve talks about the typical economic problems that could be hindering technological advancements
• 47:51 Steve gives us a brief deep dive into the “state space model” and what it’s attempting to quantify

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Steve Sandler on LinkedIn
• Visit Picotest website
• Check out Steve Sandler's Books
• Register to DesignCon 2023

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, host Tech Consultant Zach Peterson explores the revolutionary world of Ultra HDI with Chrys Shea, President of Shea Engineering. The two unveil the future of PCB soldering and miniaturization, shedding light on the intricate challenges ahead and breakthroughs just on the horizon. Chrys, renowned for her expertise, shares invaluable insights into developing test vehicles for soldering and navigating the complexities of Ultra HDI assembly. This conversation promises a deep understanding of the cutting-edge advancements shaping the future of electronics manufacturing.

Don't miss out on the expert guidance and innovative strategies presented by Chrys Shea, a leading voice in the SMT assembly and PCB design world.

Key Highlights:

• Introduction of Chrys Shea, president of Shea Engineering, discussing her involvement in developing test vehicles for soldering, particularly focusing on Ultra High-Density Interconnect (UHDI).
• Discussion on the importance of having a plan upfront, particularly in terms of addressing defects and DFM (Design for Manufacturability) considerations.
• Chrys Shea's background as an SMT (Surface Mount Technology) assembly process engineer and her transition to independent consulting, specializing in soldering.
• Overview of the test vehicle developed for solder paste printing and its evolution to accommodate various soldering processes and component sizes, including BGAs, QFNs, and smaller passives.
• Introduction of the new test vehicle for UHDI assembly, highlighting the increased density and challenges such as off-axis placements and the leading edge effect in stencil printing.

Further Resources:

• Connect with Chrys on LinkedIn
• Learn More about Shea Engineering Services
• Read this article to learn about the assembly process for minaturization and Ultra HDI Technology
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Sustainability in electronics encompasses environmental, social, and corporate governance aspects, and IPC aims to make it easier for companies by providing standards, education, and advocacy to navigate these complex issues.

In this episode, we are very pleased to have Kelly Scanlon of IPC to enlighten us about the importance of sustainability in the electronics industry and how you can contribute as a PCB designer.

Watch this episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Kelly Scanlon, the Lead Sustainability Strategist at IPC
• Kelly talks about her role at IPC and her background before landing her current position
• Kelly explains that sustainability covers environmental, social, and corporate governance
• The European Union (EU) has been leaders in producing policies that have real opportunities for environmental change, in the space of sustainability
• What are the ways can companies prove their compliance to sustainability?
• Environmental sustainability in the electronics industry has well-defined processes and regulations, like the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) making it easier to manage and communicate compliance
• Social sustainability poses greater challenges as there is no clear process and requires multidimensional teams to address issues like worker health, labor practices, and corporate governance
• Vendor checklists and assessments are used to vet suppliers, but there is a need for increased transparency and honesty in supply chains
• Companies rely on policies and regulations to ensure compliance throughout the supply chain and are pushing for accountability and reliability from their suppliers
• Kelly Scanlon emphasizes the need for a strong community and collaboration to address environmental, social, and governance sustainability in the electronics industry.
• Designers play a crucial role in driving sustainable practices by incorporating conscientious and intentional lifecycle management in their design decisions, and by advocating to manufacturers to prioritize sustainability
• Designers can make their voices heard by reaching out to IPC and participating in workshops, case studies, and events focused on sustainability
• IPC formed its Sustainability for Electronics Leadership Council, a team with diverse geographic background and diverse supply chain background that come together sharing their insights and expertise
• Designers and manufacturers are encouraged to connect with Kelly, ask questions, contribute your expertise, and to actively advocate sustainability efforts in the electronics industry

It’s that time again to have Altium’s VP of Marketing, Lawrence Romine, the bearer of good news when it comes to Altium Designer’s latest features. We will discuss what’s coming in Altium Designer 23 which includes multi-board and harness design capabilities.

You don’t want to miss this one. Watch through the end and be sure to check the show notes and additional resources below.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights

• Altium Designer®’s regular and reliable updates are incomparable in the industry, stay on top of the monthly updates through the OnTrack newsletter
• There are 3 major themes to come in Altium Designer 2023
  • Multi-board systems and harness design – empower PCB designers and electrical engineers to design harnesses
  • Collaboration and teamwork
  • Make Altium Designer a necessity for every PCB designer – the world's greatest and most elegant design experience
• Code Designer, coming soon – the ability to work natively in Altium Designer and in Mcad tool of choice
• Multi-board and harness design capability, Altium Designer is fully supported through Altium 365
• It's never too soon to involve the other stakeholders in your PCB design
  • Altium 365 releases commenting capability to both bombs and draftsman documents
• New power analysis capability powered by Keysight, anybody that can design a printed circuit board can now do some power analysis
• Altium Designer users are encouraged to check out all of the extensions, especially the new power analyzer

Links and Resources:

Connect with Lawrence Romine on LinkedIn

• Stay on top of Altium Designer versions updates
• What’s new in Altium 365
• Read: Come See the New Power Analyzer by Keysight in Altium Designer 22.9
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Visit Nexar website
• Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only 

Today we are joined by Mohamed Badawy, Founder & CEO of Scalvy Inc. He and Zach have a fascinating conversation about Modamed's company, Scalvy, and its innovative powertrain technology. As a part of this chat, the two cover how long it takes to introduce new concepts to the market, how Scalvy's tech works, AI integration, and much more.

Watch this episode here

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:55 Mohamed & Scalvy's Background
• 2:35 Mohamed's Research
• 8:14 It Takes Time to Explain a Concept
• 10:47 Modularization & Competitive Advantage
• 13:41 Safety, Reliability, & Auto Makers
• 19:05 Automotive Powertrain Standardization?
• 22:27 Creating the Powertrain Standard
• 23:15 Maintenance Costs?
• 25:00 What Happens with the Powertrain
• 27:08 AI Integration?
• 30:33 Aerospace Industry
• 34:14 Marine and Agricultural Vehicles?

In this enlightening episode of the OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson chats with Kunal Shah, PhD., President of liloTree. The two have a detailed conversation about the burgeoning field of Ultra High-Density Interconnects (UHDI) and its impact on the future of electronics.

Kunal shares his insights on the latest in UHDI innovation, including its challenges and solutions in electronics manufacturing, especially in high-reliability applications such as defense and medical electronics.

With a focus on the upcoming SMTA panel discussion, this episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in the cutting-edge technologies shaping our world. Don't miss out on this deep dive into UHDI!

Key Highlights: 

• Overview of the various of Developments in UHDI
• Discussion of "Traditional" Plating Materials
• Nickel Vs. Copper
• Overplating Compensation?
• Can silver be an UHDI Alternative?

More resources:

• Learn More about liloTree
• Check out this article about Ultra HDI PCB capabilities
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

The business development manager of J.A.M.E.S., Alexandre Schafer talks about the organization’s vision to push the Additively Manufactured Electronic technology to become more accessible to the industry.

Show Highlights:

• What is J.A.M.E.S. and how did Alexandre become involved in the organization?
  • J.A.M.E.S (Jetted Additively Manufactured Electronic Sources) is an online community of professionals, stake holder, manufacturers who share the same vision of accelerating the AME technology
  • Alexadre’s AHA moment was seeing a drone’s PCB created through AME process
  • The current technology readiness level is currently between experimental and demonstration pilot phase
• Introducing new technology to the industry has it’s challenges:
  • Influencing engineers’ mindset
  • Which design tool to use? In an ideal world a tool with both ECAD and MCAD design capabilities is necessary–a fully working 3D auto router will be amazing
  • Design standards are inexistent at the moment
• On another note, the lack of design standards opens up to wider creative possibilities. Standardation is the enemy of freedom -Zach Peterson
• Moving forward to future plans: Scaling up, manufacturing of the equipments and creation of additive process design rules
• Availability of resources and current efforts to educate PCB designers through AME Academy

Links and Resources:

Follow J.A.M.E.S on LinkedIn

Connect with Alexandre Schafer on LinkedIn

Access Register to AME Academy

Visit J.A.M.E.S website

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Dive into the future of collaborative PCB design with Altium's latest feature, the PCB CoDesign tool in AD24! In this exciting episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, our host, Zach Peterson, sits down with Wojciech Łaś, Product Manager at Altium, to explore the ins and outs of this innovative tool.

Discover how the PCB CoDesign tool allows multiple designers to work on the same PCB layout simultaneously, extending Altium's version control system. Learn about the compare and merge tool, a game-changer for detecting, comparing, and resolving conflicts in PCB layout files. Wojciech shares insights into the challenges of coordinating work among multiple designers and strategies to optimize the collaborative workflow.

Get a sneak peek into the future roadmap, including upcoming features like merge requests and improved conflict prevention. Find out how Altium's approach differs from real-time collaboration tools and the advantages of asynchronous collaboration.

Whether you're a seasoned Altium user or exploring the world of collaborative PCB design, this podcast provides valuable insights and a glimpse into the future of electronic design.

• PCB CoDesigner Overview
• Unique Features of the PCB CoDesigner Tool
• Strategies for Collaborative Design
• Layer-Stack Locking and Rules System
• Future Developments: Merge Requests and On-Premise Availability

• Learn more about PCB CoDesign Coming Soon in Altium Designer 24

Join host Zach Peterson on The OnTrack Podcast as he has a fascinating conversation with Greg Bailey, President of GreenArrays, Inc. Discover the innovative ways technology is advancing towards a more energy-efficient future. In this episode, we explore the impact of IoT and AI on energy consumption, the challenges of power management in tech, and the solutions that are shaping a sustainable world.

Episode Highlights:

• The role of IoT in leading toward an ENERGY EFFICIENT TECH FUTURE.
• Insights into AI's impact on power usage across industries.
• Greg Bailey's expert take on supervisory control systems and their benefits.
• Strategies for reducing energy waste in everyday tech applications.

More Resources:

• Learn More about GreenArrays, Inc
• Learn More about Charles Moore
• Connect with Greg Bailey: greg@greenarraychips.com
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access: 

• Tune in now and watch through the end, you wouldn’t want to miss this!
• introduction to Daniel Perez Lopez Co-founder and CTO of iPronics
• What are programmable photonics?
• The photonic field or the integrated photonic field, is mainly limited to two key volume driven market segments that are transceivers and data centers
• One of the growing benefits of photonics is to ability to configure systems, real-timebases on the specific environmental condition and specific performance
• Photonics technology as a complimentary technology to electronics
• Daniel describes the structure of iPronics’s photonics processor and how it functions
• iPronics has figured out miniaturization, they believe that reducing the form factor is a way to open their product to the bigger market
• Is there a need for a photonic iPhones and smartphones with pure photonics processor?
• Daniel enumerates the various photonics applications including in RF systems
• Cointegration of lasers with with the photonics integrated circuits is no longer rocket science
• Enhanced technology, sooner than later; integrating high performance photo ejector in the chip is no longer a challenge
• Lasers sound cool, but miniaturization or focusing on the form factor and delivering high performing systems are more of a priority
• Is there any iPronics product currently available off the shelf for integration?
• iPronics is focusing on communications space for optical based communications and management for RF communications and the processing intra data center communications

• Read Related Articles:
  • Silicon Photonics Integration Challenges in PCB Design
  • Quantum Computing Electronics vs. Photonics: New Chips Will Shift the Balance
  • Optical Interconnects in PCB Design: Progress in 2020 and Beyond
• Connect with Daniel Pérez López on LinkedIn
• Visit iPronics website

Join Tech Consultant Zach Peterson in this interview with Kris Moyer, an esteemed IPC instructor and seasoned PCB design expert. The pair cover a wide range of topics including IPC courses, PCB design practices, and advanced materials. Discover how IPC courses can elevate your PCB design skills, learn about best practices in high-speed digital design (as well as a few other types of design), and explore the challenges of working with advanced materials in the PCB industry.

Key Topics Covered: - The importance of IPC courses for PCB designers

- Best practices in PCB design and signal integrity

- Overcoming challenges with high-speed digital design

- Understanding and utilizing advanced materials in PCB manufacturing

- Kris Moyer's career journey and industry insights

#PCBDesign #IPC #signalintegrity

Supply chain security and having access to trusted manufacturers in the US would be an ideal outcome of the Printed Circuit Board Act.

IPC President and CEO John Michell talk about how the organization helps shape the current bipartisan proposal to help bring back PCB manufacturing in the US and how this can contribute to a globally resilient supply chain.

Watch the podcast here

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Show Highlights:

• John Mitchell briefly talks about his background and dives right into the topic, the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act
• John emphasizes the role of the IPC as the voice of the electronics industry
• Supply chain security and having more trusted PCB manufacturers in the US would be a great outcome of the Printed Circuit Board Act
  • Adapting the existing legislation on manufacturing defense products to broader use, especially with electronics
  • Raise awareness of the different aspects of the electronics supply chain shortages and other  issues related to it
  • Eradicate the notion that PCBs are just a piece of plastic, but an essential piece in every electronic
• The IPC's influence on shaping laws relating to the electronics
  • John explains IPC's role and involvement, which includes solving industry problems related, but not limited to, the workforce, supply chain, and advanced packaging issues
  • The IPC SEA Tools: Standards, Education, and Advocacy
• John stresses that having manufacturers in different regions is a key to a resilient supply chain
  • Identify what electronic products to manufacture where
• The Printed Circuit Board is a 60 billion industry globally, and only 3-5% of volume comes from the US
• John explains the impact of the changing administrations in the US on the current progression of different bills and legislations relating to the electronic industry

Links and Resources:

Connect with John Mitchell on LinkedIn Visit the IPC website here Learn more about the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act of 2022 Watch John Mitchell’s previous episodes:

• IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Electronics Supply Chain
• John Mitchell, CEO of IPC, Visits The White House to Participate in the Pledge to America’s Workers

Watch a recent related episode: The Benefits of Diversifying PCB Industry Supply Chain

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Join us as we reflect on the best moments and the coolest guests we've had on the OnTrack podcast this year. 2012 has been a whirlwind year for the electronics industry–chip shortages, and a supply chain crunch. Altium has passed several milestones, as well as releasing an education program. And there have been some groundbreaking reports from industry groups highlighting the need for workforce training and development, and workforce shortages coming on the horizon.

Watch the episode here

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only

Show Highlights:

• One of Altium’s Milestone is the Altium Education Program
• In most of the episodes, the issue of automotive chips shortage comes up coupled with the passing of the PCB Act
• PCB Packaging, and production of integrated circuit substrates 
• Most requested repeat guests and new faces

Links and Resources:

• Watch all the OnTrack Podcast Episode
• Register at Altium Education for Free
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Visit Nexar website
• Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only

In this episode, we are fortunate to have two key personalities at Luxonis, a hardware, firmware, software, AI, and simulation company. Erik Kokalj, director of application engineering at Luxonis, and Bradley Dillon, CEO of Luxonis discuss how and who can benefit from AI technology.

Tune in and make sure to check out the show notes and additional resources below.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Luxonis and its founding on April 2019
• The liDAR and radar as an imaging technology, Erik briefly explains the technology behind it
• Bradley shares why they decided to open-source some aspects of their platform and design
• Luxonis’s AI training, AI conversion, and AI deployment onto hardware are all open-source, for their customers can quickly develop their own model and then deploy it on the device itself
• Future design updates, miniaturization, and thermal management
• What are some of the industrial applications that are utilizing the Luxonis imaging technology? Beekeeping was unexpected!
• Robotic applications on robotic cars, Zach and Erik talk about action recognition on top of object recognition
• Bradley talks about series 3 products and what’s coming in terms of capabilities – processing power, more AI inference

Resources and Links:

• Connect with Bradley Dillon on LinkedIn
• Connect with Erik Kokalj on LinkedIn
• Checkout Luxonis Website
• Watch Luxonis featured on Altium Story: How Luxonis uses Altium 365 to innovate AI Vision systems faster
• Connect with Zach Peterson on LinkedIn

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, we are pleased to host a thought-provoking conversation between Tech Consultant Zach Peterson and Dr. Philip Voglewede, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Marquette University and Director at the Omron Advanced Automation Lab.

Zach and Phil have a very intriguing conversation about the role of automation in the current and future industrial landscape. Anyone interested in the current state of industrial automation, manufacturing, or labor trends won't want to miss Phil's insights, many of which are rooted in his work for the ground-breaking Omron Lab.

Show Highlights:

0:00 Intro 1:03 Phil & Omron Advanced Automation Lab 2:13 Pushing to Fail 5:27 A Space to Play 7:28 Omron's Early Achievements 11:26 De-Siloing & Student Response 16:37 Companies Noticing Student Skills 17:47 Students Handling Complex Problems 19:39 Grappling with the Role of Automation 23:05 Where Do We Get ROI? 25:18 Management is Adapting 27:14 The TOTAL Dollar Amount of Manufacturing Costs 29:33 Industrial IoT is the Achilles Heel 33:22 Plug & Play is the Goal 35:24 Make It Like Starbucks 37:13 Who Will Lead the Needed Standardization? 39:06 Will the Big Manufacturers Cooperate to Standardize? 41:15 Standardization is Only a Matter of Time

Join us on this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast as we sit down with David Schild, Executive Director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA). In this insightful conversation, David shares the mission of PCBAA, its role in advocating for domestic printed circuit board manufacturers, and the unique challenges and opportunities in the industry.

Discover the fascinating world of printed circuit boards and substrates as David talks about the diverse members of PCBAA, ranging from woven glass producers to drilling equipment manufacturers. Get a glimpse into the innovative world of PCBAA through David's discussion of the association's impactful business cards and the importance of physical materials in conveying industry priorities.

Explore the conversation about the state of the industry, workforce challenges, and the need for sustainable growth. David sheds light on the role of automation in manufacturing facilities and the vital connection between education, advocacy, and legislation in shaping the future of the electronics industry.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or just curious about the world of printed circuit boards, this podcast provides valuable insights into the heartbeat of modern electronics. Tune in to learn more about the industry's past, present, and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.

Don't miss out on this engaging discussion that brings the world of electronics to life. Watch the video on YouTube to see the impressive business cards and gain a visual understanding of the technology driving innovation in the electronics manufacturing sector. If you're passionate about technology, manufacturing, or simply intrigued by the inner workings of the devices we use every day, this podcast is a must-watch!

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Intro
• What David Does for PCBAA
• David's Background
• What Should the US Market Share in Microelectronics Manufacturing Be?
• Government Subsidies & a Race to the Bottom
• What Role Does Automation Play in Price Competition?
• Encouraging Young People to Get Into the Industry
• Electronics & Popular Awareness
• Is the Messaging Getting Through?
• How to Educate the Masses about Microelectronics
• PCB-7?
• It's Going to Take Time
• Impressions about PCB West
• Increased Visibility at Trade Shows
• Learn More about PCEA & PCBAA

Making electromagnetic analysis accessible to anyone in the industry is what inspired Yuriy to create SIMBEOR® Electromagnetic Signal Simulator.

Yuriy Shlepnev is the founder and president of Simberian. In this episode, he will tell us about Simbeor simulation capabilities, and briefly educate us on rise times, signal integrity, and solving EMI. He will also show us the simulator in action and how it can be a lifesaver to PCB designers like you.

Tune in, enjoy and don't forget to check the additional resources below.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• uriy talks about his background in computational electromagnetics and how he got started working on simulations for PCBs and magnetic analysis 
  • He realized that the byte rates and data rates were increasing, and everything was getting into the microwave domain
  • In 2006,  Simberian was founded as a project to make electromagnetic analysis accessible to anyone in the industry
  • SIMBEOR® was created to make electromagnetic analysis mainstream
• Simulation capabilities accessible to lower data rates, Yuriy discusses rise times, signal integrity, and solving EMI simultaneously
• SIMBEOR® 2022 includes three simulation modes, and one of them is the Fast SI which uses more approximate models for pins, pads, and vias. It is a full wave, but not 3D. It allows simulations to run faster for more mass, included
• Simbeor SDK, a built-in software development kit in Altium Designer’s stackup manager. It uses the SFS solver for cross-sectional analysis, and that benefits Altium customers
• Yuriy shows us the 3D field solver in action
• Simulation of fiber weave effect on PCBs, is it possible? 
  • Coming soon in Simbeor SDK is the ability to build your own simulation tools
  • Monte Carlo analysis is a perfect way to convert numeric model variations into a probability distribution
• What is the future of SIMBEOR® that designers can use to help them expedite important analyses for high-speed and RF designs?

Links and Resources:

Connect with Yuriy Shlepnev on LinkedIn Visit Simberian website and learn more about SIMBEOR® Electromagnetic Signal Integrity Software Read Yuriy’s Articles in SI Journal Watch a related podcast episode: Simberian’s 3D Field Solver in Altium Designer

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

In a captivating 2023 year-end review, Zach Peterson hosts a compelling discussion with Gene Weiner, President of Weiner International Associates, exploring the dynamic landscapes of manufacturing in Mexico, India, and the burgeoning field of Ultra High-Density Interconnects (UHDI). Discover the nuances of electronics manufacturing in China, where resources seamlessly integrate into the supply chain, contrasted with Mexico's DIY approach and India's promising advancements fueled by resolutions and government backing, ultimately surpassing Mexico in certain aspects.

Key Highlights:

• Insights into Trade and Manufacturing in Mexico: Delve into the intricate details of Mexico's manufacturing landscape, exploring the unique challenges and opportunities in this key region.
• Exploring Broader Trends in India: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolving trends shaping the electronics manufacturing sector in India, highlighting key developments and advancements.
• Comparing India's Model to Chinese and Mexican Approaches: Analyze the positioning of India in the global manufacturing landscape, drawing parallels and distinctions between the Chinese and Mexican models.
• Unraveling the Challenges Faced by Chinese PCB Countries: Investigate the factors contributing to the challenges faced by Chinese PCB countries and the implications for the broader electronics manufacturing industry.
• Insights into M&A Activity and Future Trends: Explore the dynamics of mergers and acquisitions in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) sector, with a forward-looking perspective on continued consolidation and vertical integration in the industry.

Performance and reliability are big in the automotive industry, especially now that electronically powered and automated vehicles are starting to become more popular.

In this episode, we will learn so much about automotive electronics and the reliability of electronics systems that goes in the vehicle. Our guest Lenora Clark, the director of autonomous driving and safety technology at ESI automotive will share with us the importance of material choices for your PCB can affect the reliability and performance of your vehicle’s system design.

Show Highlights:

• • Lenora is Chemist by education. She joined MacDermid, now MacDermid Alpha Electronic Solutions, as a bench top chemist, developing chemicals for PCB manufacturers
    • Her focus was on surface finishing helping PCB fabricator improve their process from a chemical standpoint to enhance the performance and reliability of PCBs
    • From working with surface finishing, she worked her way up and became the project manager, product line director for surface finishing, and later the Director of OEMs
    • She is now a director at ESI automotive
  • Chips don’t float, they are anchored to a PCB to work
  • Lenora briefly described her role and emphasis on enhanced reliability to meet the end users' needs
  • There is so much happening in the automotive space towards reinventing themselves and keeping up with the amount of innovation that's happening right now
    • One of the challenges in the industry is extreme miniaturization
    • Miniaturization is not just the board itself and the packaging but also feature density
    • Other than the heat, electromagnetic shielding is also a concern with enclosure designs
  • Lenora emphasizes that her current role is to make recommendations based on a material perspective, both for liability and for enhanced function
  • ECUs (Electronic control unit) manages data transmission between different parts of the vehicle

• I think the future of the vehicle architecture is not completely defined yet. I do think it will be less complex than what we see today - Lenora Clark
• Collaborators like Mobileeye by Intel are working with makers to bring an entire system where there are different, sensors and a central computing unit to help make the decision – autonomous driving

Links and Resources:

Connect with Lenora Clark on LinkedIn

Visit ESI Auto website

Related Podcast Episode:

How to Select the Best Surface Finish for your PCB

Electronics Manufacturability and Reliability

Full OnTrack Podcast Library

Altium Website

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Learn about the complexities of dielectric anisotropy and its implications for high-speed PCB designs in this week’s OnTrack podcast episode. Don't miss this engaging and informative discussion.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about the different dielectric constants in PCB materials.
• Discover how anisotropic properties affect transmission line modeling in PCB LAMINATES.
• Gain practical knowledge for achieving better signal integrity in your PCB designs
• The critical aspects of signal integrity in modern electronics

More Resources:

• Lansim Enterprises: http://www.lamsimenterprises.com/
• Connect with Bert on LinkedIn 
• Check out this article the importance of Signal Integrity for High Speed Designs
• Check out this article about PCB Material Selection

IPC continues to develop resources to bring awareness about the electronics industry to the young generation.

In this episode, we are very fortunate to have Charlene Gunther, the Senior Director of the IPC Education Foundation. We will talk about IPC’s efforts to involve students in engaging activities that will introduce the electronic industry to them as early as high school.

Join us and watch through the end. We added some great resources below so be sure to check them out.

Watch this episode here

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Episode Highlights:

• Charlene Gunther introduction and a brief overview of her role as the Senior Director of the IPC Foundation
• Charlene talks about the IPC three pillars: awareness, engagement, and connections
• The IPC launched the website www.careersinelectronics.com which aims to attract students and job seekers within the electronics industry
• The IPC student chapter plays a big role to attract and involving students in skill development training and networking
• IPC is hosting annual STEM outreach and partners with Title I schools and private institutions to expose high school students to hands-on activities, connecting them with industry, allowing them to solder, to design, to learn about assembly
• Other departments of the IPC that work towards improving accessible education are the Education Department led by Vice President David Hernandez and Chris Mitchell the VP of Advocacy and Government Relations
• The universities’ response to IPC programs has been very positive and they have become more proactive in integrating electronics and manufacturing-related courses into their curriculum
• Be in the loop with the latest IPC Education Foundation announcements, visit www.careersinelectronics.com , subscribe to their newsletter, and follow their social media pages. Students, parents, and employers are encouraged to visit the website

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Charlene Gunter on LinkedIn
• Visit the IPC website
• Visit the Careers in Electronics website
• Learn more about IPC Education Foundation
• Watch related episodes:
  • The Challenging Role of a Process Engineer
  • IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act
  • Hands-on Learning for PCB Design Students with Sid Deliwala
• Learn Printed Circuit Board Design

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Today we're diving head-first into Altium's New Constraint Manager with Andy Critcher, Director at Total Board Solutions. This revolutionary feature is designed to streamline and optimize the process of applying design constraints across multiple nets, making it easier and more intuitive than ever.

If you're dealing with high-voltage designs, complex multi-layer boards, or simply looking to enhance productivity, the new Constraint Manager offers a suite of tools that promise to elevate your design workflow.

Join Andy and host Tech Consultant Zach Peterson as they chat the ins and outs of this innovative feature, including industry responses, practical applications, and a detailed exploration of how it can simplify your design process.

Key Highlights:

• Andy's Background: Insight into Andy's experience and expertise in the industry.
• Advice for Young People Entering the Industry: Key advice for newcomers navigating the field.
• Fusion of EE and PCB Layout Positions? Discussion on the evolving roles within the industry.
• Eye-Opening Fab Facility Visits: Experiences and revelations from visiting fabrication facilities.
• Altium Designer's New Constraint Manager Overview: Overview and benefits of Altium Designer's Constraint Manager update.

Links & Resources:

• Follow Andy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Altium Designer's New Constraint Manager
• Interested in becoming a PCB designer? Read this article to learn more about entering the field.
• PCB Library Management from Total Board Solutions 

One of PCEA’s (Printed Circuit Engineering Association) goals is to provide accessible education, affordable to everyone in the electronics industry.

In this episode, we are fortunate to have two passionate educators in the industry, Mike Buetow and Mike Creeden. We will talk about the PCEA’s efforts to use all possible platforms to promote educational programs for design engineers.

PCEA, it's an international network of engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers…anyone who is involved in printed circuit development. And we promote Printed Circuit Engineering as a profession. We're looking at trying to take information, new design concepts, get them down into the manufacturing side, and then also to communicate those manufacturing constraints and make sure that they are communicated back to the design side. -Mike Buetow

Watch the episode here

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to PCEA and updates on its acquisition of key assets of UP Media Group
• Mike Buetow talks about the PCB East conference reboot
• Who can benefit from PCEA’s educational initiatives?
• Mike Creeden emphasizes the importance of in-person learning. “Online is good, but it lacks some retention…but in-person learning, you retain more,” he explains.
• To collaborate, educate and inspire is what’s behind PCEA educational efforts
• PCEA is a volunteer-driven organization
• Mike Creeden will be at the https://www.ipcapexexpo.org/in San Diego
• Mike Creeden debunks misconceptions about PCB manufacturing facilities, the skills involved, the compensation, and more
• There are some issues in design education around packaging, the Insulectro booth at IPC Apex 2023 will offer valuable knowledge about packaging
• PCEA membership is free, you can register here
  • Mentorship programs are something to look forward to
  • Currently, PCEA has chapters in Europe, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and across the United States

Links and Resources:

• Visit PCEA’s website
• Connect with Mike Creeden on LinkedIn
• Connect with Mike Buetow on LinkedIn
• Watch Previous Related Episodes:
  • New Printed Circuit Engineering Course: PCE EDU
  • Mike Buetow on PCB West

In this episode, our guest Joe Dickson, tells us about the cutting-edge technology implemented in advanced packaging at Wus Printed Circuit International.  

Watch the episode here

Show Highlights:

• Joe Dickson talks about what they do at Wus, a printed circuit manufacturing company
  • He shares about their efforts to bring PCB technologies farther up by introducing advanced packaging options
  • He briefly describes what printed circuit-like materials are, also known as the vertical interposers or PCIe
• Zach explains how a pre-packaged chip can be mounted on a board
• What are the reliability and signal integrity challenges that come with assembling different packages on a board
  • Off-the-board solutions start to become more and more desirable 
• The flexibility of design and components is what driving the market to use more integrated packaging
• Speed is everything! When will the industry move on from copper and go to optical? 
• Knowing what's going on in simulations is very important; it opens opportunities to try new things
• Joe explains a way of using Faraday cages with cable connections on the surface
• Examples of the large market using the PCIe method are Xilinx and NVIDIA
• How far is silicon photonics from becoming mainstream as an interconnect technology?
• Standardazion versus innovation
• The future of PCB assembly is hybrid. Some will use the off-shelf, best-in-class products from Intel, AMB, NVIDIA, Xilinx, and get creative with them. 

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Joe Dickson on LinkedIn
• Visit Wus Printed Circuit International website
• Watch the related episode:
  • Eliminating Nuances in the PCB Manufacturing Processes with Amit Bahl of Sierra Circuits PCB
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Full OnTrack Podcast Library
• Altium Website

How to deal with nuances in PCB design and manufacturing? In today’s episode, Dave Young the owner of Young Circuits Design and founder of BlueStamp Engineering, and I will discuss mitigating risk factors early in the stage of electronic design.

Dave will also tell a story about his path to entrepreneurship as an engineer and his inspiration behind founding BlueStamp Engineering, a hands-on engineering program for high school students to design and create technology projects that they get to keep, from scratch!

Listen, watch enjoy, and make sure to check the additional resources below.

Show Highlights:

• Dave’s background, and the early days of his now 12-year designing firm
  • He learned most of his skills from his previous position as a Senior Design Engineer at Keithley Instruments
• The world of innovative electronic design and hardware – the software, firmware, and hardware
  • Expectations vs. reality in manufacturing
  • Designers must know what’s going on in PCB manufacturing, know what’s reasonable to ask your manufacturer
• How to deal with nuances in PCB design and manufacturing? Not only identifying risks but also mitigating all the risks
  • How to deal with hardware level risk?
  • Dave’s insight on the extent a manufacturer could step up and modify the design to make it manufacturable
• Zach recalls his conversation with Kelly Dack regarding the solder mask being modified by the manufacturer to ensure accurate assembly
• An electrical engineer’s path to entrepreneurship
  • Dave shares that he found his happy place working with small teams
• Career challenges for engineers coming from academia
  • Zach emphasized the focus on the “value you can create” as an engineer
  • Is freelancing the classic route to enter the PCB design industry
  • The best path to entrepreneurship – start doing it!
• A risk mitigating tip in PCB design – review all parts and address where you messed up (right away)
  • There is no fool-proof footprint
• Challenges of CM (contact manufacturer) overseas
  • What should be manufactured domestically?
• Educational programs such as BlueStamp Engineering could help address the workforce shortage in the Electrical Engineer Industry
  • How do engage the next generation of engineers to become more involved and interested in innovation and creating new things?
• Firmware vs. software engineering – the good, the bad, and the headaches

Links and Resources:

Connect with Dave Young on LinkedIn

Visit Young Circuit Designs Website

Learn more about the BlueStamp Engineering programs

Related podcast with Kelly Dack: How to Panelize Your PCB Design with EMS Expert Kelly Dack 

Full OnTrack Podcast Library

Altium Website

Let’s walk down memory lane and discover how circuit boards are being manufactured back in the 50s.

In this episode, we have the pleasure to have Gene Weiner, a true gem in the industry! This is a rare opportunity to learn from an expert who has helped shape the electronics industry for more than 60 years now.

Watch through the end, and make sure to check out the show notes and additional resources below.

Watch this Episode.

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

• Introduction to Gene Weiner and a glimpse of his illustrious career in the electronics industry beginning in 1956
• Gene retrospects vividly how they used to do 3D printing and additive back in the 50s
• What would interest a young man to go down the path of electronics manufacturing back in the 50’s? Gene shares his career experience and what sparked his interest in electronics
• 1975 marked the beginning of electronic manufacturing automation development outside the US
• Captive operations versus outsourcing — a lot of electronics companies chose cost reduction over maintaining their own manufacturing operations
• Gene gives his insight about moving some manufacturing facilities to Latin American countries  like Mexico and Columbia
• What does it take to bring manufacturing back to the US?
• Just building chips in America without building the rest of the supply chain here just lengthen the supply chain. Gene stresses that volume, demand, incentives, and continuous government programs are necessary to make anchoring a success
• Gene suggests that partnering is better than hiring. Partner with talents who share a mutual vision with the company, and share benefits together

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Gene Weiner on LinkedIn
• Visit Weiner International Associates' website
• Watch the related OnTrack episodes
  • A Lookback to the Evolution of the PCB Industry with Happy Holde
  • Achieving Diversified Electronics Supply Chain
  • Overcoming Technological Challenges in the PCB Industry

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Explore the fascinating evolution of signal integrity in PCB design with industry expert Donald Telian. In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, Donald delves into the differences between modern and old school signal integrity, sharing invaluable insights from his illustrious career. Learn about IBIS modeling, high-speed design, and the critical advancements that have shaped the industry.

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson speaks with Cory Blaylock, Director of Workforce Partnerships at IPC, in a profound discussion on the looming generational gap within the PCB design and electronics manufacturing spaces, as well as what those industries might be able to do about it. As one generation of seasoned experts nears the end of their careers, the urgency to cultivate a new wave of talent becomes ever more critical. This episode delves deep into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in bridging this divide.

Key Highlights:

• The Generational Shift: Explore the evolving landscape of PCB design and how the departure of experienced professionals is creating an urgent need for fresh talent.
• IPC's Role: Discover how IPC is spearheading initiatives to develop the workforce of tomorrow through innovative apprenticeship programs approved by the US Department of Labor.
• The Journey from Classroom to Industry: Cory shares his unique transition from education to a pivotal role in workforce development, shedding light on the path that lies ahead for aspiring PCB designers and manufacturers. - Future-Proofing the Industry: Learn about the measures being taken to ensure the sustainability and growth of the electronics manufacturing sector amidst these changes.

Further Resources:

• Follow Cory Blalock on LinkedIn
• IPC Apprenticeship Information:
• IPC Information for employers
• IPC News releases
• Check out this article about working with IPC compliant Footprint Models

Welcome to the Altium OnTrack Podcast! Today, we are joined by Ethan Pierce, founder of Dodec Labs. He and host Zach Peterson explore the intricacies of thermal management in PCB design. If you’ve ever faced issues with overheating PCBs or want to enhance your PCB thermal design skills, this episode is a must-watch!

Episode Highlights:

• Importance of early thermal problem identification
• Effective PCB THERMAL DESIGN and simulation techniques
• Real-world examples and lessons from PCB East
• Strategies for optimal heat dissipation and management
• THERMAL DESIGN OPTIMIZATION Insights from industry experts

Don't miss out on these valuable tips and tricks to ensure your PCB designs run cool and efficiently. 

In this captivating episode of the OnTrack Podcast, host Tech Consultant Zach Peterson chats about storytelling in electronics design with Benjamin Kitzinger, the visionary Producer and Director behind  @AltiumStories .

Zach and Ben explore the heartbeat of innovation by detailing stories of engineers and innovators who've shaped the electronics industry with their passion and perseverance. Discover how a hacker mindset led to groundbreaking technological advancements and hear firsthand accounts of how tech pioneers navigated challenges, celebrated triumphs, and fueled their creativity to make a tangible impact on the world through electronics design.

Don't forget to subscribe for more stories of innovation, interviews with industry leaders, and explorations into the technology that shapes our future.

Key Highlights

• Corporate Storytelling with Impact: Altium Stories redefines corporate storytelling by focusing less on product promotion and more on showcasing the real-world impact of engineering solutions.
• Exploring Unique Personalities: Highlighting individuals like Joe Grant, known for his hacker mindset, Altium Stories delves into the personal journeys and unique perspectives of engineers, creating captivating narratives.
• Educational and Inspirational Content: Through interviews and deep dives, the series aims to educate and inspire viewers, particularly engineers, by sharing the challenges, triumphs, and innovations within the field of electrical engineering.
• Humanitarian and Technological Impact: From groundbreaking technological advancements like optical computing to humanitarian projects like Project Vive, Altium Stories showcases the diverse ways engineering can positively impact lives.
• Authenticity and Evolution: Despite being a corporate initiative, Altium Stories maintains authenticity and evolves over time to continue providing valuable content, aiming to educate, inspire, and celebrate engineering accomplishments while staying true to its essence.

Further Resources

• Connect with Ben on LinkedIn
• Check Out Altium Stories on YouTube

Today we're chatting with Jeff De Serrano, President of the American Division of PCB Technologies. We had a fascinating conversation about the changing nature of the PCB Manufacturing industry, focusing on aerospace, automation, AI, education, and much more. This is a wonderful episode for anyone interested in manufacturing and where the industry might be headed.

Watch this episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Intro
• Intro to Jeff & PCB Technologies
• PCB Technology's Broad Reach in Aerospace
• Faster Packaging Times
• Packaging Advantages at PCB Technologies
• 2D, 2 ½D, or 3D?
• You Need the Know-How, Not Just People
• Broad Capability Won't Happen Overnight
• Semiconductor Companies Packaging?
• Workforce Challenges
• Automation Pipedream?
• Getting Students into Manufacturing
• Manufacturing is Totally Different Now
• AI Has a Long Way to Go
• Growth Areas in Electronics?

Links and Resources:

• Check the recent related OnTrack Podcast episodes:

  • PCB Manufacturing Reshoring, Automation, and Sustainability with Alun Morgan

  • Plug and Play Industrial Automation? It's Only a Matter of Time

• Learn more about Altium 365®, Where the world designs electronics

• See how Octopart help you search for electronic parts. It is the most accurate and comprehensive electronic part data search engine right at your fingertips

• Connect with Jeff De Serrano on LinkedIn

• Visit PCB Technologies website

We have a seasoned favorite guest in the podcast today. John Mitchell the President and CEO of IPC talks about his new book Firing Your Hiring Habits.

This is a very insightful conversation! We tackled acquisition, retaining and upskilling talents in your team. PCB designers, aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders in any company will surely benefit from this discussion. Make sure to watch through the end and check the additional resources below.

Watch this episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to John Mitchell and his new book, Fire Your Hiring Habits
• John Mitchell shares his inspiration about writing the book and revealed who he wrote it for
• The two fundamental problems in building a team are one, acquiring the right talents, and second retaining them
• The key to retention is helping employees aspire for a career and providing them with a pathway to reach a higher goal
• “Upskilling” is also a significant factor to retaining employees especially now that we have AI’s that manage automated processes
• How is the rise of remote jobs affecting the job industry?
• A lot of people are going “hybrid” appropriate for specific positions, and found it to be very effective. Working from home 75% of the time and face to face for the rest have increased productivity and employee retention
• Human connection like in a team building can strengthen the team and can result to much better working relationships
• Does the challenges in employee turnover related to age? John has a very eye opening answer to this
• The longest chapter in John’s book talks about “company’s culture”. He explains in detail what makes a company’s culture and how sticking to principles can have a great impact to a company
• “There are always going to be limitations, but within the right limitations, there are freedoms you can afford by eliminating some things that it's just a matter of constantly asking yourself the question, "Why are we doing it this way? Why did this come about and does it still apply today?" If it does, great, we're going to keep doing it. That's an aspect we need to keep.” - John Mitchell
• Leadership loves people that brings answers John encourages everyone to learn from every experience, good and bad
• Talents leave, but they’ll come back to a company that matches their culture
• To sum it all up, John stresses the importance of knowing exactly the talents you need, and when you find them create an environment that works for them. Lastly, invest on them through trainings and give them room and path to grow
• “Fire your Hiring Habits” is available at Barnes & Noble. All proceeds goes to IPC Education Foundation

Links and Resources:

• Watch Previous Podcast Episode with John Mitchell
  • IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act
  • IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Electronics Supply Chain
  • John Mitchell, CEO of IPC, Visits The White House to Participate in the Pledge to America’s Workers
• Read Related Articles:
  • How to Hire the Right PCB Designer for Your Project in 2023
  • Costs of Hiring Your First Electronic Engineer
  • Guide To Attracting Engineering Talent To Your Hardware Startup
• Connect with John Mitchell via LinkedIn
• Get the book Fire Your Hiring Habits by John Mitchell

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Lukas Henkel from Open Visions Technology to explore two groundbreaking open source projects: an open source laptop and an alternative to the Raspberry Pi CM4 module. 

Discover the latest advancements in OPEN SOURCE hardware and learn how these innovative projects are pushing the boundaries of DIY computing.

Episode Highlights:

• Webcam Design: challenges and innovations in designing an open-source webcam for laptops.
• Laptop Design Challenges: key obstacles faced during the development of an open-source laptop.
• Lessons Learned from Laptop Project: insights and takeaways from working on the open-source laptop project.
• Advice for Taking On This Kind of Project: recommendations and guidance for individuals looking to start similar projects.
• Open Source Raspberry Pi Overview and Demo: overview and demonstration of using Raspberry Pi in open-source projects.

More Resources:

• Check out our previous podcast episode with Lukas Henkel
• Open Source Laptop Project 
• Pi.MX8 Project
• Follow Lukas on LinkedIn
• Follow Open Visions on LinkedIn

• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, join host Zach Peterson as he sits down with Lorenzo Conti, Founder and Managing Director of Crover. Discover how Crover is making waves in agriculture with their pioneering locomotion technology in granular materials. 

From swimming through bulk solids to monitoring grain storage conditions, Lorenzo sheds light on how Crover's robot is transforming the grain storage market. Learn about the social and environmental impact, reducing losses, preventing infestations, and improving the overall efficiency of the grain supply chain. If you're interested in the intersection of robotics, hardware, and agritech, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to explore the future of sustainable agriculture and the exciting innovations happening at Crover. 

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:59 What Crover Does
• 2:33 Background in Farming?
• 3:48 Why Pursue Robotics in This Area?
• 6:11 Bad Storage and Losses
• 7:50 Other Markets and Food Products
• 8:58 Huge Potential
• 9:26 Larger Items?
• 11:15 How Do Farmers Receive Data?
• 13:21 What the Data Attempts to Predict
• 15:04 How Farmers Use the Data
• 16:37 How Technical Do the Users Want the Data?
• 18:27 Smaller Farmers?
• 19:38 Farmers in Developing Countries?
• 21:36 Working with Government or Nonprofits?
• 22:39 Overall User and Investor Response?
• 24:23 Scaling Challenges
• 27:14 Investor Relations
• 30:09 Cost of Deploying in Developing Countries
• 32:48 Where Does Crover Go Next?
• 35:03 Outro

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Tech Consultant Zach Peterson explores the fascinating world of Edge AI and how Large Language Models (LLMs) fit into the picture with Jan Jongboom, co-founder of Edge Impulse. The two discuss the evolution from GPT-2 to GPT-4, the importance of edge computing, and the hardware requirements for running AI on edge devices. Discover how reducing the size of LLMs enables efficient deployment on edge devices, gain insights into the practical applications of AI in various industries, and learn about EDGE IMPULSE.

More resources:

• Getting started w/ Edge Impulse on Renesas platforms
• Connect with Jan on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Edge Impulse
• Check out a recent video from Edge Impulse: Using GPT-4o to train a 2,000,000x smaller model (that runs directly on device)
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Happy Holden, a legend in the PCB Industry and one of our favorite Altium Industry Expert contributors gives us a trip to his 53 years of experience in the industry. From a chemical engineer, and PCB manufacturing expert to an educator with his countless contribution to the PCB industry’s wealth of knowledge through his books, column, and keynote presentations.

Watch this episode now

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Happy Holden and an overview of his career in the PCB Industry
• What drove the PCB manufacturing off-shore? The printed circuit industry has been all over the map, to begin with
• Happy shares his early years in printed circuit manufacturing
• Comparing CAD tools from the 80s and the present – computers, calculators, and software
• Happy talks about photonic circuits back in 1998 and how it is a hundred thousand times more capable than electronic communication and have no signal integrity issue
• HP’s first notebook computer
• Happy retired from HP and moved to Taiwan
• Happy started working at Gentex Michigan
• The beginning of offshoring the PCB manufacturing and fabrication
• In Asia, the printing circuit board is like printing money. It is the most profitable industry in the region
• Globalization took over the industry – emphasis on profit versus jobs
• Diversifying the supply chain. How to bring some of the manufacturing sides of the industry back to the US?
  • The $52 Billion budget (CHIPS Act 2022) is just a downpayment to bring the 30 years that were lost
• Would companies start manufacturing their own products?
• How did HDI technology come about?

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Happy Holden on LinkedIn
• Read Happy Holden’s Articles on Altium’s Resource Page
• Read Happy Holden’s Biography on HPMuseum.org
• Buy Happy Holden’s Printed Circuits Handbook, Seventh Edition
• Download FREE Ebook I-Connect007 Publishes Automation eBook by Happy Holden
• Watch the Previous Episode with Happy Holden: The Father of HDI PCBs

Today we are joined by Paul Durand-Estèbe, Lead Electronic Developer at Metyos. He and Zach have a fascinating conversation about how Metyos is contributing to the future of wearable medical devices. They focus on Metyos's groundbreaking wearable glucose monitoring tech, the medical field's emergent wearables trend, and much more.

0:00 Intro

1:33 Intro to Paul and Metyos

2:56 A Lesser Invasive Glucose Monitoring Device

5:08 Better Monitoring Faster

8:14 Bad Glucose Monitoring Leads to Disastrous Results

10:52 Potential Chronic Health Monitoring Systems

13:33 Why Start with Kidney Disease?

16:36 From Monitoring to Administering Medication?

18:01 Scaling Challenges (Cutout a minute before this)

22:36 Proving the Effectiveness of the Device

26:54 What Does the Manufacturing Look Like?

31:37 Initial Response to Metyos

35:56 Doctors Receiving Real-time Data

On this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, Tech Consultant Zach Peterson welcomes Anton Tishchenko, aka Dr. EMC on YouTube. The two explore the intricacies of EMC design, certification, and compliance.

They chat about various aspects of EMC testing, common mistakes in PCB design, AI-integration, and how modules and antennas play a huge role in EMC compliance. Anton also shares his journey into EMC, how to approach design testing effectively, and insights into his fascinating PhD research.

Key Highlights:

• Strategies for effective EMC compliance

• Common mistakes in PCB design and how to avoid them

• The role of AI in PCB design checks

• EMC testing has a 50% failure rate on first attempts.

• Comprehensive design strategies can prevent costly EMC failures.

• Modules and antenna setups can greatly impact EMC compliance.

More Resources:

• Learn More about  Anton's PCB Tool
• Connect with Anton on LinkedIn
• Check Out the Dr. EMC YouTube Channel
• Anton's university page
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

In this OnTrack episode, Zach and Phil of Phil’s Lab Youtube channel exchange ideas on how they can stay on top of their PCB design game or learn new things. Phil Salmony, a successful youtube creator with 64.6K subscribers, shares with us how he was introduced to PCB design, his early career, and what got him to start his own Youtube channel. This is a fun episode. Watch it through the end and check out the additional resources below.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Whiteboard – an essential piece for PCB design-related content
• PCB design education from the university, theories, and ideologies versus PCB design for the real world
• Phil shares that DSPs (Digital signal processors) are the coolest thing, and he has a dedicated section of them on his channel
• Zach and Phil exchange opinions about their consultation and PCB design jobs
• How do you go about learning new things? Zach and Phil have their share of different ways to acquire information to help them better their skills
  • Learn through well-documented samples or PCB design projects  and reverse engineer
  • Seminars with  experts and attending conferences
  • Taking online courses like the IPC - CID (Certified Interconnect Designers) and PCEA CPCD course
  • Youtube videos and keynote presentations, e,g, How to Achieve Proper Grounding By Rick Hartley
• One of the most asked questions in PCB design is about grounding. Phil and Zach suggested a couple of books supplement for PCB design
  • Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering by Henry Ott
  • Grounds for Grounding: A Circuit to System Handbook by Kai-Sang Lock
• Phil talks about how he got started with PCB design
• Designs and chip shortages and supply forecast, what to expect in the next few years?
• The value of connecting with your (youtube channel) audience for content ideas
• Altium Academy and Phil’s Lab history on Youtube and future projects

Links and Resources:

Subscribe to Phil’s Lab YT Channel

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn

Visit Phil’s Lab Website

How to Achieve Proper Grounding By Rick Hartley

Watch Podcast Episodes with Rick Hartley

• Rick Hartley on EMI, Noise Reduction
• Secrets of PCB Optimization with Rick Hartley

Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering by Henry Ott

Grounds for Grounding: A Circuit to System Handbook by Kai-Sang Lock

Full OnTrack Podcast Library

Altium Website

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, we explore the innovative BOM Portal in Altium 365, a cutting-edge tool transforming PCB design and electronic development. Tech Consultant Zach Peterson sits down with Ananth Avva, General Manager at Altium's Cloud Platform, and Damir Khayrutdinov, Product Manager at Altium, to discuss the tool. 

Altium's BOM Portal, compared to ActiveBOM, offers a seamless and efficient approach to managing bill of materials (BOM) throughout the product lifecycle. We dive deep into the capabilities and features of the BOM Portal, including its integration with various CAD tools and its role in streamlining design-to-realization processes. Learn from our guests about the trends and challenges in electronics development and how Altium Designer 24's BOM Portal addresses these issues. 

• Discussion on trends in electronics development
• Reasons for building the BOM Portal on Altium 365
• Challenges in BOM management and how the BOM Portal addresses them
• Insights into the relationship between ActiveBOM and the BOM Portal, how it works, customer response, future developments, multi-board systems, and the future vision for Altium 365

• Follow Ananth Avva and Damir Khayrutdinov on LinkedIn

• Learn More about BOM Portal Here

• How to 'Shift Left' and Connect Procurement and Engineering? Altium 365 BOM Portal Step-by-Step

• BOM Portal Webinar

Zach:  Some of the features that you just mentioned sounds a bit like ActiveBOM in Altium Designer and I think the more experienced Altium Designer users out there will notice this. So, how exactly does this new tool compare with ActiveBOM? Does it replace it or does it complement it?

Damir Khayrutdinov: Yeah, it's a good question. ActiveBOM is a BOM tool what was designed to help engineering team release design BOMs with all needed information and capabilities such as adding alternates, line numbers, custom lines, et cetera. And seems it works well based on level of adoption and user feedback. However, it's embedded into the design tool, Altium Designer.

Zach: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Altium OnTrack podcast. I'm your host, Zach Peterson. Today, we're talking with Ananth Avva, General Manager of Altium's cloud business and Damir Khayrutdinov, Product Manager at Altium. We're gonna be discussing one of the new features in Altium Designer 24 and that feature is the BOM Portal. I got to see a short demo of it before this episode and so I'm very excited about this new feature and I hope all of you will be as well. Damir and Ananth, thank you so much for joining me today.

Ananth Avva: Yeah, likewise. Great to be here, Zach.

Zach: So, what are some of the trends and problems that you're seeing in the electronics development space, Ananth?

Ananth Avva: Yeah. So, I think the common root cause is the velocity of the actual development process continues to accelerate and the proliferation of electronics as everyone probably listening to the podcast, they're no stranger to that. But I think that's the root cause but the symptoms show up and I would say in three different areas. The first one is, sort of, mapping requirements and intent to the actual design. So, when you start going from functional to physical to actually the layout, are you actually bringing those requirements all the way through, right? The second one, while in the post Covid era, we've seen supply chain, et cetera, settle down. Supply chain, and also just compliance for components 'cause that's still about 40% to 70% of what you're building is a big area of focus especially as we're getting into whether it be geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea, all the way to trying to understand your actual full traceability of where the components coming from down to the fabrication plant. So, that's a very big area of focus, especially for our aero military customers. The third area, I would say, is getting into some of these emerging themes like sustainability and getting down to what is the footprint of what I'm making and 80% of, sort of, the sustainability aspects is done in design. And so, bringing some of those thoughts, especially when you're thinking about your BOM and you're thinking about, sort of, orchestrating your entire supply chain, that's come up and starting to come up, especially with DPP requirements coming in Europe. And lastly, it's the collaboration with manufacturing. So, we deal a lot for obvious reasons with designers and that handoff process and making sure that the manufacturers and the components that they're selecting versus what was in design and then people are moving lockstep. That continues to be a big focus. But all of these four areas are sort of the symptoms but the root cause is, again, just the velocity with which development's happening.

Zach: Well, given the velocity that you've mentioned, it sounds like that was part of the motivation behind building a lot of these new features in Altium Designer 24. So, what was the motivation behind building the BOM Portal on Altium 365?

Ananth Avva: Yeah, I think with Altium Designer, I mean that's obviously where we have our design audience, but we wanted to build a front end where other folks can come in and start collaborating and very specifically, your component, sort of, manufacturing personnels or even the masses where they're able to actually get that visibility. I think of, sort of, that BOM as the first, sort of, physical manifestation where the design is actually born, right? You're in the design to realization space, that's the first front end that everyone can actually look at and collaborate on. And so, the motivation for doing this in the cloud and basically having this sort of abstraction layer out of AD because one of the key things is, the BOM Portal, while, you know, it's highly functional and highly integrated into Altium Designer, it's mixed CAD. So, we'll actually work with all the CAD tools. And so, we really wanted to make sure that we have that one front end where it's not just for designers but it's also for all of the other satellite professionals that they touch and they're able to come in and collaborate to ensure all the issues that we just talked about in the electronic development process. We have a way to mitigate those risks and have those participants come in and basically get that view and also basically get the ability to edit and collaborate on the design itself.

Zach: So, since we're here to learn a bit more about the BOM Portal tool, Damir, maybe you can tell us what are some of the BOM management challenges that you've seen across the industry that inspired your team and the development of this new tool?

Damir Khayrutdinov: In addition to the standard challenges and BOM and supply chain management for electronics such as chip shortage and second sourcing, we noticed that the processes and tools used for that are mostly from 90s. Most still use Excel files and emails for that. So, to get the PCB BOM ready for ordering, the procurement team works with exported Excel BOMs. This process typically involves four, five emails with collaboration about three or four contributors who are responsible to make decision. Yeah. So, this takes time to interact and because of the friction happens later in the process, cost of the work, time and money wise, is more expensive. Of course, there are companies who well adopted with POM MRP and the ERP systems, but even the company implemented such systems, the level of its adoption is different. So, we track the cases when engineering use POM PDM, but procurement still works with Excel, shared drives, et cetera. Another common problem is fragmented approach to accessing and analyzing technical specifications, compliance information and supply chain data. Typically, procurement expert quality engineers and compliance specialists have to navigate through multiple platforms to gather necessary details about parts. The result in scattered data, yeah, manage it across different systems, often leading to limited access to all of these team members. And we can talk also about product teams and OEM specifically. For such teams, the BOM management is not finished once the BOM is released. You should be aware of the manufacturability of your released PCB BOM during the end customer warranty period or product production cycle, which might be not just a few weeks or years. So, for such teams, BOM management is an interactive process that is time consuming and error prone due to constantly changing supply chain. For such teams, the manufacturability is a function of a time. So, the release BOMs needs to be constantly monitored. And in order to manage that, most of the teams still use manual processes for that which is not so effective. So, I would highlight these three common challenges which are at across the industry.

Zach:Yeah, you mentioned Excel files and emails. I will admit I'm guilty of that one, but I think it's because of the lack of anything better and everybody else does it. So, you're kind of shoehorned into doing this because there just hasn't been anything better really. So, given all of those issues that you brought up, how does BOM Portal help solve some of those challenges?

Damir Khayrutdinov: Yeah. In short, the BOM Portal helps to take advantage of rich parts and supply chain information to scrap BOM and identify risks from multiple angels. It might be availability, it might be cost, it might be compliance, second sourcing, et cetera. Next is the collaboration aspect, which is, I would say, one of the core features of the A 365 platform. So, with the BOM Portal, you can get the advantage of constant platform for engineering and procurement team in one, so no exported files without context anymore and you have a common collaboration process in one. And third, I would say that we didn't really use it, but it's a parts watchdog feature which is currently in the closed beta, but it helps to deduce supply chain risk and ensures continuous production by proactively tracking and providing warnings for supply chain issues, prompting timely action to avoid any disruptions. Of course, we still offer parts traceability or we call it very usage which simplifies the identification and assessment for potential absolute issues. So, these three things.

Zach: You know, some of the features that you just mentioned sound a bit like ActiveBOM in Altium Designer and I think the more experienced Altium Designer users out there will notice this. So, how exactly does this new tool compare with ActiveBOM? Does it replace it or does it compliment it?

Ananth Avva: Yeah, it's a good question. ActiveBOM is a BOM tool what was designed to help engineering team release design BOMs with all needed information and capabilities such as adding alternates, line numbers, custom lines, et cetera. And seems it works well based on level of adoption and user feedback. However, it's embedded into the design tool, Altium Designer. And ActiveBOM has a strong dependency on the design data. So, in order to use it for procurement, you need to share design, all design and provide access to the design tool. Next is that it helps on the design stage but not beyond it. For example, you can create the ordering from multiple PCBs which need to be assembled. It's also not effective to use in a production stage. For example, in order to add additional alternates suggested by your contract manufacturer, you need to release the wall design in ActiveBOM. The BOM Portal is designed to support BOM management in all electronic product lifecycle stage. So, in addition to the generic BOM tool capabilities for scrapping, it includes capabilities need to control obsolescent for the released boards, compliance management and part search capabilities, especially for alternate search. So, it's definitely not just a BOM tool, not just a BOM editor as ActiveBOM is.

Zach:So, if we could, let's dig into how the BOM Portal works. Can you make this a bit more tangible for our listeners.

Damir Khayrutdinov: As I mentioned, the BOM Portal provides benefits for the different roles and support BOM management in all lifecycle stage. We can start from the early design stage where BOM Portal can speed up the process of prototype BOM scrubbing and preparing it for purchasing. I can share my screen and just share how it works.

Zach: So, we're looking at Altium 365 right now and I see a bunch of projects you have on screen.

Damir Khayrutdinov: So, I have this proto design. It has just version 1.1. If I open it, it'll open it in a separate tab. I believe you still see it. And here is a viewer, online viewer, which is available in A 365. There is schematic viewer, PCB viewer and of course, bill of material. And as you can see, engineering was focused only on critical parts. So, there is no any part numbers specified for generics such as capacitors or resistors, et cetera. And in order to prepare it for purchasing, we have the capability to create a managed BOM from the design and scrap it without touching of engineering data, which might be critical for some cases. Yeah. So, once I click to create a managed BOM from design, procurement is able to select what ORM should be used. We also support it. And once the bill of material will be created, it'll be stored at the same folder as original design. So, it takes a minute. Yeah. So, we can refresh the page and here is my BOM which I just created. If I click on the original design, you will see that now I have a child BOMs and link to this procurement BOM created from the design. So, let's open this bill of material. And what we see? We see exactly the same bill of material what was created by engineering, but for the part numbers which are not specified, we see this lamp icon which means that exact map is not defined and it's true. We don't have exact part number for this BOM line, but BOM Portal try to analyze all information about this BOM line, about this component, and it has some suggestions. So, if I click on this lamp, you see that BOM Portal suggested multiple parts which has parameters specified in BOM line and they are colored with green. In order to see all parameters, we can switch to the advanced parametric search and we see what data is actually was analyzed and used in order to help engineering work with procurement actually find parts. So, you will see that BOM Portal analyzed designator and description and track that this is capacitor. The capacitance is 100 nanofarad. We detected voltage rating, we tracked the case package and we have suggestions. As a procurement, I will pick up just a component which is in stock with minimum order quantity which is also shared here and in stock. Yeah. I would pick up this one. No, it's not a good because we have not recommended for new design. I will pick up this one and click Use. In this manner I can scrap all my BOM and also, I can even improve it. You see that there is one part which was specified by engineering has obsolete lifecycle state. Maybe it's good for the prototyping because this part is in stock et cetera. But as procurement I will try to find alternate and just notify engineering that there is another component available in the market. And how I will do this and how BOM Portal help me is that we have try alternate search mode which provide alternates specifically found for this original part number and we have confidence core which means that from this information, you can understand how this part is compatible with the original one. So, this is how BOM Portal can speed up the process on BOM scrubbing for proto BOMs. And other case, what I would like to share with you is prepare BOM for production run. For this, I have this bill of material which is available in my- Yeah, I just exported it to Excel file. It has just a few columns, designator, quantity, manufacturer and MPN and some of the BOM lines have alternates defined. So, let's upload this Excel file into the BOM Portal and see how it will work with it. So, one second. Demo version 5. Yeah. Once this BOM file will be uploaded into the BOM Portal, it'll be automatically under the version and revision control as any other managed design, which is also a benefit for data management things. So, I have these BOM file uploaded. I open it in BOM Portal. BOM Portal ask me if there are alternates is defined? I will say yes because we don't know what exact means these lines which means designators. And here is it. So, we enrich. What BOM Portal did? It enriched the data which was available in the original BOM file. You see, the same four columns. But additionally, you can see all data provided by our data provider. So, in my case, I use pro-level subscription with SiliconExpert integration and I can use both of them in my BOM scrubbing. So, you can see that I have two lifecycle columns, one is getting from IHS Markit, another one from SiliconExpert. And for some cases, it's quite useful. For example, for this part, IHS Markit doesn't know about any- There is no any information about lifecycle, but SiliconExpert has it. Another example is with one of the challenges on scribing BOM for production run is adding alternates, is adding alternates to non stop production run on your contract manufacturer. And the BOM Portal has this capability to add alternates from different sources. For example, for this case, we will use alternates defined in my library, which means that it's company approved alternates. So, they were previously tested and approved to be used in my company. So, I will just click on add additional, add alternate online and we'll see all alternates, a little bit for this BOM line for this component. I see alternates from my library and I also see additional alternates which is coming from data providers. So, I will use this one. Next is, that usually, production run is not going for one or multiple BOMs. Yeah, you can have a production run with a thousand of boards and we can check is there any issues related to the production run to the number of production quantity. Yeah. Let's put 10,000 and check what we'll have. In issue step, I see that we have supply chain issues that some of the BOM lines have insufficient stock which might be also a problem for my production run. And how can I fix that? I have favorite suppliers and I see estimated BOM coverage coverage. So, I will just use additional suppliers here and we'll see that some of the problems have gone after that. So, right now, I see that out of stock only one part or insufficient stock only two. So, in this manner, we can scrap and prepare BOM for production run, and once it'll be ready, we can release it. And next, we can do comparison with original BOM files. So, these capabilities, it's not allowed in just in ActiveBOM tool. Yeah. And the last one what I would like to mention is how the BOM Portal can help for obsoleteness teams or quality teams. So, as I mentioned previously, we have this used parts report or parts watchdog, which is currently on beta. But what it can do? So, it grab all parts used in all my PCB BOMs and share risk information in one simple page. So, for example, I can be focused only for the critical parts and... One second. Yeah. I have this filter by component type. So, right now, I see all used parts in my workspace. I can filter out them by, for example, ICs and easily see what the status is for IC components in my workspace, in my products. One I see has discounted lifecycle states, and here, I also see in what projects, so I easily can identify what projects affected by this issue. So, this is how BOM Portal can help and speed up process on BOM scrubbing and help to mitigate supply chain risks.

Zach: So, you mentioned earlier one of the very interesting features is grading of alternates or replacements. And I have to be honest, that is something where I have spent a lot of time trying to find either an alternate source through a broker when something is out of stock or just a totally replacement part. And it's really hard to find something that will work sometimes that won't force you to go back in and change the PCB layout before you start producing something. So, I have to ask, are the replacements being graded based on pin compatibility or are there other dimensions that are being used to grade the replacements?

Damir Khayrutdinov: So, we utilize the supply chain data and parts data provided by allowed data providers. So, here we currently have Octopart, IHS Markit, SiliconExpert and soon, also Z2Data will be also supported. So, the confidence score provided by Octopart and IHS is just a basic rating from one to zero on how well a component will work as an alternate. SiliconExpert, however, provides a detailed grading system that evaluates component based it on various parameters. For example, rating A means that it's a pin to pin compatible replacement with exact electrical features. So, my answer is that depends on the data providers supported in your workspace, you will be able to use data providers, you will be use data provided by data providers uploaded to your workspace and alternates is also shared by these data providers. So, we have confidence score from our partners. So, it's not a data which was calculated on the file for example.

Zach: So, I have to ask what are customers saying about the BOM Portal?

Damir Khayrutdinov: One of the comments we have gotten from some customer is that BOM Portal allows them to replace their homegrown systems that needs custom development and maintenance. This shows us that we are really on the right track. Our customers already invested a lot to have their common custom solutions done. Still, this is not their core competency. Here, we are coming with as an electronic focused company with long history of successful software development. Another comment is that they want more meaning that we covered single BOM use case pretty extensively and now people wants to get multi-BOM use cases. We're working on the actively sought part reports I just shared with you and now we started project called Consolidated BOM which will allow users to optimize procurement for a given product, not just a single PCB board. Also, we would like to stress that we are really counting on customers feedback. We are proud to develop solutions to get positive feedback from our customers. It's not to say that we are fully bottom up as we do have a vision where we want to take the product, but we are bottom up enough to give our users flexibility they need. So, please to try BOM Portal and provide feedback so we can take this to the next level.

Zach: So, regarding your vision for this tool, what are some of the future developments that are planned for it?

Damir Khayrutdinov: The top end request is ability to work on a level of multiple BOMs versus a single board BOM. I already mentioned that we started project called Consolidated BOM. Another area is integration with ERP and POM, which is requested mostly by enterprise guys. And pretty constantly, we are getting requests about BOM review workflow. This is another example where our customers start developing their own solutions as there is nothing flexible enough on the market available.

Zach: Just to clarify something, you said multiple BOMs. Would that be for, like, a multi-board system?

Damir Khayrutdinov: Yeah. But I would just highlight that there is a case called consolidated BOM for ordering, when procurement expert needs to order parts for multiple BOMs which might be not used in one product. Yeah. You have separate PCBs just needs to be assembled. But another case is multi-board BOM, which is a part of the product. And this is a kind of next thread and it also in our roadmap, but it'll be implemented with a multilevel and multi-PCB BOM approach.

Zach: So, I have another question here for Ananth. We've spent a lot of time talking about and learning about the BOM Portal, but, of course, it is part of Altium 365. So, if you could, could you talk about the future vision for Altium 365 more broadly?

Ananth Avva: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think in the opening of the podcast, we talked about some of the areas of challenge and I think the goal for Altium 365 is to basically bridge the idea to realization processes, right? As evidenced by the BOM Portal, one of the first areas that we're focused on is bringing data and the right data in context. So, bringing the requirements in, so capturing the intent is going to come up here pretty quickly where we're going to have requirements tool that's specifically built for electronics. Those requirements then will automatically not just map into design but also start going into supply chain decisions. So, one of the questions that you had asked, Zach, on, well, is it going to a pin level? If that's a key requirement, we can actually make that as a trigger or a rule in the BOM Portal. And then, the next step is, obviously, then going into EMSS and tightening, sort of, our collaboration layers with EMSS where they can come in and engage. So, I think the first step that we're doing is building the right front end to have the common data layer that traverses, sort of, the decisions that are being made from start to the finish. The second is building a system of engagement on top of that system of record. So, what do I mean by that? All of these co-pilot/suggestion style interfaces that you're seeing with BOM Portal where we're reducing the cognitive load on whether you're a procurement professional or whether you're an engineer and actually ensuring that cognitive load is symmetrical, like, meaning just because I'm going to make a change or an engineer makes a change in the design, having the ability to either put cost constraints on them or vice versa, right, because you had to do something at the PCB level and the procurement team needs to know that now, the overall cost of the particular board has changed. Bringing those types of decision support tools and making this a system of engagement where people are actively collaborating to an outcome as opposed to just, sort of, for the sake of collaboration where you're getting visibility. That's something that we're working on and we're already seeing where for every, sort of, PCB designer that we have or for every two to three PCB designers. We have one non PCB designer coming into 365 and engaging. And this is everywhere from software engineers to mechanical engineers, to component folks, to procurement folks, to manufacturing engineers. So, bringing all those roles and bringing the right context in which they can engage, that's the second piece. And then the last piece is we have the system of record and you have the system of engagement. That's where context based AI applications become incredibly powerful, right? So, obviously, some of the things that we're looking at is, can you look at the data sheet and can you mine, sort of, the parametric information. The data sheet in terms of the quality assurance that Damir said where, yeah, there's third party tools like SiliconExpert that are doing it, but what about the right type of winning combinations, right? So, if you're going into a system level modular design, maybe, as you're building out the BOM and now that we understand the layout map, that we understand the functional requirements, we're now able to actually give you a suggestion on here's the right winning combinations, "that give you the best performance at the best cost" from a particular component manufacturer. So, a lot of what we're doing right now is, sort of, foundational to start building that system of engagement where folks are coming in and servicing the right front ends and reducing the cognitive load. And once we understand the behaviors and once we understand what's happening, we'll obviously bring more "AI based applications" that will continue to accelerate that.

Zach: So, this all sounds very exciting and I'm excited to see it all develop. Damir, how can anyone who is interested in all of this learn more about the BOM Portal and try it for themselves?

Ananth Avva: Yeah. The best way is try it yourself. Everyone is invited to a free evaluation by going to our BOM Portal webpage and the free three hour is on top of this page. You just put your email and get evaluation. We also have a BOM Portal webinar on January 24th in Europe and on January 25th in the United States where we will talk in greater detail about BOM Portal and give you a demonstration of the use cases we discussed today. So, welcome to our webinar.

Zach: Yeah. And anyone who's interested, make sure to take a look at the show notes and you'll see some links where you can learn more about the BOM Portal and access some great resources. Thank you both so much for being here today and discussing this. In my opinion, this is a really exciting feature and I think it's gonna be a great productivity booster for engineering teams. To everyone that's out there listening, we've been talking with Damir Khayrutdinov, Product Manager at Altium, and Ananth Avva, General Manager of Altium's cloud business. Make sure to check out the show notes. You'll find some links to some great resources where you can learn more about the BOM Portal. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to hit the subscribe button and hit the like button. You'll be able to keep up with all of our podcast episodes and tutorials as they come out. And last but not least, don't stop learning, stay on track, and we'll see you next time. Thanks, everybody.

We're joined today by the Technology Ambassador at Ventec and President of the European Institute for the PCB Community (EIPC), Alun Morgan. He and host Zach Peterson have a broad, thoughtful conversation centered on PCB manufacturing.

They chat about emerging manufacturing markets, potential for supplier buyouts, reshoring, automation, and much more. This is a fascinating conversation for anyone looking to get a current view on the international manufacturing market, as well as valuable insights into where it might be headed.

Show Highlights:

0:00 Intro

0:40 Current Manufacturing Trends in Europe

9:20 Growth in Packaging

14:49 Producing at Scale

21:31 Up and Coming International Manufacturing Markets

23:52 Big Manufacturers Getting Bigger?

29:21 Return to Buying Out Suppliers?

31:36 Variable Costs, PCB Manufacturing, & Reshoring

34:30 Pricing Pressures & Automation

40:39 Automation: Prices, Reliability, & Sustainability

45:04 Wrap-Up

Links and Resources:

• Watch more of Alun Morgan:
  • Materials Science 101 with EIPC Chairman Alun Morgan
  • Alun Morgan on the History of FR-4
  • Alun Morgan On PCB Base Materials
  • Alun Morgan On Glass Fibre Production
• Connect with Alun Morgan on LinkedIn
• Visit Octopart.com, The electronic part search engine

‌

We are very fortunate to have Dr. Eyal Weiss for today’s episode. He is the CTO and founder of Cybord, an AI tool for detecting counterfeit hardware and electrical components.

This is a very exciting conversation. We will talk about a better, practical applications of AI in the electronics industry, outside of design.

Watch through the end and make sure to check all the additional links and resources below.

Watch the episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Dr. Eyal Weiss, CTO and founder of Cybord an AI tool for detecting counterfeit hardware and components
• Dr. Eyal Weiss's company is using AI-based component inspection services to detect counterfeits and ensure component quality.
• The system utilizes images of individual components taken during the placement process, leveraging big data and deep learning technology.
• The software integrates seamlessly with existing pick-and-place machines' internal vision systems, making it a plug-and-play solution.
• AI plays a crucial role in understanding and processing the vast diversity of component types, enabling accurate identification and fingerprinting of individual components.
• Most component failures are due to component-level issues, not board-level failures, making it crucial to focus on component quality.
• The traditional industry approach treats components as bulks, similar to handling grains, without addressing them individually.
• AI and big data technology now enable the ability to address components as individuals, allowing for better traceability and targeted recalls.
• Dr. Eyal Weiss's company uses AI and image analysis to examine individual components, providing detailed information about quality, authenticity, and potential defects.
• By analyzing individual components using AI-based inspection, manufacturers can conduct more targeted and efficient recalls based on specific fingerprint information.
• AI-driven analysis can also identify mismatches in traceability information, preventing wrong recalls and improving recall precision by targeting smaller groups of components.
• The AI system uses image recognition and natural language processing to interpret component markings and extract relevant data for traceability.
• The individual component level traceability is recommended in the latest IPC standard (IPC-1782B) and can provide the highest level of traceability with minimal additional cost.
• The AI system's feedback allows OEMs and CMs to improve their processes and make informed decisions on recalls, ensuring a win-win situation for both parties.
• Dr. Weiss wishes everyone success and a lifetime of no recalls ;)

Links and Resources:

• Read related articles:

  • The Path Forward for Embedded AI

  • Bringing AI to Market the Easy Way

• Connect with Dr. Eyal Weiss on LinkedIn

• Visit Cybord website

• Learn more about the IPC-1782

• Visit Octopart.com, the Electronic Parts Search Engine

Explore the intersection of technology and sustainability with Tom Raftery, an independent consultant and host of the Climate Confident and Sustainable Supply Chain podcasts, on this episode of the OnTrack Podcast with Zach Peterson. 

Dive deep into the evolving world of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), exploring how advancements in IoT, AI, and sustainable practices are reshaping supply chains and business strategies. Join Tom and Zach as they explore the critical role of transparency, auditability, and regulation in driving forward sustainable innovation and corporate responsibility. 

Key Highlights

• Tom Raftery's Introduction: Gain insights into Tom Raftery's expertise and perspective on sustainability.
• Corporate Concern: Explore the question of whether companies are genuinely demonstrating concern for sustainability.
• Procurement & Sourcing: Delve into the critical role of procurement and sourcing in sustainability efforts.
• Transparency Importance: Understand the significance of transparency in sustainable practices and corporate operations.
• Driving Forces of Sustainability: Explore the real motivations behind sustainability initiatives and their impact on businesses.

Resources

• Listen to the Climate Confident Podcast

• Learn More about Sustainable Supply Chain

•  Tom Raftery’s website

In this information-packed episode of the OnTrack Podcast, Tech Consultant Zach Peterson explores PCB simulation with Yuriy Shlepnev, the President and Founder of Simberian Inc. This detailed discussion focuses on how modern simulation tools are revolutionizing the industry and includes an exclusive Simbeor® demo that you won't want to miss.

To begin, Yuriy shares his extensive knowledge of electromagnetic analysis and signal integrity, exploring how these critical factors influence PCB design in today's high-speed electronics. The episode then covers various aspects of PCB simulation, including the challenges designers face and the innovative solutions provided by the latest software developments - all before diving into the demo.

Key Highlights:

• The importance of accurate electromagnetic simulations in achieving optimal PCB design. Insights into Simberian's approach to simplifying complex simulations for designers of all skill levels.

• Techniques to enhance signal integrity and reduce design iterations.

• Future trends in PCB technology and how to stay ahead in the industry.

• Yuriy's Simbeor® demo, showing practical applications and tips for both novice and experienced engineers.

Further Resources:

• Connect with Yuriy on LinkedIn
• Learn More about Simberian
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Welcome to the OnTrack Podcast! In this episode, we dive deep into the vibrant electronics culture with special guests Inga Woods-Waight and Joel Higgins from the Circuit Pulse Show. Discover how they are making ELECTRONICS CULTURE and tech fun and accessible, engaging younger audiences, and revolutionizing educational content in the electronics industry. If you're passionate about electronics design and want to stay updated on industry trends, this episode is a must-watch!

Key Takeaways:

• PCB design insights and tips

• Engaging content for the electronics community

• The rise of educational electronics videos

• Inga and Joel's journey and success stories

More Resources:

• Follow Inga Woods-Waight on LinkedIn
• Octopart's YouTube Channel
• Check Out Full Episodes of the Circuit Pulse Show
• Interested in the topic of electronics culture? Check out this past episode of OnTrack on the topic of microelectronics. 
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Electronic parts shortages coupled with inflation has been affecting the electronic industry globally. Chris Cain our guest for today’s episode is a supply chain consultant and former VP at Keysight working on supply chain and supply chain products.

Chris will share with us his 37 years of experience and strategies to overcome electronic part shortages.

Watch this episode here

Show Higlights:

• Chris Cain briefly describes what supply management is, and his role as a consultant.
• Chris explains what it means to tap into the “scale for the larger ecosystem” of electronic providers
  • Find alternatives and make some design adjustments where is possible
  • Look for parts that are very scalable like memory parts and FPGAs
  • Modular approach or designing for modules may also allow designers to have some flexibility
• If you can't get the parts, you can't ship your working design–having an insight into what’s coming in the supply chain could help designers in their decision making
  • It pays to spend a little time keeping up with groups like IPC which does the groundwork of looking up the industry and what they think is coming
• Chris warns designers about silk-screened sand, he added “never pay, until you verify”
• Moving towards an open source model, Zach mentioned a recent article on All About Circuits which talks about companies transitioning their chip architectures to RISC-V to help them overcome some of these supply chain issues
• What is supply chain resilience?
  • Fuel costs push up the cost of everything else it's related to and it's essentially an inflation driver
  • Avoid buying three year supply of parts, it’s smarter to focus on design flexibility and overall sourcing flexibility
• What are the challenges involved with raw materials supplies for assembly?
• The dark scenarios, the dark side, the disaster scenarios

Links and Resources:

Connect with Christopher Cain on LinkedIn Watch a related Podcast episode: The Benefits of Diversifying PCB Industry Supply Chain Read Chris Cain’s Latest Article: Maximum Usage to Improve Supply Chain Resiliency

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Today we are joined by Dan Beaulieu, founder and owner of Db Management Group. He and Zach chat about the PCB industry's broad marketing trends including how it's stuck in the past, the declining trade show industry, how sales reps can stay relevant, and much more.

Watch this episode here

• 0:00 Intro to Dan Beaulieu
• 5:48 Sales & Marketing Stuck in the Past
• 9:14 Impacts of the Domestic PCB Base
• 12:59 Is the Trade Show Method Going Away?
• 16:45 How do Reps Stay Relevant?
• 19:27 Focusing on Younger Designers
• 24:30 How Manufacturers Stand Out from the Competition
• 28:42 Designers and Board Shop Conflicts
• 31:42 Importance of Touring Shops
• 33:36 Capital Investment and PCB Shops
• 38:51 Focus on the Customer's Need, Then Provide It

The globalization of the electronics supply chain has been a widely discussed topic, and having Andrew Hupert, an esteemed supply chain consultant, in this episode is incredibly timely.

In this insightful discussion, Andrew sheds light on Mexico's distinctive edge in electronics production. Furthermore, he provides us with a comprehensive comparison of the logistical aspects between Mexico's and China's production processes.

Key Highlights:

• Introduction to Andrew Hupert, professor at Holt University and Supply Chain Consultant
• Andrew talks about his career in cross-cultural negotiation. From China to Thailand, Vietnam, and now to Mexico
• Compliance costs are becoming unmanageable, and logistics becoming more unpredictable, these are just a couple of the challenges in the electronics supply chain
• NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement ) aka USMCA, the US, Mexico, and Canada agreement puts Mexico on top of the list as far as production sites for large-scale factories
• US trade agreement with Columbia, is it possible?
• Guadalajara is in the process of becoming the software center in Mexico
• Andrew describes the challenges of sourcing electronics products from Mexico
• In China, one person knows people who can give you all the necessary connections to start and finish a project, meanwhile in Mexico, people will keep their mouths shut
• The level of workmanship in Mexico is high, however, project management is very poor
• The auto industry is the kind of business that is built for Mexico. American automakers have been producing automobiles in Mexico for over 70 years
• Mexico has EMEC which allows companies to bring in equipment, materials, raw materials, or components, all of it duty-free provided they ship it out or export it and not for sale in Mexico
• Andrew gives his insight on what the supply chain will look like
  • Only a certain percentage of the electronics production will move out of China to Mexico
  • Sophisticated design based in the US such as Texas, Arizona, California, and Mexica can handle the assembly
• Apple is moving its production to India
• “India is a tough one”, Andrew explains the challenges in producing electronics in India
• GM (General Motors) moved all their electric vehicle manufacturing to Mexico
• It’s hard to get business intelligence on Mexico, Andrew encourages companies to plan their transition or hire a project manager to do the legwork

Functional testing is when you power up an electronic device for the first time and then perform voltage rail checks and programming of processors, and more. And this is exactly what FixturFab offers their customer.

In this episode, Zach is talking with the co-founders of FixturFab, Duncan Lowder and Joe Selvik. They will have a chat about automated test fixtures and turnkey systems that aid low to medium electronic production to deliver successful devices.

Watch this episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Jow Selvic and Duncan Lowder introduction and engineering backgrounds
• What is FixturFab’s test fixture? Duncan briefly explains how it works – the mechanical, electrical, and software aspects of it
• A turnkey test system designs and delivers specific test cases and dives into detail about how a circuit board was designed and gathers reports
• Bolina an IIOT device deployment engine allows the management of Test Fixtures remotely
• An ideal customer for FixturFab is anyone who designs or manufactures their hardware, the best time to initiate the testing is before finalizing the board layout or during the prototyping phase
• Currently, FixturFab caters to low to medium-volume production, but they definitely are looking forward to eventually being in an automated SMT (Surface Mount Technology) line
• Coming next is the Test System in a Box, the IKEA or the “protolab” for test fixtures

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Joe Selvik on LinkedIn
• Connect with Duncan Lowder on LinkedIn
• Visit FixturFab website
• Read: Generating an Altium Test Point Report
• Watch related episodes:
  • Electronics Manufacturability and Reliability with QA Guru Cheryl Tulkoff
  • Mitigating Risk Factors for PCB Manufacturing Lead Times

Ben Nibali, founder and President of Aptus Design Works, with Connor Richardson, the Electrical Designer, are our guests in this episode. We will discuss how you can plan the cost and lead times to successfully launch your product in the market.

Ben and Connor share some excellent advice for designers and companies to streamline their product development process from prototyping to manufacturing.

Show Highlights:

• Aptus is a design and engineering company, and they’ve been around for about 15 years
  • They handle initial concept development, mechanical development, controls, and mechanical prototyping and help their clients through the launching and manufacturing of their products
• Expecting and avoiding pitfalls comes with experience; in addition, working with trusted vendors and suppliers is huge when honoring set schedules or timeline
• The natural state of every project is over budget and behind schedule. Ben Nibali stresses the importance of effort and discipline to have complete control of the process  and deliver on time
• Some unrealistic expectations by Aptus’s clients typically involve defying the law of physics
  • Other challenges include expectations from not knowing the process and cost expectations based on the higher volume of current products that really can’t be met in a US market-based launch scenario
  • Clients need to realize that there is a proper “cost of engineering”
• There are also misconceptions about 3D printing–in reality, it takes days to print 3D objects
  • You can’t have fast, cheap, and high quality at the same time
• Software guys may often misunderstand that modifications on hardware  are not as simple to execute as they will be on software
  • The “minimum viable product” is a great idea and works exceptionally well in software because you can add, modify, change, and grow something slowly after you deploy. In hardware, it is an entirely different cost structure to make changes once you start making anything physical. 
• “Proof of concept” is often neglected when companies want to launch their products immediately
• Connor Richardson shares the most complex and fun project they did at Aptus
  • Another exciting prototype they created is the cow-milking robot
• Ben gives designers and companies a piece of advice on how to plan cost and lead times when launching their products
  • The most important factor is market research, understanding what this thing that we're going to sell is? How are we going to sell it? Who's going to buy it? What features matter? 
  • The better the client understands the world they're going to try to sell into and how they're going to sell it, the more valuable our work will be and the higher likelihood that they'll make a profit
• Creating high-quality products could mean years of planning

Links and Resources:

Connect with Ben Nibali on LinkedIn Connect with Connor Richardson on LinkedIn Visit Aptus Design Works website Watch How APTUS Designworks uses Altium 365 and Altimade to reduce cost and move more quickly Altium Story presents Breaking down the barriers to progress - APTUS Designworks

We have a very interesting topic today! The impact of the defense sector on the electronic industry.

Our guest Nathan Edwards, an Executive Director, U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) will share with us what goes in a Defense Electronic Consortium (DEC) and how all of these impact the electronics eco-system. We will also touch a little about supply chain diversification and onshoring efforts here in the US.

Watch through the end, this is a very special episode you don’t want to miss.

We have a very interesting topic today! The impact of the defense sector on the electronic industry.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Nathan Edwards
• Nathan briefly share his background in the electronic industry in both government and commercial sector
• What is United States Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE) and what is its involvement in the Defense Electronic Consortium (DEC)?
• Nathan explains what goes on DEC
• Small and medium size electronic companies could benefit in participating in the government ecosystem
• A study shows that 86% of 649 manufacturing firms receive less than 10% of their revenue from defense
• Electronics in the banking industry, from the tamper-proof electronics, security, authenticity, and some reliability and recovery
• Is something similar to the US Defense Electronics Consortium exist in different countries?
• Nathan discusses about the recent policy chain in the Defense Production Act, Title II
• Electronic supply chain diversification and onshoring in the United States
• A policy that will go in to effect in 2027 under the National Defense Authorization Act states that semiconductors, printed circuit boards and interconnects cannot be produced by some of the companies in China
• Nathans thoughts regarding production of electronic components in Latin America, especially Mexico
• Nathan volunteers to mentor emerging talents at his school district’s high school and middle school and get them involved in electronics sector
• The electronics industry requires a full depth of STEM from chemist, manufacturers, mathematician, designers and more
• Career Technical Education (CTE) offers biomedical tech, STEM, IT, and it is sponsored under the State Department of Educations as well as the Federal Department of Education
• Two critical things to a successful onshoring are reliable, skilled workforce, and capital to invest in the state-of-the-practice equipment

Links and Resources:

• Reinventing the business of electronics. Nexar puts your business ahead of the curve, learn more here
• Watch related, previous episodes:
  • The NEXAR Ecosystem
  • Overcoming Technological Challenges in the PCB Industry
  • The Emerging Role of Mexico in the Electronics Supply Chain
  • Achieving Diversified Electronics Supply Chain
• Connect with Nathan Edwards via LinkedIn

What is the current state of the electronic industry? Dan Schoenfelder joins us today to discuss the most extreme problems the PCB design industry is currently facing: supply shortages, particularly the semi-conductor products and microcontrollers.

Tune in, or listen on the go. Learn how to keep up with the industry challenges through Nexar and Octopart.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Dan shares his background and role his role at Octopart and now as the Head of Nexar sales
• Problems with the supply chain continue; how are companies coping with the shortages in semi-conductor products and microcontrollers?
  • What is lean manufacturing, and what drives an inflexible supply chain?
  • The effect of the pandemic on manufacturing facilities is still very apparent and may continue through 2013
• Dan discusses the many benefits of utilizing Octopart to find and access electronic components data easily
  • Octopart is the search engine for electronics and makes a great tool to integrate into PCB design workflows
  • Dan shares Octopart’s new features, including the ability to filter and search by specs
• How does the Nexar API help with democratizing information in the electronics industry?
  • Ability to obtain information through the Nexar API programmatically and incorporate that into native workflows inside the users’ businesses
  • Nexar works with the RAI to ensure that all data collected can be trusted
• Dan talks about the Electronic Design to Delivery Index (EDDI), which is meant to provide users with free insight into what's happening in the electronic space in general
• Supply Chain Resilience tools – help designers build thoughtful designs and build BOMs (Bill of Materials) that are resilient to unforeseen challenges
• What’s coming next for Nexar?

Links and Resources:

Connect with Dan Schoenfelder on LinkedIn Search electronic parts, visit Octopart.com Design with the PCB Community, learn more about the Nexar ecosystem Learn more about the Electronic Design to Delivery index (EDDI) Watch Previous Episode with Dan Schoenfelder: Supply Chain Intelligence from Octopart Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

Today we have a fascinating conversation about PCB manufacturing, reshoring, testing, and much more with Cody Endlich, Head of Strategic Sourcing at MacroFab. He and Tech Consultant Zach Peterson discuss the latest trends in manufacturing, procurement, and supplier dynamics. This is a wonderful convo for anyone interested in the future of PCB sourcing and manufacturing.

• 1:00 Cody's Background
• 2:59 Internalizing the Broker Process
• 4:51 What's Different about MacroFab
• 8:25 Where Are MacroFab's Partners?
• 10:17 Reshoring Efforts
• 12:35 Copycats?
• 16:09 The Sourcing Picture
• 20:43 How MacroFab Tests
• 23:42 Bringing the Process In-House
• 26:16 Turning Heads
• 29:12 A Solid Supplier Relationship
• 34:54 Will Mexico's Trading Role Persist
• 38:13 MacroFab's Biggest Growth Area
• 39:32 Going Forward

Links and Resources:

• Watch Related Episodes:
  • Macrofab: Modern EMS Solutions in North AmericaRead Related
  • Data Security, 5G and Onshore PCB Manufacturing with Dr. Rob Spalding
  • Achieving Diversified Electronics Supply Chain
• Connect with Cody Endlich on LinkedIn
• Visit MacroFab website

Making wearable smart devices smarter, is one of the heavily invested research in the tech industry today.

Our guest Henry Crandall, a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah talks about his electrical research applied to human health monitoring and diagnosis. He will also briefly talk about his involvement in the IEEE, BioHive Utah, and his exciting role as a student board member in the IPC.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Henry Crandall, his research, and involvement with IPC
• Henry’s research focuses on the intersection of electrostatic and biology. How electrical applications can help diagnose disease and monitor health care condition
• How Henry’s research relates to Elon Musk’s “Neuralink”
• What is Neural Engineering?
• Bioimpedance and non-invasive sensor products are already available through wearable health devices just like the smartwatches
• Henry explains briefly the difference between surface measurement and penetration depth
• Photoplethysmography is what you called the green lights on the back of your smartwatches, it uses light to monitor the cardiovascular system
• Henry’s current research in a nutshell: a Bioimpedance sensor to monitor blood pressure
• One of Henry’s goals in his research is to collect as much data and come up with an algorithm that will help smart devices to become even smarter
• Major tech companies are investing heavily in research that could help make wearable smart devices gather actual clinically relevant data
• Henry talks about his involvement in the IPC as a student member of the IPC Board of Directors
• Both Zach and Henry share their experience with the IEEE
• As a student member of the IPC board of directors, Henry gets involved in decision-making regarding governance, the strategy, and the financial sides of the organization
• IPC has definitely prioritized and put a lot of effort to attract the youth to engineering
• Henry with a health tech focus start-up called BioHive Utah

Links and Resources

• Connect with Henry Crandall on LinkedIn
• Meet Henry Crandall: New IPC Student Board Member
• Learn More About BioHive
• Read: Henry co-authored IoMT-enabled stress monitoring in a virtual reality environment and at home

Lukas Henkel, our guest in this episode was already into electronic engineering at age 10.

He will share with us what made him interested in designing electronics, some details about the development of his Open-source laptop project, and will even give us a sneak peek of the actual design development on Altium Designer.

You don’t want to miss this! Watch through the end and be sure to check the additional resources below.

Watch this episode here

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Episode Highlights:

• Lukassz Lawrocki, Technical Marketing Manager at Altium makes a special appearance to explain Altium’s new initiative that encourages and supports electrical engineers to create open-source projects

• The open source Laptop project by Lukas Henkel is the first project to be supported by this new initiative

• Introduction to Lukas Henkel

• Lukas talks about his background and his first electronic project at age 10

• Robert Feranec  and the Altium OnTrack Podcast are just a couple of Lukas’s inspirations for discovering his interest in electronics and PCB design

• Lukas chose a laptop for his open-source project because of its composition—a variety of components working together

• Electrical vs mechanical, which one did Lukas find more challenging?

• The laptop project will have a full aluminum body, which is a cheaper choice for producing prototypes in a smaller volume

• Lukas talks about why the flex part of the enclosure is one of the challenging parts of his project

• While there are commercial and open-source tools to help with high-speed signal optimization, complex optimization problems are best solved through a manual process — comparing solutions and comparing the impact of each domain

• Lukas shares his transition from working with Semikron to his own company, OV Tech

• Zach and Lukas exchange experiences in running their companies - challenges, projects, and clients

• Lukas encourages everyone who is interested to learn more about his open-source laptop to follow him on LinkedIn for development updates

• Design Demonstration via Altium designer

• Watch for Lukas's next project, the Open Source Smartwatch

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Lukas Henkel via LinkedIn
• Subscribe to Robert Feranec Youtube Channel
• Watch all previous Altium OnTrack Podcast episodes
• Watch related episodes:
  • Robert Feranec and IoT Security
  • Open Source Ventilator Project (OSV) Combats Ventilator Shortage
  • Seven Design Guidelines to Break Bad Habits from Using Open-Source Designs

Read: Open Source Hardware & PCB Projects in Altium Designer

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

In this episode, we will learn so much about embedded CAN bus, for automobile security and performance straight from the water host, Ken Tindell the CTO of Canis Labs.

A lot of interesting facts about cyber security and automobile hacking that you would not want to miss! Watch through the end and make sure to check the additional resources below.

Watch this episode

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Show Highlights:

• Ken Tindell’s background and how he got started with CAN bus and CAN security
• Ken worked with Motorola on designing the MS CAN—the first CAN controller that did all the buffer scheduling correctly
• Ethernet and CAN coexist in autonomous vehicles’ architecture, Ken explains how
• There are two types of major attacks on the CAN bus: attacking the physical wiring and attacking the computer that has access to the wiring. Zac and Ken talk about the mind-blowing advanced techniques of hacking automobiles
• Story of irony. A friend of Ken in automobile cybersecurity had his car stolen
• The biggest car-hacking horror would be through the cloud — cloud-based APIs to phone and at the same time CAN bus protocol hacking on the transceiver pins
• CAN HD, an augmentation for high speed and guarding the CAN bus
• Canis Labs is in the works to provide real solutions for security on CAN bus

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Ken Tindell on LinkedIn
• Visit Canis Automotive Labs' website
• Check out Ken’s Github Page
• Watch related podcast episodes:
  • Better Performance and Enhanced Reliability in the Automotive Electronics industry
  • Electronics Manufacturability and Reliability with QA Guru Cheryl Tulkoff

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

We are very delighted to have Dr. Min Zhang in this episode. Min is an independent EMC consultant based in the UK. Today, we'll be talking about EMC, both on board and off the board. It will be a very interesting discussion because we will look a little bit deeper at the system level of the board.

Show Highlights:

• Zach met Min at EMCLive 2021
• Let’s hear more about Min’s background and his early exposure to EMI issues
  • Earlier in his career, he worked with big companies as a motor drive engineer and power electronics design engineer for 10 years
  • He started his engineering consulting business, Mach One Design EMC Consultants 2 years ago
  • His first experience dealing with EMI issues was at the university while doing research for his PhD
• The lack of education in the university in regards to EMI issues is one of the reasons that sparked Min’s interest in EMI
  • The university he went to specializes in motor and power converter design, but did not offer any solutions in fixing the EMI issues
  • Min recalls being fascinated by his first time seeing an EMI diagnosis kit composed of the spectrum analyzer, lots of ferrites, and cable shooting copper tape in a suitcase
  • It was his first time seeing a step-by-step diagnosis and troubleshooting EMI issues - checking the grounding, checking the bonding, and applying ferrites at the right place, performed by his friend’s father who was then a principal engineer in the European Space Agency
• Min’s recommendation to design engineers solving EMI issues is to understand the fundamentals – “only when you understand the fundamentals, understand the basics, and the first principle, then you can really design a system” - Min Zhang
• What happens when EMI problems exist off the board and they interfere with the system or create so much noise that the system is never going to pass EMC?
  • Min answers by recommending Rick Hartley's famous YouTube video about grounding
  • He continues with his answer with an example involving a three-phase brushless DC motor drive
• How to deal with cables connected to another system that is outside of the shielding?
  • Shielding is a good solution, but understanding fundamentals are necessary to avoid increased cost, weight, and also the bending ratio would be affected
• Min shares a recent video he did with Robert Feranec which discusses the topic of EMI troubleshooting on immunity
• 70% of the EMI issues are somehow related to resonance
  • For high-speed design, PCB designers really need to understand how the wave propagates
• Ferrite is not a 100% inductive component
• Min recommends the book by Douglas Smith – High Frequency Measurements and Noise in Electronic Circuits which focuses on the test and measurements in terms of high-speed design
• Other experts to learn from in terms of EMI troubleshooting and high speed designs are Eric Bogatin, Steve Sandler and Heidi Barnes

Links and Resources:

Learn more about Min Zhang and his company Mach One Design EMC Consultants Watch Min’s Keynote at EMCLive 2021 Watch How a Few Components Make a Big Difference in EMC/EMI with Min and Robert Feranec  Read Min Zhang’s article on SI Journal Great book recommendation: High Frequency Measurements and Noise in Electronic Circuits Watch Rick Hartley's famous YouTube video about grounding Watch previous episodes with EMI and High-speed experts:     Eric Bogatin Debunks Common Misconceptions About Transmission Lines     Secrets of PCB Optimization with Rick Hartley     Being Right Matters! When, Why and What to Simulate with Steve Sandler     Power Integrity and Simulations with Heidi Barnes

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Have you heard of assembly without solder? In this episode, Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad, founder and president of Verdant Electronics, talks about the Occam process. 

Let’s hear about Joe’s 50 years of experience in the electronics industry and how he got started with solderless assembly for electronics.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Joe talks about his background and previous roles in the industry, including his position as the educational director in the IPC and Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Research in the Soviet Union
• “Assembly without solder” Joe recollects how he arrived at the idea of a better way to build electronics – build a component board and put circuits on it.
• Joe shares how he came up with the Occam process and its benefits “It absolutely doesn't need to be for everything, but it can be for a lot of things, and it can make products that will be at once cheaper, better performing, lighter, more environmentally friendly.”
• Download Joe’s book for free: Solderless Assembly for Electronics: The SAFE Approach
• More about the Occam Process
• Did Joe coin “Design with Manufacturing”? He shares his efforts in promoting solid work relationships between PCB designers and manufacturer
• Occam Process vs. 3D printing, could 3D printing bypass solderless assembly? Read Joe’s article Putting 3D interconnection technologies into perspective from chip to system
• Joe commended the microvia technology, “they know how to build these things”

Links and Resources:

Connect with Joseph Fjelstad on LinkedIn Visit Verdant Electronics website Read Joe Fjelstad Interview: Breaks Down His Occam Process Download Joe’s book for free: Solderless Assembly for Electronics: The SAFE Approach Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, we have a chat with Benjamin Dannan, a defense & aerospace contractor. We talk about power integrity, high amps, quality reports, vendor models, the importance of verification, and much more. 

Watch this episode

Episode Highlights:

• Intro

• Ben's Background

• Power Integrity Considerations

• Vendor Models Quality & Accuracy

• Trust & Verify

• File Density Challenges

• Die (integrated circuit) Models & Packages

• "It's Easy to Miss Things." 

• Lost in the Translation

• Ask for Quality Reports

• 2,000 Amp Challenges

Links and Resources:

• Watch Recent Related Episodes
  • PCB Packaging & the Future of Manufacturing
  • The Impact of the Defense Sector in the Electronic Industry Ecosystem
• Read Related Articles:
  • Designing for Military and Aerospace Embedded Systems Applications
  • Advantages of Flexible Circuits for Space Applications
• Connect with Benjamin Dannan on LinkedIn
• EDI CON Online 2023

Young blood in the PCB industry, Christopher Bonsell talks about process engineering–the chemical involved in the PCB, etching and encouraging the young generation to the “cool-tech” aspects of PCB design and manufacturing.

Watch this episode through the end, and check the show notes and additional below.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Chris Bonsell published articles on i-Connect007
• What kind of services does Chemcut offer related to PCB manufacturing and the role of a process engineer
• Chris talks about his career journey and how he landed his position in Chemcut
• Misconception about the circuit board industry, does it belong to tech industry?
• The grand challenge – the Moorse Law
• What is the Peri Etch Process?
• The lack of interest in the chemistry of circuit boards might be what’s blocking the PCB industry from moving to the next level of processing capability
• The US is 20 years behind in the PCB industry
• Is fully additive circuit board could be the big game changer in the industry?
• Workforce shortage industry – how to involve students and the younger generation to become interested in the PCB industry?
• Chris explains etching uniformity

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Christoper Bonsell on LinkedIn
• Visit Chemcut website
• Read Chris’s articles on i-Connect007
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Visit Nexar website
• Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only

You would not want to miss this informative, knowledge-packed conversation with Dr. Kunal Shah. Dr, Kunal generously gives us all a crash course on surface finishes and understanding different types of materials that could affect signal integrity, reliability and electronic shelf life. He will also tackle in detail the pros and cons of various types of nickel-free finishes.

Watch this podcast episode now or listen on the go. Make sure to check the notes and additional resources below.

Show Highlights:

• PCB Designers must be knowledgeable of various manufacturing processes and materials
• One of the things that makes liloTree unique is its innovation in materials development and ensuring better and robust reliability of the electronic assembly
  • liloTree offers eco-friendly solutions (organic surface finishes) that enhance reliability and offer better performance in terms of signal integrity
• Dr. Kunal shares his background and how he founded liloTree
• Manufacturers are trying to find alternatives for ENIG (Electroless nickel immersion gold) due to nickel causing signal integrity loss in the high-frequency application
• There are several nickel-free surface finish, but designers must understand selection criteria – pros and cons of each types of materials
  • immersion tin does have higher insertion loss
  • OSP (organic solderability preservatives) is an organic-based surface finish. It provides good signal integrity, but has low shelf life issues
  • Hard Gold has good signal integrity but very costly
  • Electro-less palladium, immersion gold or autocatalytic gold it includes cumbersome process and need to babysit it
• A PCB must have both good signal integrity, great performance, and extended shelf life
  • Designers must realize the impact of the supply chain issues on the PCB manufacturing life cycle
  • Shelf life is critical. Boards are getting manufactured in one part of the world and it may take a few months before they get assembled in another side of the world
• LiloTree has developed the best nickel-free option, specifically designed from a signal integrity perspective, reliability perspective, and cost effectiveness perspective
• Another challenge of nickel based finishes is overplating and the skip plating in the PCB pads that could lead to micron scale level failures
• The liloTree nickel free solution includes a “barrier layer” which has multiple benefits including slower growth of intermetallics, delaying of natural embrittlement and eventually an extended shelf life
• How to overcome multiple reflow issues?
• Dr. Kunal explains the different ways they offer their solution to the market
  • They offer their prototype lab where manufacturers and OEM can apply liloTree technology to evaluate and test it
  • PCB manufacturer from OEM or assemblies feedback, the solution will be shipped directly to the manufacturer and set it up in their existing plating line
  • Sending the boards to liloTree’s in-house plating line

Links and Resources:

Connect with Dr. Kunal Shah on LinkedIn Visit liloTree website Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Pierce Design’s Ethan Pierce will share his insight into reverse engineering with printed circuit assemblies. We will also discuss firmware reverse engineering.

Watch this episode.

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Ethan Pierce and a quick preview of his upcoming webinar with the PCEA regarding reverse-engineering
• How to acquire reverse-engineering skill sets?
• Retrofitting a system versus creating a net new ecosystem of products
• Is reverse engineering cost-effective?
• Ethan advises designers to keep records and documentation as much as possible. “take as many pictures, take as many pictures, photos, notes.”

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Ethan Pierce on LinkedIn
• Visit Pierce Design's website
• Register for Ethan Pierce's Webinar: Reverse Engineering PCBs: How to Recreate a Lost Design

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Today we're thrilled to be joined by John Watson, Customer Success Manager at Altium. He and Tech Consultant Zach Peterson chat about the importance of education for designers, what it's like working with students, and what new opportunities there are for PCB designers in today's market.

Watch this episode here.

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Key Highlights:

• Introduction to John Watson, Altium Customer Success Manager
• John talks about his teaching profession at Palomar College in San Marcos, California where he teaches Basic and Advanced PCB design
• The Middle College Program at Palomar College was created for junior and senior high school students to give them a head start in taking college courses
• The demand for PCB designers is driven by a lack of interested individuals in the industry
• An increasing number of young engineers are drawn to computer science and software development, while the fields of hardware, electrical engineering, and PCB design are experiencing a declining interest
• John elaborates on the content covered in his comprehensive 32-week course, encompassing both fundamental and advanced aspects of PCB design
• Companies are losing their talent every single day through retirement. Now more than ever, there is a huge need to fill the pipeline
• John shares his early days as an electrician on the kitchen floor with a screwdriver in the toaster
• John finds Ai concerning, and he doesn’t allow it in his class
• John describes the kind of students he has in his class
• Overanalyzing is a typical problem for electrical engineers
• PCBs are works of art
• Zach describes a PCB designer as a “constraint manager”
• John works with different organizations to give the students a leap towards their next step after they finished his 32-week course
• From a janitor to a PCB designer, a winning moment to one of John’s students
• Give back no matter what level we’re at, this is John’s message to his peers and everyone in the electronics industry
• There are 25 spots available in John’s PCB design course, those who will not make it will be on the waiting list. You can check more information here.

Links and Resources:

• Connect with John Watson on LinkedIn
• Visit the Palomar College Website
• Check out John Watson's PCB design course outline here
• Read John Watson's Blogs

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

There's a new workflow offering coming soon as a result of the collaboration between Altium and ANSYS. And today, we are joined by Joao Beck, Altium's Director of Enterprise Technical Marketing, to give us all the details. This new workflow is yet another step in Altium's quest toward a digital ecosystem, acting as an important bridge between ECAD and simulation Make sure to watch the entire episode so you can fully understand what's coming your way soon.

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:50 Altium's New Workflow Offering

• 4:53 MCAD CoDesigner in Simulation?

• 7:28 A Full Suite of Capabilities

• 8:20 What the Workflow Looks Like

• 10:40 What's in the Revision History

• 12:47 The Report

• 14:14 Version Control & Rolling Back Simulations?

• 16:16 Simulation to Altium & Vice Versa

• 21:43 Mechanical Simulation?

• 23:00 The Digital Bridge Ecosystem

• 25:38 Broader Access?

• 26:42 Who's This For?

Discover how software-defined vehicles are revolutionizing the automotive industry! Join Tech Consultant Zach Peterson in this episode of the OnTrack Podcast as he chats with Lenora Clark, Director of Autonomous Driving and Safety Technology at MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions. The pair explore the latest advancements in autonomous driving, advanced automotive electronics, and the incredible technologies that are shaping the future of cars. From human-machine interfaces to EV charging infrastructure, this interview covers it all! Key Topics:

- The evolution of software-defined vehicles

- Autonomous driving technology

- Integration of advanced electronics in modern cars

- The future of automotive innovations

If you look at the way people have used FPGAs, they are a miracle product in many ways. -Mark Oliver

Our guest Mark Oliver, VP of marketing at Efinix talks about the evolving role of FPGAs in the industry beyond prototyping. Mark will give us a very insightful use of FPGA as an efficient custom silicon solution and will go deep on the importance of RISC-V for processor designs.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Efinix, an FPGA company
  • Mark starts off by addressing the inefficient ways designers use FPGAs and how this has helped them develop a product that can be utilized from prototyping and straight to high-volume manufacturing
  • Efinix FPGAs are cost-effective, low-power, and small-form efficient for custom silicon solution
• The common FPGAs integration including the SIP (Session Initial Protocol) implementation
• FPGA market is set to explode because it is going in the same direction as the current industry growth
  • they  are designed as mid-volume production solutions with the potential for scalability
• Given that the industry is dominated by software engineers Efinix moves its course to RISC-V processor integration
  • What is RISC-V and why it is so important for processor design, specifically for FPGAs?
• FPGAs already offer great benefits and there will be more to come

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Mark Oliver on LinkedIn
• Visit Efinix website
• Read Related Articles:
  • How to Start an FPGA PCB Layout For Your Embedded System
  • Designing for the FPGA Pin Mapper
  • SoC FPGA Boasts RISC-V Processor
• Watch Related Altium Academy Videos:
  • FPGA Pins Explained!
  • FPGA and BGA PCB Power Delivery Best Practices
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Full OnTrack Podcast Library
• Altium Website

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Explore the world of harness design with Michał Topolski, product manager at Altium, in this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast. Learn about the two main aspects of harness design—multi-board and harness design itself—and how they are interconnected. Michał delves into the integration with MCAD tools, the importance of data integrity, and the positive user reactions during the open beta phase. Discover the features and improvements in harness design and get a sneak peek into what the future holds for this tool.

Key Highlights:

• Multi-Board & Harness Design: Explore the synergy between multi-board and harness design, unraveling the interconnected world of these crucial aspects.
• Harness Design Overview: Gain insights into the fundamentals of harness design, delving into the significance of BOM and the development rationale.
• Hands-On with Harness Design: Take a closer look at the practical aspects of harness design, understanding its physical dimensions and the seamless integration with Altium Designer.
• Altium Designer Harness Design Integration: Discover the efficiency gains by eliminating back-and-forth processes through Altium Designer's integrated harness design features.
• User Reaction and Workflow Improvements: Hear about the overwhelmingly positive user reactions during the open beta phase and explore the workflow improvements that redefine the design experience.

Transcript

Zach Peterson: So with a harness design, I think people might think of that as like probably two possible things. One might be like a custom cable assembly, one might be a custom connector housing or maybe an off-the-shelf housing that has custom wiring that is built into it. Maybe it's hand assembled, maybe it's factory assembled. But you probably have a bunch of wires spanning between two or more connectors. And then you need to integrate that into the project somehow. Is that correct?

Michał Topolski: Yes, that's precisely it. And we support both of these ways. So you can just have a off-the-Shelf cable connection and you can have it listed in BOM as a single item or you can have your own harnessing wiring drawn and have have it manufactured custom.

Zach Peterson: Hello, everyone and welcome to the Altium OnTrack podcast. I'm your host Zach Peterson. Today I'm talking with Michal Topolski, the product manager here at Altium. As I said in a previous episode, it is that time of the year where AD is coming out with a new version and we get to learn about all the cool new features that are gonna be in the latest version of Altium Designer. So I'm very happy to have Michal with us here today. Thanks for joining us.

Michał Topolski: Yeah, hello. Thank you. Thank you for a brief introduction. Hello to everybody. Yes, yes, as you mentioned, we are now launching briefly AD 24, which is obviously the next version, the next big version count and that's always a good moment to have new features introduced.

Zach Peterson: So one of the themes I've been noticing with the new group of features has been really twofold. One is collaboration and then another is in kind of multi-disciplinary design and really I guess focusing more on product design. And you're working more in the second area. So maybe tell us which feature it is you're overseeing.

Michał Topolski: Yes, thank you for this introduction. So yes, I'm working on electronic product design and part of this of it is a multi-board and the other part is harness design. And these two are very much correlated. So as I believe every electronic engineer knows, there are many elements to the electronic product and obviously, PCBs are the base of it, but then you have to have connect them somehow. So that's when the harnessing comes in. So that's wiring, cabling. We have different names and they obviously mean some other things for some people, but we generally, we call it in Altium Designer, we call it harness design.

Zach Peterson:  So with a harness design, I think people might think of that as like probably two possible things. One might be like a custom cable assembly, one might be a custom connector housing or maybe an off-the-shelf housing that has custom wiring that is built into it. Maybe it's hand assembled, maybe it's factory assembled. But you probably have a bunch of wires spanning between two or more connectors. And then you need to integrate that into the project somehow. Is that correct?

Michał Topolski: Yes, that's precisely it. And we support both of these ways. So you can just have a off-the-shelf cable connection and you can have it listed in BOM as a single item or you can have your own harnessing wiring drawn and have it made, have it manufactured custom.

Zach Peterson: So when you say it can be part of the BOM, this could be like a mechanical element that appears in the BOM, is that correct?

Michał Topolski: No, actually harness design is a separate project on its own. So it's like you have schematic and you have PCB, then you have a separate PCB project.

Michał Topolski: Right?

Zach Peterson:  Gotcha.

Michał Topolski: And harness design in Altium Designer is a separate harness project, which means it has its own BOM. So yeah, well, technically these elements are mostly mechanical or electro-mechanical if you're concerned with some items. But they are in a different space right now. In the future, we'll connect these two spaces in probably one consolidated BOM in multipart. But that's speaking about the future.

Zach Peterson: So I have to ask, and I think some other people have probably asked this question themselves, why did Altium decide to develop a harness design feature? Altium, obviously known for PCB design software, and then more recently, a lot of the cloud management tools that have really helped propel enterprises to be more productive. But harness design seems a little out of left field to me.

Michał Topolski: To me, it's very complementary. So if an engineer has ever been designing a more complex design, he would notice at some point that there are electrical connections between boards and without Altium Designer, the history is quite the same. So initially, it was obviously, as you mentioned, a PCB design tool, which is very successful in this field. But then we decided that we need to grow because the modern electronic products are not just single PCBs, even very complex, like 16 layers or more, whatever. It's just so much more. So then we created multi-board and when you have this multi-board environment and you have different PCBs and models and electro-mechanical devices in that system, then obviously, you need to connect them somehow. And this is where the harness design comes in. So we've been asked by customers, okay, but I have my PCBs here and here but how do I draw my connections between them? So harness design model is a direct answer to that need and solves this problem. And yes, this is our very first approach to this area. As you mentioned, it might be a bit off in terms of PCB design that Altium's famous for but I think that when our users, and users from the outside that are willing to use Altium projects in the future, we'll see how it's implemented, how it's seamless to use. They'll notice that this is not just another harnessing tool from the electrical world because that's what our competition mostly is. Like, these tools are not tailored for the electrical engineers, electronic engineers. They're tailored for electrical work, like with the big machines and big industry and stuff like that. And in Altium, it's tailored to the needs of creating electronic products.

Zach Peterson: The most recent instance where I needed to do any type of custom interconnect design to go between multiple boards was using actually a flex connection. So doing kind of like a harness design approach, but doing it on a flex ribbon so it could bend and twist and do whatever you needed it to do. So with that type of system, you're really selecting the mating connectors and then you're designing a PCB to then connect everything and then you match up the pinouts. With a harness design, you're actually using wiring. So you're not really using a PCB layout tool to draw out those interconnects. So what does that look like for the user in order to create the physical design, not just the logical design, but the actual physical design?

Michał Topolski: I would say it's very similar to what we have in PCB. So there's this logical layer which is schematic in PCB and we have wiring diagram. You can draw the individual wires and connect splices to them and just route them in the proper way. But then you have the layout drawing and this is something like a PCB in PCB projects. So this is a place where you actually draw the topology. It seems very much like schematic, but it has different objects in Altium. So it uses bundles. So we can draw not just individual wires, but you can route them inside how they are bundled, how they go together. Obviously, we have objects like connection points, which are used to rout these bundles, to assign splice points to these connection points. And yeah, if you look at it, it's very obvious. I may share a sample project so I can show for a second. So this is wiring drawing, a wiring diagram where you can draw individual wires as I mentioned.

Zach Peterson: Well, for those listening on audio, we're looking in the Schematic Editor right now. For those watching on YouTube, you're getting the full view, but on audio, it looks like we have a bunch of boxes drawn out that would typically represent components and then you have the wires drawn between them. So it looks a lot like a schematic and I think it's really familiar for a lot of users.

Michał Topolski: Exactly, and that was our goal 'cause we're in Altium and schematic is a well-known environment, so it's very seamless to learn how to use harness design model because, essentially it looks very much the same at this point. But then we go to layout, which also kind of looks like schematic, but we can route our wires, well, actually route bundles and the wires are routed inside. So it's automatic. When the whole net is defined properly in the wiring diagram, and when the bundles are connected properly in the layout, then the wires inside are routed automatically. So then when in your BOM, you generate your wiring list from two table, which defines from which point the wire goes, and where it ends is defined automatically and generated automatically.

Zach Peterson: So what we're seeing here in this layout, like you said, it looks a lot like a schematic, but we actually see pictures and graphics that show the connectors and then we see what looks like lines drawn to represent the different wiring bundles that go between each of the connectors.

Michał Topolski: I just want to emphasize that these graphics, as you said, they're not just graphics, they are full 3D models of components. So we can actually generate different views in design. So you don't have to pre-prepare these images as you would do in many tools. They're not just simple graphics. They are interactive, sorry. And you can, for instance, have a wireframe view, you can look from different angles. So it's very flexible in that term.

Zach Peterson: So you said there's a wireframe view. Can you describe that for us?

Michał Topolski: Sure, so what you see here right now, it's a full shaded view of a component but in some cases, it's not the best one because some details might not be visible. So we would like to go into pure black and white line mole, which only limits the contours of the component, and this is it. For those who watch us, you can see that, for instance, I have just dynamically changed this shaded model to a wireframe model just like that just because as I said, this is all generated in design. It's not pre-prepared images or graphics.

Zach Peterson: Yeah, I've had to draw out wiring diagrams in the past and I will admit I have had to go onto Google images and search for an image of that connector or find a image on DigiKey or something and copy it into a PowerPoint. So I think it's very convenient that you can automatically create a lot of these assets directly inside of Altium Designer. So this is all really interesting and one thing I, of course, have to ask is was this something that was in really high demand with users?

Michał Topolski: It was in high demand, especially among those users that were multi-board adopters, that were using multi-board previously because they have noticed the need. And this is also an endless cycle because if we get more people that are using multi-board, they get to use harness and then the other way, they also use more of the multi-board. So that's good, that's good for us and that's also good for users because then we get more attention, which means we get more development on that and we can improve it faster. So yes, we're listening very carefully to all feedback about multi-board and harness very much these days because I think the tool is very good and we have many voices of our customers that are happy with what it is. But we also know that there's a long road ahead of us, and yes, we're trying to catch all the voices. It might take some time, just be warned but in the end, I think we're gonna make it a really seamless tool for everybody that's interested.

Zach Peterson: And so this is gonna be included with all the standard multi-board design tools? This isn't like an external feature that you have to purchase or anything like that?

Michał Topolski: No, but it's where we're emphasizing that. As you mentioned, this is part of multi-board. So product design suite and this is Pro and Enterprise license level. It's not standard. Unfortunately, harness design right now, it's not standard but it's Pro and Enterprise and while harness design can be used as a standalone project, so we don't need to have a multi-board project to actually have a harness project. They can be separate project, that's no big deal. But we encourage people to use multi-board project first because if you define your connectivity inside multi-board, then it goes into the harness design. So they are interconnected this way and we plan for this connection, this strict connection between these two environments to really bloom in the future. We would like to have end-to-end connectivity checks and stuff like that. So brace yourselves. I think some interesting things are coming in this environment. But coming back to licensing, I also wanted to mention that while A365 is not necessary for using harness design but to use harness-specific library components, like wires and cables, we actually need A365 because this is a cloud-enabled feature. So you can have your wires and cables inside harness design but if you want to store them in the library, you're gonna need the A365.

Zach Peterson: Sure, that makes sense. So you brought up things like wiring and storage in the library. I guess that begs the question, what sort of information is needed to input into a design in order to use everything successfully? I ask that because obviously, we're talking about wiring harnesses. So you need wires. You need connector body. You probably also need something like, I don't know, crimp contacts. And maybe if it's gonna be hand assembled, there's gonna be a special tooling that's needed. What's the complete suite of information that someone would need in order to create a project and then pass the documentation off to their assembler who can then make this design into a physical object?

Michał Topolski: Harness designing work is not very standardized. So I would say it very much depends on individual process of the company that is using it. I've been speaking to many customers and some of them just limit to drawing connectors but very generic. They don't even have to use models. They don't care very much about the lengths and margins, production margins about how many twister are and stuff like that. They just leave it to their manufacturers because they outsource it. And then you obviously need some lower level detail. But then some of these companies also are manufacturing samples or even small batches inside their facilities and then they need complete information because they use it directly like a flow below. So yeah, I would say it very much depends. But the basic set would be obviously to have some connectors that you would like to use. But again, if you utilize multi-board, you can define mating connectors in there and then they will be brought to wiring diagrams. So you wouldn't start from scratch. You would have them in there. Then you also have to draw wires but you don't necessarily need to have them predefined. You can always change properties and like components inside the design. So you can think of wires that you have as a generic components idea that we have in schematics. So we just place generic component, generic wire and then you can assign a component or assign properties to it, whatever you would like to do. And well, I'd say that basically that that's it 'cause then other things are purely your design. So you define splices, you define the topology and from that, you can bring these drawings to Draftsman and generate your manufacturing drawings.

Zach Peterson: So as far as like what the wiring is concerned, there are some properties that you could assign as I think what you said. So that could be like wire gauge, strip length, number, you said number of twists, which which would make sense. Number of strands if it's stranded wire, those kinds of things.

Michał Topolski: Yes, exactly, exactly. Color, gauge. These are very basic stuff. And one thing that maybe it's worth mentioning at this point is as I've been showing this layout, drawing, some may have noticed, this is a 2D, so two-dimensional drawing, it's flat only. And many complex harnesses are needed to be routed in 3D environment. And this is right now not possible inside Altium but we have CoDesigner feature, which has been with us for many years now and I think many Altium users are familiar of that. We right now have tests with Creo regarding current design integration, which means that you can take your wiring diagram and direct the information stream directly to MCAD, so you then get connectors, you get the connectivity, you get it from to table inside Creo and then you can route the design in 3D in there and then get back with the information, which is most crucial, which means lengths. And with these lengths, you can create your BOM and your lengths, wires and stuff like that. So this is a flow that many customers has been asking about and right now, as I said, this is Creo but we intend to also support our other environments, which CoDesigner already supports for PCBs.

Zach Peterson: So that's really interesting. It sounds like someone can take the import from the harness design in terms of let's say the connections, connector bodies and what's involved in terms of wiring. The mechanical engineer can then place those, move them around to where they need to be inside an enclosure and then that information can get pushed back into the harness design. Is that the correct way to think about it?

Michał Topolski: Right now, it's less about positions, especially in three-dimensional space. We don't support that yet inside harness design. It's more about the pure length because there's a difference if you route a cable or wire in between two points and you do not take into consideration how they're routed in 3D space because they might go around some elements that you have and if you don't account for that, then the wire would be just too short. You just draw it on plane surface. So this is actually the goal here right now, but there are some plans to bring the 3D model of harness design that you design in MCAD to a multi-board assembly environment. So then you have this represented inside our Altium environment and as I mentioned before, 'cause we own the connectivity that you defined in multi-board, we can also show point-to-point connections in the future obviously. So yeah, this is our goal here.

Zach Peterson:  So this is interesting because I think normally, someone might use an MCAD application to try and model a wiring harness. I know that there are specialty applications that are out there that are specifically for wiring and cabling and stuff. But I think as you said, they're for larger machines, industrial settings, that kind of thing. It sounds like the real difference with an MCAD application is that the MCAD application has the ability to give the information back to the PCB designer so that they can quickly generate an entire bill of materials for every part in their system. So each of the PCBs, the cable, cable assembly, all of that.

Michał Topolski: Exactly, exactly. That's the way we see it. And this is a place where actually starting harness design, not in MCAD but in Altium Designer and harness design model can be superior to just purely MCAD. Obviously, there are some components that we don't have in Altium, which would be like fasteners and some mechanical parts. And obviously, the enclosure, so it has to be designed in MCAD environment and about that, this is the way to do it. But then, I think in the end, at least this is what I've learned, there are many, many engineers that would like to own this information inside Altium and generate, as you mentioned, this unified documentation from Altium Designer.

Zach Peterson: So if you were starting in the MCAD side and then going into defining the constraints for the PCB, essentially the MCAD user would have an opportunity to possibly select some of those connectors on the front end and then just pass that information onto the designer, rather than having the designer receive the board and the enclosure information and then try to fit connectors within that. Then it has to get passed back again to get verified. And so you eliminate some of that back and forth if the MCAD user could start first. Would you agree?

Michał Topolski: Yes, yes, that's perfectly the goal. I think it's not yet supported exactly the way you described it. This is the ultimate goal. Right now, we usually start with the information from harness design, but I think it's like a new feature if we do that 'cause right now, we're very much focusing on the integrity of the data, so there is no corruption happening. That's the most crucial for us. And all these improvements, like starting in MCAD, defining connectors there, other parts, obviously, it's coming as well.

Zach Peterson:  Okay, but at at least someone could start an MCAD and at least have kind of a paper doll model and then say these are your three connectors, copy and paste into a Slack chat or something and then the designer can just take that, put it in their BOM and then they're off and running. So I think you mentioned two other tools within Altium Designer where there's an integration with harness design that was Draftsman and then exporting to the BOM, is that correct?

Michał Topolski: Harness design is a standard BOM, as you know from PCB projects, and standard Draftsman, as you know, from PCB projects. And I think this is the only way to do it actually in Altium. So they have this unified environment. This is our goal. This is still one Altium design. There is no separate harness design software. It's part of our suite. So it's only only natural for us to utilize the same environments. And I think it's very, very useful. I've heard these kind of voices that having wiring diagram and layout drawing in the same drawing, in the end, is something that not many tools in the market can do and can be beneficial. And also our active BOM and our connection to the Octopart and having lifecycle statuses and all that, that's also very, very useful to engineers to not design something that will be obsolete in a month or so. That would be very bad.

Zach Peterson:  So inside of Draftsman, for example, since this is all its own project, essentially, you're just placing the region where you want the wiring harness drawing to appear in Draftsman, right click, import and then bam, your drawing appears there.

Michał Topolski: And when you make changes to one of these drawings, wiring or layout, you just have to again click the magic import button and it updates. That's it. That's all we need.

Zach Peterson: Very cool. Very cool. So I think we have time for one more question, which is really about the user reaction. I know that earlier I asked you if it was in high demand and now that it's been in beta for a little bit, I have to ask, what's been the user reaction? What are people saying, positive or negative?

Michał Topolski: Yes, thank you very much for this question. User reaction was largely positive, very positive. And I want to emphasize that when we launched into open beta in January, that was after a few months of development with some very, very engaged customers that were helping us to get through the MVP process. So when we launched, well, it was a newborn obviously. But I think the dynamics of the team that is developing the tool and all the people that are involved in the process, especially customers and everyone that's helping is really helping us to learn this baby to walk very fast and then ride a bike very soon also. So the reactions are very positive and this dynamic is also very visible to people. I've heard reactions like, "Oh, we have not seen this tool for three months 'cause we're exploring and now we're exploring again 'cause we have a project that we need harness for and it's a different tool now. It's so much better." So yeah, that's like genuinely the reaction I've had and I hope that this will persist in future. So that's the message to everyone that has been exploring Altium harness design in January this year and has dropped it since. And please, try again. If not now, then in January in '24 when the tool will to go out of open beta. You'll notice that the tool has changed a lot. It has become much more stable and there are many features that were missing, the big ones, but also the small ones, you know, the quality of life improvements, all that. I think it's very important. Especially in last months, we were very focused on improving all these tiny little things that are very useful in everyday life of every engineer. So just to reduce the count of clicks and all these things that make us bored and nervous at some point. So yes, and I also would like to encourage everyone that has touched the tool, but not only harness design, I mean about Altium Designer to go to forum if you have not done it and express your voice because this feedback really matters. We would like to hear that. I am one of the people that would like to hear it, we listen to it. And then we react to these voices when creating the tools for you.

Zach Peterson:  Yeah, we'll include a link to the forum in the show notes. So final question before we let you go. You alluded to some potential improvements on the workflow, like starting from MCAD, going back to PCB. Are there any other interesting nuances or feature upgrades or improvements to this tool that are on the horizon that you can reveal? Or are people just gonna have to subscribe to the channel if they wanna learn more?

Michał Topolski: I'll just generally say that we seek for improvements, some big improvements in the management of components, how they are linked in between and there are also some improvements coming in terms of how you can define models inside multi-board. But I don't want to go into details right now 'cause as you know, deadlines are dangerous. I should not be showing any details about these. So just please stay tuned and if you are interested in some very particular features that you would like to see or have heard about from somebody, then just please contact us directly and we'll have a chat.

Zach Peterson:  Sounds great, and I guess as all of this rolls out and slowly improves over time, we'd love to have you back to talk about this more.

Michał Topolski: Thank you very much.

Zach Peterson: Thank you very much. To everyone that's been listening on audio or watching on YouTube, We've been talking with Michal Topolski, product manager at Altium who is overseeing the harness design rollout. If you are watching on YouTube, make sure to hit the Subscribe button, hit the Like button. You'll be able to keep up with all of our tutorials and feature announcements as they become available. And last but not least, don't stop learning, stay OnTrack and we will see you next time. Thanks, everybody.

In this episode, Representative Moore, one of the co-sponsors of H.R.7677, the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act of 2022, will give us brief but insightful details about the bill.

Show Highlights:

• Representative Blake Moore explains the reasons behind the efforts to push the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act of 2022
• Rep. Moore briefly touches on the topic of material sourcing and potential environmental challenges 
  • A potential roadblock concerning raw materials is overcoming challenges coming from the energy and commerce committee
• What is the ideal market share for the US in the PCB manufacturing industry?
• The CHIPS Act and defining industrial policy
• Initiatives in developing a qualified workforce that can fill the new manufacturing jobs and all of the other jobs that come along with it to support the industry
• Sign up for the Electronic Design to Delivery Index to help guide you through supply chain turmoil

Links and Resources:

Sign up for the Electronic Design to Delivery Index Learn more about the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act of 2022 Learn more about the CHIPS Act Watch the related episodes:      Data Security, 5G and Onshore PCB Manufacturing with Dr. Rob Spalding     IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act     The Benefits of Diversifying PCB Industry Supply Chain

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

When you hear about 10-ounce copper PCBs, high current and high voltage come to mind. In this episode, we will have a deep dive discussion on designing heavy power boards with Mario Strano. Mario is the senior PCB designer at Nikola and also president of ECAD Central. He will share with us his 16 years of experience in PCB design and the migration services he provides through ECAD Central.

Watch this episode or listen on the go. We’ve touched on many other interesting topics, such as setting up clearance and creepage rules and a 57-ounce copper board.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Mario’s background and professional path as PCB Designer and Component Engineer
  • He is currently the only PCB designer at Nikola
  • His expertise includes but is not limited to designing 10-ounce copper boards, real heavy power boards, HMI boards, human-machine interface boards
• Setting up creepage and clearance rules for heavy copper was a challenge to Mario during his transition from SQL Semiconductor to Avnet
• Mario and Zach discuss more 10-ounce copper PCBs
• Zach was amused to hear about Taiyo Kogyo’s 57-ounce copper
  • The Japan-based company developed proprietary processes that allow them to do things like Bus Bar Embedded PCB
• Mario briefly shares his experience as a component engineer at Avnet for six years
• The two discuss the tantalum capacitor shortage in 2018 and compare it to the current semiconductors shortage, which started in 2020
  • How is the supply chain shortage affecting PCB designers, and how are they working around it?
• ECAD Central, an Altium  365, Concord Pro, and Altium NEXUS Database service provider – setup and configuration, database migration
  • Mario compared migrating data to “like moving mountains”
  • Is mirroring parts between two systems possible? Mario explains what can be done. Definitely not a simple drag and drop operation, though!

Links and Resources:

Connect with Mario Strano on Linkedin Visit the ECAD Central website Learn More about Taiyo Kogyo and their 57-ounce copper boards Watch related podcasts: Easily Find Electronic Components for Your Next PCB Design The Benefits of Diversifying PCB Industry Supply Chain

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Jan Vardaman, president and founder of TechSearch International. With decades of experience in semiconductor packaging, Jan shares her expert insights into the global semiconductor industry, focusing on the shift away from Asia for advanced manufacturing and the critical need for an integrated supply chain in the U.S.

This episode not only highlights the technological and industrial shifts in semiconductor packaging but also discusses the economic and policy dimensions affecting the sector. 

Key topics covered include:

• The transition of high-end semiconductor packaging from Asia to other regions like Taiwan and Korea.
• The impact of new facilities in Malaysia on the global supply chain.
• The role and challenges of the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing program in the U.S.
• Detailed discussions on substrate manufacturing and advanced assembly operations outside China.
• The significance of workforce development in sustaining local manufacturing initiatives.
• Future trends and strategies for semiconductor fabrication and assembly in North America.

More Resources:

• Follow Jan on LinkedIn

• Learn More about TechSearch International

• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Materials Science and how this can level up your PCB manufacturability.

In this episode, our guest Geoffrey Leeds the product manager at Insulectro talks about how material science can help solve the unique manufacturing challenges fabricators are dealing with HDI designs.

Listen through the end and check the additional resources below.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Geoffrey Leed’s role as a product manager at Insulectro, a material science distributor
• What is material science and how does it relates to PCB manufacturing
• Ultra HDI designs present unique manufacturing challenges to PCB fabricators
• How are your material choices impacting your design performance?
• Geoffrey explains why having lower CTE materials could be a double-edged sword
• Perfect is the enemy of good enough! You must accept some level of tolerance when your product moves into production and goes out into the real world, It can be the material tolerance or the electrical performance
• The PCB industry has been walking in the packaging industry's footsteps for quite some time and the CHIPS act has become one of the drivers of this movement
• Would a set of alphanumerical rules help designers with HDI designs? Geoffrey answered with the phrase “curse of the easy button”
• Geoffrey recognizes IPC’s effort as the governing body in the standardization of PCB design and manufacturability- heterogeneous

Links and Resources:

Connect with Geoffrey Leeds on LinkedIn

Follow Insulectro on LinkedIn

Visit Insulectro’s website here

Watch Related Episode: Mike Creeden on Empowering PCB Engineers through PCE-A

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Visit Nexar website

Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only 

Let’s take a glimpse into a life of a young process engineer. In this episode, our guest Paige Fiet talks about her career path in the world of PCB manufacturing. She will also share how she landed her role as the Student Liaison in the IPC.

Watch this episode through the end or listen on the go. We hope to inspire young engineers to become more motivated to jump into the PCB industry.

Show Highlights:

• Paige shares her story and her exciting career path before she landed her role as a process engineer at TTM Technologies
• Zach and Paige exchange college experiences, they talk about the courses and curriculum then and now
• Paige briefly talks about her experience in getting the role of the IPC Student Liaison
  • She also talks about how interested engineers can become involved in the IPC and encourage them to invest in a membership and attend other industry-related trade shows and conferences
  • Participating in committees can be a rewarding and fun experience
• Paige had her eyes on TTM from the very beginning. She summed up her role as a process engineer as working on improving processes' efficiency and quality on a daily basis
• Preventing mistakes before they happen is one of the challenging but exciting parts of the job
• There are so many opportunities in the industry and the next generation’s industry expert has a huge room to fill
• Manufacturing misconceptions, Zach and Paige emphasize the exciting opportunities in the PCB manufacturing Industry and encourage young engineers to explore this space

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Paige on LinkedIn
• Visit TTM Technologies website
• Watch Paige Interview: IPC Student Board Member Liaison
• Watch a related episode: IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Visit Nexar website

Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only

Join us on the Altium OnTrack podcast as Zach Peterson sits down with Eliyahu Davis, the lead engineer at Deepview AI. The two explore the future of AI vision systems in manufacturing. Discover how Deepview AI is revolutionizing factory automation with advanced deep-learning cameras. Key Takeaways: -The role of sci-fi-inspired vision systems in manufacturing.

- Insights into Deepview AI’s groundbreaking products.

- The impact of AI on factory automation and efficiency.

- Eliyahu Davis’s background and contributions to the field.

#FactoryAutomation #DeepLearning #ComputerVision

In this episode, we are very excited to have Jesus Zozaya, CEO of Voltera, and Matt Ewertowski, product manager at Voltera. We will discuss pushing the boundaries in electronics design through printed electronics.

Join us and together let’s discover the many benefits of printed electronics from expedited prototyping, proof of concept, and academic research.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Jesus Zozaya, CEO of Voltera, and Matt Ewertowski, product manager at Voltera
• Jesus takes the lead in explaining what Voltera does, and introduced their first product – V-one
• Matt explains the difference between Printed Electronics and additive manufacturing process
• Electronics printer pushes the limits and welcomes new possibilities and opportunities for new materials in the electronic design space
• Voltera designed NOVA (their second product) with users in mind, they created a tool that all electrical engineers can utilize regardless of their skills in material science
• Can you do stack-ups using printed electronics?
• Jesus talks about a customer who created heaters directly on the drone’s wings to melt the ice when flying in cold temperature
• A Voltera customer printed electronics directly on a textile (face mask) that will allow a smartphone app to track the level of CO2 on the face mask
• Mark dives deep into the capabilities of NOVA
• Who is the target market for V-one and how does it differentiate from NOVA
  • The V-one is seen to be utilize more for prototyping, meanwhile NOVA is popular with academic and R and D research
• Printed electronics do not replace traditional marketing, but it aids to expedite the process of getting the proof of concept done

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Jesus Zezoya on LinkedIn
• Connect with Matt Ewertowski on LinkedIn
• Visit Voletra’s website
• Related Podcast Episodes:
  • 3D Printed Circuit Boards for Fast Prototyping
  • The Promising and Challenging Future of 3D Printed Electronics
  • Materials Science and Manufacturing of Better PCB
• Connect with Zach Peterson on LinkedIn

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

I am very honored to have Bert Simonovich, a very well-known expert in the signal integrity community, in today’s episode. Bert developed the "Cannonball-Huray" model used for transmission line loss modeling, which has been adopted in several popular EDA tools.

We will be discussing several topics relating to copper roughness, including different approaches to ensure signal integrity in your PCB design.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Bert shares his background and experience
  • He did his microprocessor systems back in the late '70s and later worked at Bell-Northern Research in Ottawa, Canada
  • In the 90s he transitioned to Nortel from where he specialized in backplane design and signal integrity
  • He founded Lamsim in 2009
• Bert retrospects using photo tools which is now the photo plotting with Gerbers. His experience helped him understand the mechanics of PCB construction
• A client’s demand led to extensive research involving dielectric material comparisons and foil roughness
• With various PCB surface roughness models, how to determine which process to move forward with?
  • Bert explains the Design Feedback Method
  • Cannonball technique is a roughness modeling approach which Bert also described as a heuristic method
  • Checkout Bert’s articles on SI Journal
• Bert gives a detailed explanation of how copper is being used in PCBs
• HDP user group international published a research paper Smooth Copper Signal Integrity in 2016
• Bert and Zach agree that PCB construction is complicated and it is highly recommended for PCB designers and SI engineers to learn more about the fabrication process
• What does reverse treated foil means, and how does it relate to the power layer?
• Read Bert’s DesignCon Paper: A Practical Method to Model Effective Permittivity and Phase Delay Due to Conductor Surface Roughness

Links and Resources:

Connect with Bert Simonovich on LinkedIn

Follow Lamsim Enterprises Inc. on LinkedIn

Visit Lamsim Enterprises Inc. website

Read Bert’s Articles on SI Journal

Full OnTrack Podcast Library

Altium Website

Welcome to the Altium "OnTrack Podcast," hosted by Zach Peterson. In this episode, we're joined by Joost Brilman, an EMC consultant and creator of the EMI Buster weekly email. Joost and Zach discuss the common pitfalls in electronics design, particularly with pre-certified modules, and how they can lead to EMI issues. Joost shares valuable tips for troubleshooting and preventing EMI problems, as well as insights into a career in EMC consulting. Key Topics: - Why pre-certified modules might not be foolproof workarounds for ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE.

- Common EMI PITFALLS in electronics design

- Practical EMI TIPS for EMC COMPLIANCE

- EMI CAREERS and career advice for aspiring EMC consultants

About Joost Brilman: Joost is an EMI buster. He reduces and prevents electronic interference as EMC consultant. He assists many hardware development companies in passing EMC requirements. Previously active as an electronics developer with a background in Power Electronics, causing a lot of EMI.

#EMIPitfalls #EMCTips #ElectronicsDesign #EMCConsultant #JoostBrilman

Join Tech Consultant Zach Peterson on this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast where EMC troubleshooting expert Min Zhang explores the complexities of measuring ground in electronic systems using both voltage and current methods. With his profound expertise and practical insights, Min provides a comprehensive breakdown of the techniques and tools necessary for accurate measurements, especially in high-power applications.

Episode Highlights: 

• In this episode you'll learn: 
  • The impact of frequency on the cost and selection of multi-gigahertz probes.
  • Detailed explanations of VOLTAGE TESTING and MEASURING GROUND techniques in EMC applications.
  • Insights into the challenges and solutions for measuring high-frequency transient events.
• What the technical challenges are in measuring GROUNDING SYSTEMS using differences between circuit points.
• The importance of selecting the right probe based on voltage levels and measurement environment.
• Techniques to minimize noise and ensure accurate readings in noisy industrial environments.

Further Resources:

• Connect with Min Zhang on LinkedIn
• EMC and Compliance International is the UK's premier independent trade show specializing in every facet of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and compliance. It features exhibitors from a variety of sectors such as electronics, electrical, industrial, aerospace, medical, and military. Check out their website here.
• Information on EMC and Compliance International's Training Program
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

In this episode, a returning guest Gabriel Goldstein shares the electronics behind the thrills in escape rooms. He also generously gives some valuable advice on finding your niche and starting your own electronics business.

Gabriel was the former owner of Anidea Engineering and Escape Room Tech. Listen to this episode and be inspired by how he married two industries together and become the master of this very unique niche.

Watch the episode here

• • Gabriel’s background, he is the former owner of Anidea Engineering and Escape Room Tech
  • The business of producing low-volume products - his first big project is an ARM9 with 16 mb of RAM, a PDA style learning device
  • The fascinating technology in the escape room includes off-the-shelf surveillance cameras, keyboards, and maglocks. Gabriel describes the technology behind the “magic doors”
    • They use RFID and developed their RS45-based networking system
  • A successful escape room requires an extreme collaboration of multiple skill sets that include electronics guys, theater guys, and game theory team just to name the least
  • The escape room industry is a marriage of electronics and haunt industry
  • Creating a small, showpiece project could be a gateway to a PCB design career
  • Software engineers have GitHub, while PCB designers have Arduino and Raspberry Pi
  • Gabriel wrote blogs to educate his customers about the business of producing products that sell
    • He became Mr. Networker hanging out at the Angel Forum groups and the venture capital groups
    • For about 6 years he was out there in the community to help out, give back and help build a business
    • He recommends a book from Martin Gerber – Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

• “If you're going to take off the engineering hat and try to turn this into a business, please learn how to run a business because it's a completely different skill set”
• Ending the conversation with a little anecdote from Gabriel, an inspiration to be in the business mindset and going for the American Dream

Resources:

Connect with Gabriel Goldstein on LinkedIn

Visit Escape Room Techs website

Read Martin Gerber’s Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

Watch the previous episode with Gabriel Goldstein - How to Build a New Data Management System

Read Gabriel Goldstein’s Blog Articles on LinkedIn

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library

Altium Website

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, our host Zach Peterson sits down with Geoffrey Leeds, the founder of Leeds Engineering and Data Science. If you've ever wondered how production managers react to integrating data science into production operations, or if the term "data-driven decision-making" has piqued your interest, you're in for a treat.

Geoffrey shares his journey from his time at Insulectro to venturing out to help companies embrace data science. The discussion dives deep into the challenges and opportunities of applying data science in manufacturing, with a focus on improving decision-making and efficiency.

In a candid conversation, Geoffrey and Zach explore the misconceptions and hurdles faced by production managers when introduced to the world of data science. From the fear of complexity to concerns about cost and implementation, they tackle the real-world issues that arise when trying to bridge the gap between manufacturing and data science.

Whether you're a seasoned professional in the field or just starting to explore the possibilities of data-driven decision-making, this episode offers valuable insights and perspectives. Join Geoffrey Leeds and Zach Peterson as they navigate the intersections of manufacturing, data science, and the exciting potential for innovation in the industry.

Don't miss out on this engaging and informative episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast! Subscribe now and stay tuned for more discussions with industry leaders and innovators.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Intro
• Return of Data Science
• Bad Data & Improper Recommendations
• Automated Process Solutions
• Capturing Data
• IIoT
• Onshoring & the Winds of Change
• A Plethora of Processes
• PCB Packaging
• 49:25 Manufacturing is Fun & Challenging Again
• 52:42 New Data Solutions 

Matt Kelly is the  Chief Technologist at IPC. In this episode we will discuss all about the technological challenges the industry is facing. Matt will help us understand the “ecosystem” involving the semiconductor industry, advanced packaging, and IC substrates.

Watch this episode here

OR listen on the go!

Check the show notes and additional resources below.

Show Highlights:

• Matt Kelly’s role as the Chief Technologist at IPC
• The Moore's Law is continuing, but it is economically becoming difficult to maintain, this has become the driving force behind heterogeneous integration 
• What does the CHIPS Act really mean for manufacturers?
• Production of semiconductors is an expensive business–one fabrication infrastructure can cost an average of 20 billion dollars
• Matt stresses the need in the industry to use, and understand the “ecosystem” involving the semiconductor industry, advanced packaging, and IC substrates
• The US has a 20-year market leader, knowhow gap, weak sub-tier supply, skilled workforce shortage, and lack of raw materials
• The industry needs to spend time looking at the big picture, take the bigger messages, and convert them into actual change
• A significant shift in the workforce–PCB designers are a scarce commodity. In the near future, printed circuit board designers may have to double as IC substrate designers
• The global supply chain is alive and well, a change to a regional and global mindset is necessary to overcome most of the industry challenges
  • Matt shares the same scenario with produce shoppers in the summertime, you try to buy your fresh fruits and vegetables locally from your local farmers or whatever, but yet you still go to the grocery store
• IPC’s focus is on increasing workforce skills development in the areas of design and assembly
  • IPC is sponsoring the Advanced Packaging Symposium, Building the Substrate and Packaging Assembly Ecosystem in Washington, DC, on October 11th and 12th

Links and Resources:

Follow Matt Kelly on LinkedIn Learn more about the IPC’s Advanced Packaging Symposium, Building the Substrate and Packaging Assembly Ecosystem Watch related podcast episode:     The Benefits of Diversifying PCB Industry Supply Chain     IPC CEO John Mitchell on the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act     What is in the PCB Bill? Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website

Today we have a chat with Daniel Kagerbauer, CTO and co-founder at Inmox. This is a fascinating conversation regarding Inmox's aim to change how industrial maintenance is done and, while their initial focus is on gearboxes, the implications for their software and sensor developments may be broadly applicable across the entire industrial landscape. The two talk about monitoring industrial systems, materials challenges, industry-specific applications, and much more.

If you're interested in advancements in the industrial space, this is the episode for you.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Daniel Kagerbauer CTO and co-founder of Inmox. Inmox is part of the Altium startup program called Launchpad
• Inmox is currently developing industry ready prototype and moving towards heavy industrial applications
• Commercial automotive and even the racing industry is a better fit for Inmox’s gearbox monitoring system
• Daniel describes in detail what their product look like, from a sensor oil screw that can monitor the vehicle’s lubrication system, installing T-tube and wiring local ethernets
• Data are being collected where the wear particles are present, and the oil screw with the lubricant have quite good access to essential stuff that needs measuring
• Smaller systems are more automative focus while bigger systems are applicable for wind energy versions such as a helicopter, moreover safety is utmost important
• Certification challenges can involve finances, redesigns and weight optimization
• How does the real-time particle analysis works?
• Daniel talks more about distinguishing between ferromagnetic, non-ferromagnetic, and the good old electro magnetism
• Inmox is currently in negotiation with potential customers and doing interviews with mentors from different industries
• Body vibration monitoring is more precise and reliable
• Inmox longterm vision is to promote extended lifespan to machines and pushing mechanical engineering in a more sustainable path

Links and Resources:

• Leap your start-up to the next level. Learn more about Altium Launchpad, a program designed to support early stage start-ups launch their product to the market, fast!
• Read related articles:
  • PCB Manufacturing Startup Costs: Budget for Tests and Success
  • The Startup's Guide to PCB Manufacturing
  • Electronic Hardware Startup Tips: From Idea to Manufacturing
  • How to Build a Hardware Startup: Beginning to Realize Your Electronics Dreams
• Visit Inmox website
• Connect with Daniel Kagerbauer on LinkedIn

In this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, we chat with Dr. Preeya Kuray, a renowned material scientist at AGC Multi Materials. Dr. Kuray and Tech Consultant Zach Peterson explore some of the latest developments in the PCB industry, as well as a few material science innovations. Dr. Kuray shares her insights on the evolving landscape of printed circuit boards and the groundbreaking material science developments shaping the future of electronics. 

From discussing AGC's pioneering work in low-loss copper-clad laminates and RF materials to exploring the potential of glass in chip packaging, this episode offers a glimpse of where the industry is headed. 

Check out this episode for discussions on the synergy between PCB design and material science, the impact of legislative measures like the CHIPS Act on the industry, and the future projects AGC is spearheading to drive technological advancements. 

Learn by doing is what Bill Kolicoski, the creator of Taste the Code Youtube Channel advises everyone who wants to jump into the electronic design. Bill is a software developer passionate about making electronics design and engineering fun.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Bill shares how he got started with his Youtube Channel, Taste the Code
  • Bill recognizes that designing and building electronics is a perfect way to understand software or coding – making the code more tangible
• Making electronic design accessible for everyone is one of Bill’s missions in creating his channel
  • Jumpstart to electronics design through learning by doing
• Software and hardware coexist–a software engineer should have an understanding of how hardware works
  • It’s the eureka moments that help students understand how things work
  • Understanding what happens in the code and the chip to make things come to life
• Bill emphasizes improving your design skills by exploring all possibilities how you can improve your finished product
• Reference design for hardware developments and reverse engineering is a great way to make electronics and hardware more understandable
• Bill shares what drove him to pursue software vs. hardware
  • Software is a lot easier to outsource
  • Location/ country can be a determinant of pursuing a specific career in tech
• Having fun doing electronics
• Getting hands dirty and jumping right into the design process; this and more tips from Bill on how to get into the electronics design and how you can improve your skills
  • Search for videos with a specific solution 
• Invest time in building projects
• Make your work public and get feedback from the community and professionals
• Rubber Duck Debugging is a software jargon meaning explaining a challenging scenario to yourself to develop a solution

Links and Resources:

Subscribe to Bill’s Channel Taste to Code Making electronic design easy, visit Upverter website Register at Altium Education for Free Altium Designer Free Student License Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

In this episode of The OnTrack Podcast, Tech Consultant Zach Peterson chats with the co-founders of Valispace, Louise Lindblad and Marco Witzmann. Valispace is revolutionizing the engineering world by transforming system design tools, making them more efficient, connected, and capable of handling the complex requirements of today's engineering challenges. 

Learn how, from satellite engineering to the intricate demands of aerospace and beyond, Valispace's unique approach empowers engineers to build better, more innovative products by bridging the gap between requirements, design, and implementation. 

Key Highlights:

• Louise & Marco's Backgrounds: Introduction of Louise and Marco, highlighting their professional backgrounds and expertise.
• Valispace Background & Intent: Overview of the origins of Valispace, including the initial purpose and intentions behind its development.
• Spreadsheet Pains: Discussion on the challenges and limitations associated with using spreadsheets for engineering and project management tasks.

Further Resources:

• Connect with Louise and Marco on LinkedIn
• Watch this webinar to learn more about the Altium 365 requirements manager powered by Valispace
• Exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

In this OnTrack episode, we are very excited to bring you Tim Wang Lee, a Signal Integrity Application Scientist and the High-Speed Digital Application Product Manager at Keysight.

Tim will share his early days as a prodigy with Dr. Eric Bogatin. We will also discuss the importance of simulation and measurement to achieve signal integrity for your PCB design.

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Tim Wang Lee Introduction
• Tim talks about Dr. Eric Bogatin as his mentor, the knowledge about simulation and signal integrity especially rule number nine
• A favorite phrase GIGO (garbage in garbage out) according to Tim is his way of understanding his intentions and asking questions before diving into a project
• Tim with Mike Russo, initiated simulation and measurement workflow seminars and webinars to help educate the importance of measurements and simulation to back it up
• What is a Virtual Prototype?
• Where to start with a system-level qualification in simulation?
• Tim explains what an EP Scan (Electrical Performance Scan) does
• Keysight is also now focusing on Power Integrity and Heidi Barnes is one of the leading experts in the Power Integrity ecosystem
• Next step for Keysight is to aid PCB designers in not only generating results but also fixing the issues

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Tim Wang Lee on LinkedIn

• Visit the Keysight Website

• Read Tim Wang Lee’s articles on SI Journal

• Watch Related Podcast Episode:

  • Pathological Design Features: Eric Bogatin on PCB Design

  • Power Integrity and Simulations with Heidi Barnes

  • Picotest’s Water-Cooled Probe with Steve Sandler

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Explore the transformative world of 3D MID design in the OnTrack Podcast as Altium's Jack Henriques and Harting's Michael Mross discuss Altium's cutting-edge 3D routing tool. Gain insights into the vast potential of molded interconnect devices (MIDs) across industries and stay updated on the future of PCB design.

Expedite your transition from prototype to scale with the help of an experienced PCB broker! In this episode, a returning guest joins us to discuss everything that involves cost-effective PCB manufacturing. Greg Papandrew, a PCB buying and selling expert, gives us a comprehensive understanding of PCB cost drivers and tips on a good supply chain strategy.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• The process of buying and selling, Greg Papandrew is a PCB broker with 30 years of experience in the industry
• Greg emphasizes the importance of quoting smartly, learning when, where, and how to save money without sacrificing the PCB quality
• What is a good supply chain strategy?
• Greg dives deep into his role as a PCB broker, and his involvement in the decision making involving specs, materials, cost, and more
• Sending too much information can be problematic, and it involves the vulnerability of intellectual property
• Good communication with the PCB manufacturer and fabricator can go a long way; asking the right questions can help with the production of high-quality products with a fair pricing
• What is the anatomy of a complete data package?
  • What's in a File list and a README file 
• Greg answers, at what stage of the process does a PCB designer or manufacturer approach a PCB broker?

Links and Resources:

Connect with Greg Papandrew on LinkedIn Watch a previous episode with Greg Panandrew: How to Buy PC Boards From a Board Shop Watch Greg’s video: How to Avoid Self-inflicted PCB Costs Visit DirectPCB - Better Board Buying website Connect with Zach on LinkedIn Visit Nexar website Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only!

In this episode, we continue the discussion on diversifying the electronic supply chain. Our guest Case Engelen the CEO of Titoma shares his insight about moving some of the manufacturing to other Southeast Asian countries and South America. 

Watch this episode now and check out the show notes and additional resources below.

Show Highlights:

• Case Engelen introduces himself and his company Titoma
• Offshoring, onshoring, and diversifying supply chain, why do the majority of components manufacturing may stay in China for 5 more years?
• Building prototypes and optimizing your design following the factory’s specifications
• Case talks about the importance of component architecture early during the design phase
• The difference between how US and Chinese market their product and their selling strategies
• Diversifying manufacturing in Southeast Asia and South America, Taiwan is a little more expensive than China, but Columbia is more competitive when it comes to cost
• The advanced manufacturing capabilities in China are quite hard to beat
• What is “bifurcation”?
• What does the future of electronics production and sourcing and procurement look like?

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Case Engelen on LinkedIn
• Visit Titoma Website
• Watch the Previous Related Episodes:
  • Mastering Your PCB Design Tool as the Industry Evolves with Stephen Chavez
  • Mitigating Risk Factors for PCB Manufacturing Lead Times
  • Data Security, 5G and Onshore PCB Manufacturing with Dr. Rob Spalding

Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE

Continuing our discussion on PCB design education, in this episode, joining us is Fergus Downey. Fergus is a Ph.D. student and research assistant at Curtin University in Western Australia (WA) and is currently involved in the Binar Space Program. Today, we will tackle the education and opportunities related to Mechatronic Engineering and a little overview of CubeSat.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Fergus's background and how he landed on the Mechatronic Engineering path
• How is the space industry in Australia driving the students to pursue an electronics-related career?
• Exposure to CAD tools and manufacturing processes helps students understand circuit design better
• Some projects the students in Western Australia like to work on
  • Camera PCBs, radiation center PCB, CanSat PCB design, and more
• What are the main challenges involved in designing CubeSats, and how do Altium Designer® and Altium 365 make a great design tool for these projects?
• Electronic design and redundancy–redundant systems in limited space like in spacecraft
• Fergus talks about his team winning the second place in the #PCBetheChange design competition in 2021 with their entry Swan River Clean Up
• Fergus talks about the Mechatronics Engineering Computer Science degree being offered at Curtin University
• Checkout the Binar Space Program website and connect with Fergus on LinkedIn

Links and Resources:

Connect with Fergus Downey on LinkedIn Binar Space Program website Learn more about the Mechatronics Engineering Computer Science at Curtin University Check out the #PCBeTheChange Student Design Competition Winners Register at Altium Education for Free Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

Explore the intersection of Global Innovation Policy and the CHIPS Act with Stephen Ezell, VP of Global Innovation Policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), in this insightful episode of the OnTrack Podcast. 

Hosted by Tech Consultant Zach Peterson, this discussion delves into the complexities of navigating the Chinese market, the principles of comparative advantage, and the critical role of policy in fostering technological self-sufficiency. Discover how the CHIPS Act aims to bolster the electronics industry and innovation within the global tech landscape. 

Key Highlights:

• ITIF's Role and Background: Explore the foundation and mission of ITIF, shedding light on its significance in policy discourse.
• Hardware vs. Software in Policy: Delve into the nuances of hardware and software considerations for policymakers, shaping discussions on technological advancement and regulation.
• CHIPS and Science Act: Examine ITIF's involvement in the CHIPS and Science Act, emphasizing its implications for innovation and industry development.
• Global CHIPS Act Comparisons: Compare the CHIPS Act with similar initiatives worldwide, providing insight into its effectiveness and relevance on a global scale.
• Policy Perspectives on Economic Dynamics: Analyze key questions surrounding industrial policies, including the CHIPS Act's role, potential handouts, and the broader implications for economic strategies like onshoring and friendshoring, in the context of China's economic evolution.

Better thermal efficiency, how to do better power efficiency, how to reduce losses, how to help people handle those thermal losses? This episode is a real treat.

Our guest Steven Schnier, Systems Engineer for Power Management at Texas Instruments generously shares the different strategies for designing better thermal and power efficient PCB.

Watch through the end, this episode is sure have great tips and strategies that you don’t want to miss.

Watch this episode here.

Show Highlights:

• Introduction to Steven Schnier, Systems Engineer for Power Management at Texas Instruments
• Steven shares that Texas Instrument is currently focusing on better thermal efficiency, how to do better power efficiency, how to reduce losses, how to help people handle those thermal losses
• What is the best strategy in regulating the LDO?
• Eliminating the LDO to lower the noise, but keep in mind that LDO does not solve all the noise issues
• Steven briefly explains the difference between low noise, ripple, and EMI
• Using a ferrite bead filter is one of most common ways to suppress noise and switching frequency
• Steven dives in the details on the appropriate use of ferrites and shares about Texas Instrument’s integrated ferrite bead filter
• Where would you add damping in that pie circuit that you might be putting on the output of that buck converter?
• Steven shares a tip on how to reduce output voltage ripple
• Ferrite beads help with EMI concerns, crosstalk concerns, and transmission line effects, but ultimately to kill the noise and the output ripple
• Steven generously shares different strategies for designing for better thermal and power efficiency
• Various ADC (analogue-to-digital converter) products at Texas Instruments
• When does a multi-phase converter applicable to use?
• Steven talks about the Texas Instruments’ TPS series module equivalents
• BGA vs QFN, when to use what?
• Texas Instruments is going with higher power density, so expect more progress on that

Links and Resources:

• Read Power Integrity related articles
• Read: The Beginner's Guide to PCB Power Integrity: From Board to Package
• Watch related videos:
  • Ferrites in Power Delivery Networks - Part One
  • Ferrites in Power Delivery Networks - Part Two
  • LDOs Vs. Switching Regulators - Power Regulation in PCB Design: Part One
  • LDO Deep Dive - Power Regulation in PCB Design: Part Two
• Connect with Steven Schnier via Linkedin
• Visit Texas Instrument Website

Let’s talk about Electronics reliability with the QA guru Cheryl Tulkoff.

In this episode Cheryl and I will talk about risk assessment, planning for not only success but also a failure, and understanding the difference between quality and reliability. This discussion is going to be very informative for every PCB designer who wants to get ahead of their game. Watch through the end, and make sure to check the additional resources below.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Cheryl shares her rewarding career experience in the electronics industry
  • She worked at IBM where she was immersed in electronic manufacturing from beginning to end
  • She also worked at DfR Solutions and National Instruments where she learned all the skills and knowledge in electronics manufacturability, quality & reliability consulting
• To produce a successful electronic product it is important to have the awareness to resolve every problem, from the chip level, board level, system level, and the environment level
• Cheryl explains why unique or non-aligned standards exist in the industry – no one size fits all
• A great piece of advice for all PCB designers is to know what you are designing and who you are designing it for, look at the risks, and then manage them appropriately
• Planning for success may also include celebrating failures. Budget for failure analysis is often disregarded due to the “success-driven roadmap” mentality
• Failure should be part of design management
• Cheryl and Zach talk about the “Startup Culture”
• Software reliability and hardware reliability go hand in hand
• What rate of failure is tolerable? Defining what is quality and reliability separately for the product you are designing
• Manufacturers can not ensure reliability for you
• Cheryl shares her experience being involved in litigation as an expert witness
• Redundancy practices in the industry, is it typical?
• What can designers do to mitigate failures?
  • Understanding what you are designing and who you are designing it for
  • Collect as much feedback as possible – from users, industry experts, and professional organizations

Links and Resources:

• Connect with Cheryl Tulkoff on LinkedIn
• Read Cheryl Tulkoff articles on Research Gate
• Checkout Cheryl Tulkoff book Design for Excellence in Electronics Manufacturing
• Connect with Zach on LinkedIn
• Full OnTrack Podcast Library
• Altium Website

To develop a resilient ecosystem, understanding the root cause of the PCB industry supply chain shortages is a must.

In this episode, Travis Kelly, president and CEO of Isola Group will help us understand what is going on with the current supply chain in the electronics industry. Travis will also give us his insight into the new legislation introduced in the US Congress: Bipartisan Bill to Bring Electronics Manufacturing to America and Strengthen Supply Chains.

Tune in, or listen on the go. Stay up to date with the latest discussion in the PCB Industry.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here. t

Show Highlights:

• Travis's introduction and a brief overview of PCB manufacturing and fabrication in the United States
  • About 20 years ago, the US produced roughly 26% of the world's PCBs; today, that number is down to 4%
  • There used to be over 2000 fabricators in the late 1990s and early 2000 to less than 140 today
• What are the main drivers of the PCB industry supply chain shift?
• The industry recognizes the benefits of working in a global economy; Travis explained the need to diversify manufacturing capabilities in certain regions
  • Identify what makes sense to have a robust supply chain domestically, e.g., 5G, 6G, medical, aerospace, obviously defense, banking infrastructures
• Travis stresses that there are ways to reduce the overall cost of PCB and electronics production and still manufacture domestically
  • Looking at the entire ecosystem and pointing out vulnerabilities outside of just chips and advanced packaging, how to address each one?
  • Focus on a balanced approach, not over-indexing; strategically, where does it make sense to build brick and mortar to have a resilient, robust, and trusted supply chain?
• What does it mean to bring manufacturing onshore?
• Building a strategic and competitive PCB industry ecosystem requires more than just automated facilities; it’s also essential to invest on:
  • Workforce development – hiring and building up a talented workforce domestically
  • Promote STEM in schools
  • Create awareness of PCB industry design and manufacturing as part of the sought after career in tech
• Travis gives insight into the new legislation introduced in the US Congress: Bipartisan Bill to Bring Electronics Manufacturing to America and Strengthen Supply Chains
  • He emphasizes the importance of understanding the root cost of the imbalanced supply chain vs. addressing just the symptoms
  • Continue to educate the Whitehouse on understanding the issue extensively and not just focusing on the semiconductor shortages
  • Considering the cost of the end products (for consumers) when navigating and drawing solutions
• The role of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA) in the industry: educate, advocate and legislate

Links and Resources:

Connect with Travis Kelly on LinkedIn Follow PCBAA on LinkedIn Visit Isola Group’s  website Eshoo & Moore Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bring Electronics Manufacturing to America and Strengthen Supply Chains Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

This is a very interesting episode, especially for hardware engineers. Duncan Haldane, the CEO, and co-founder of JITX joins us to share a very interesting approach to PCB design. JITX is a way for hardware engineers to write code to design circuit boards.

I know you are excited to hear more! Watch this episode or listen on the go. Be sure to check out the show notes and additional resources below.

Watch this episode here

Show Highlights:

• Duncan talks about the Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and the general availability of JITX as an actual product.
• Duncan's path to engineering started in robotics
• How can an electrical engineer benefit from JITX? Duncan explained in detail
• JITX is very well integrated with Altium, it works natively with the existing designs and libraries 
• Hardware-generated code transforms the job of an engineer a little bit so that they don't have to manually look through all of the different specs for every component that they need
• JITX is a Nexar partner and uses Octoparts data, in addition, they built a different type of database that's meant for part optimization.
• Reusable expert hardware engineering knowledge is one of JITX’s ultimate goals
  • They are building full automation for boards, new kinds of routing algorithms, new kinds of placement algorithms, and checks for physical geometry
• The future is optimization
  • Zach and Duncan excitedly talked about AI, and how it can be used to drive some parameters to create new designs
• Electrical engineers’ job is secure, automation can help with the shortage, but will not replace electrical engineers’ jobs
• What the future looks like for JITX

Links and Resources:

Connect with Duncan Haldane on LinkedIn Visit JITX website Read JITX Launches General Availability And Announces $12M Series A From Sequoia Capital

Connect with Zach on LinkedIn Visit Nexar website Visit Octopart website

Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only

This episode will learn how a childhood dream can turn into reality through hard work, determination, and networking. Andrew Hartnett dreamt of working with NASA at a very young age. He will share with us exactly how he landed his Computer Engineer position in this very sought-after agency.

Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics

Watch the video, click here.

Show Highlights:

• Andrew’s background, from his 3rd-grade drawing and high school robotics team to landing a co-op internship program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC)
  • He joined The First Robotics Team in high school
  • A lot of networking and determination is what helps him land the co-op internship program
  • He started working full-time in January 2010
• Briefly discuss Upverter and the benefits of having high-school level educational programs for aspiring PCB designers
• What is NASA’s co-op internship program? Andrew describes the advantages of the co-op program over a typical internship
  • Get exposure to things you don’t get at school
  • Experience designing and actual assembly of PCB
• Andrew talks about electronic design standards at NASA and shares details about testing, reliability, and the challenges of sending electronic devices to the space
  • Addressing devices’ heat, and vibration in space
• Andrew talks more about First Robotic Competition and stresses the importance of hands-on experience for high school kids or younger

Links and Resources:

Visit NASA’s JSC website Learn more about JSC’s Internship Program Making electronic design easy, visit Upverter's website Register at Altium Education for Free Altium Designer Free Student License Connect with Zach on LinkedIn

Full OnTrack Podcast Library Altium Website Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Learn More about Altium Nexus

On this episode of the OnTrack Podcast, we welcome Phil Marcoux, Advisor to the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA). Phil is gearing up for a fascinating webinar on AI in the electronics industry, so we thought we'd chat with him about what sees as the most potentially transformative aspects of this revolution in the electronics space.

Listen/watch to discover how Innovations in AI are transforming the electronics industry, reshaping everything from design to production. Phil and host, Tech Consultant Zach Peterson, explore real-world applications, the importance of data for AI's success, and how the industry is moving towards a more interconnected and intelligent (pun intended) future.

Key Highlights

• AI & Electronics Design: Explores the symbiotic relationship between artificial intelligence and electronics design, highlighting how AI is revolutionizing the field.
• Are We in an AI Bubble?: Raises critical inquiry into whether the current surge in AI development constitutes a bubble, prompting reflection on the sustainability and potential pitfalls of AI advancement.
• AI Can't Read Your Mind: Discusses the inherent limitations of AI in deciphering human thoughts and intentions, emphasizing the distinction between AI capabilities and human cognition.
• Trends from the Early Days of AI: Examines trends emerging from the early stages of AI development, providing valuable insights into its evolution and predicting potential future trajectories.
• A Potential Role for AI: Speculates on the future landscape of electronics design with AI integration, envisioning potential applications and transformative impacts on the industry.

Further Resources

• Sign up for Phil's FREE Webinar
• Connect with Phil Marcoux
• Check out more episodes of the OnTrack Podcast
• Take advantage of exclusive 15 Days Free Altium Designer Access

Our guest Phil Marcoux is very well-known in the advanced electronic packaging community and currently working as a business mentor in the electronics industry. 

Phil is labeled as the father of SMT by the IPC. He is a Charter member of SMT Council, granted the IPC President's Award, past owner of over 40 integrated circuit packaging and camera module-related patents, and consultant on numerous heterogeneous designs and standards, just to name a few of his excellent achievements.

Today we will tackle the pros and cons of heterogeneous electronic assemblies and what we can do as an industry to move forward with it.

Show Highlights:

• Learn about Phil Marcoux and his upcoming panel discussion at PCB West 
  • The panel will discuss “How Heterogeneous Integration Affects the PCB Industry.”
  • Phil is looking forward to promoting PCEA and the need to embrace education
• PCB designers must recognize what compromises they will have to make to utilize that chiplet
  • One of the challenges is to encourage companies to work together and to agree to a standardized chiplet format
• The funding from the federal government may motivate companies to embrace the heterogeneous type of format and the chiplet format.
• Many defense contractors, military products, and advanced electronic products are now rapidly depending on the need for heterogeneous designs
  • Other significant drivers in the market include medical devices, telecommunications, and 5G products
• Most design software are fully capable of handling heterogeneous integration
  • PCB designers can very quickly jump in. Many structures in a printed circuit board, especially in HDI designs, are also used in advanced packages.

Links and Resources:

• Follow Phil Marcoux on LinkedIn
• Learn more about PCB West 2022
• Visit PCEA website
• Full OnTrack Podcast Library
• Altium Website

Quality and reliability are a big deal when designing PCB for assembly. Our guest Tony Lentz, Chemist and Field Applications Engineer at FCT Solder will bring us to the PCB manufacturing space while tackling solder beyond basic thermodynamics and composition.

Listen or watch through the end. This is a great opportunity for PCB designers to learn about soldering products that are used for printed circuit board assembly.

Episode Highlights:

• Introduction to Tony Lentz, his background, and role as a Chemist and Field Applications Engineer at FCT Solder

• Tony talks about how they work with their clients to achieve best quality when manufacturing their PCBs

• Diving into the chemistry side of things, Tony tackles about how the blending of different metal alloys, additives, and different inter-metallics to that solder joint composition, the pads, and the components can affect the overall reliability of the PCB

• With the automotive industry’s growing electronic demands, thermal testing cycles are expanding aggressively. Recently between negative 40C to 175 C!

• Tony briefly explains the different worlds involving PCB manufacturing and assembly: solder company, plating company, components manufacturing, board manufacturing, assembly and the list goes on

• What is tombstoning?

• Head on pillow on a BGA is another difficult defect to get rid of, Tony explains what can cause this problem

• Expert Tip: A rule of thumb for large thermal pads is to cut it down somewhere between 60 and 80% of the total area covered with solder paste and then break that deposit up with some window pane type openings going through it

• Are hybrid solder reliable?

• The stability of solder alloys can differ based on the different kinds of metals, components and PCB surface finish