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  As you dive into your evaluation of Altium Designer, I wanted to share with you some information specifically for someone like you that is coming from a PADS background.   When we look at what engineers and designers really do every day, we often see that as much as 61% of your day can be consumed with non-design related tasks.   These tasks are a byproduct of using a collection of tools (toolchains), vs. the Altium Designer paradigm of...

I once had the privilege of touring the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) courtesy of a family member who served aboard her. Although secure areas were off-limits to me, I still was able to see a good portion of the ship. I saw everything from hangars and workshops to crew quarters and the galley. I even stood on the foremost part of the flight deck, right where Optimus Prime stood at the end of the second Transformers movie. Through it all, I was...

Whenever you place your board into an enclosure, it will need to mount to that enclosure somehow. In order to provide a secure mount without damaging the surface of the PCB with a screw, it's typical to simply place plated through holes in the corners. These PCB mounting holes generally have the pad exposed beneath solder mask so that, if needed, the mounting point can be connected electrically back to one of your nets. One question that often...

When looking at a circuit board, especially as a beginner in the electronics industry, I always wondered why the top layer of PCBs was green. The answer varies depending on who you ask, but one thing everyone agrees on is this: your solder mask aids inspection, provides protection for conductors, and prevents visual fatigue during hand assembly. The various PCB solder mask types differ in how they are applied, their composition, and of course...

Manufacturers are increasingly being pushed to implement manufacturing execution systems (MES) in order to optimize their operations. Statistics illustrate both how Best-in-Class organizations successfully deploy such systems as well as how they reap the benefits of doing so. Key observations include: The pressure to implement MES is predominantly driven by cost, quality, and the need to comply with regulations, respectively. Best-In...

Moisture is the enemy of electronic devices, including integrated circuits, specialized sensing elements, and PCBs. Whether or not a PCB has moisture-sensitive components, the PCB itself and any exposed conductors can be impacted by excess humidity and moisture in the operating environment, storage environment, or factory floor. So to make sure your design does not experience failures from moisture exposure, a combination of design choices...

Since the 1988-1989 academic year the University of Waterloo’s Midnight Sun solar team, under the guidance of faculty advisor Professor Gordon Savage, has been building and competing in the American Solar Challenge (ASC) and the World Solar Challenge (WSC). Each of these competitions are held alternately every other year. Running the helm of the electrical systems team are Minghou Ji (Engineering Manager), Yifei Li (Hardware Engineer) and Taiping...

My wife is an avid reader, and we have a large selection of her favorite books filling the bookshelves in our family room. Lately though, she has been purchasing more and more E-books to read on her tablet. E-books are easier for her to store and transport, and she now prefers that format over the traditional printed book.  This transition from paper to electronic format has been going on for a while now, and E-books are just a small portion...