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Explore content from blog posts to technical white papers gathered together for your convenience. All written by Altium's community of PCB design experts.

Product Development Success = Tools, Talent and Eliminating Waste In order to succeed in an increasingly competitive and demanding market, Best-in-Class companies focus on three key areas : identifying and addressing inefficiencies in the process, utilizing technology tools, and focusing on engineering talent. The feedback gathered from 148 respondents illustrates how prioritizing these areas consistently puts the Best-in-Class ahead of their competitors. Key findings include: Best-in-Class companies put out Download PDF
The Value of Automated Planning for Compliance Audits Automated planning of environmental, health and safety (EH&S) compliance audits benefits and affects all levels of operations. Best-in-Class practices reveal the value of automated planning and how it can ultimately save the company from avoidable costs and risks. Key findings include: Compliance to regulations and the need to manage risk are still the primary drivers when it comes to EH&S. The cost-prohibitive consequences of poor compliance Download PDF
Multiphysics Simulation Platforms Supercharge Industrial Design Multiphysics simulation platforms allow industrial engineers to better understand how their designs will function in complex, real-world environments, resulting in a more successful product. Statistics show how using this technology benefits companies and helps them to better meet their their product launch date, cost, and quality targets in comparison to their competitors. Key findings include: Shortened product development cycles is a key Download PDF
Structuring Your Design Data Management to Avoid Design Missteps When it comes to PCB design, one very important aspect of the overall process is proper data management and documentation. While the immediate consequences may not be as apparent, mismanagement of your data can have both a direct and indirect effect on your project and design. Proper implementation of data management and documentation ensures the organization, traceability, accountability and reproducibility of your design data. Read on to learn Read Article
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Altium CircuitStudio Review: The Glory Enter content here Read Article
How Cutting Edge PCB Design Has Enabled the Nest Thermostat to Transform Homes Not exactly the most thrilling thing in the world. Growing up in the northeast, the thermostat was always a point of contention in my household. It was never set high enough - only 60 degrees in the middle of January! My parents, being the practical people they are, wanted to save energy. If everyone is out at school or work all day, then there’s no point having the heat on full blast. “Besides, you can just put on more layers” they would always Read Article
Why You Should Take a Modular Approach to PCB Design for Internet of Things Applications As engineers, one of our worst nightmares is doing the same pointless thing over and over again. Adopting a modular design philosophy for Internet of Things PCBs will save you from that monotony. Optimize your design process and save time, money, and sanity, by reusing your PCB designs. Read on to find out more! While in college I did several projects with Arduino boards. I started with the basic Arduino Uno, but later bought several different Read Article
Flexible PCBs and the Internet of Things: How the Landscape of PCB Design is Rapidly Changing The Internet of Things is a new category of exciting gadgets and appliances transforming the consumer market. However, developing that smartwatch isn’t as easy as putting it on. PCB designers are encountering unique challenges when developing powerful hardware solutions for these products. These PCB’s have to pack performance into a small space while preserving reliability and product budget. Thankfully, recent improvements to an oft-overlooked Read Article
Optimize Software Development for Cars with Standalone Debugging Tools Expensive to license software development toolsets can cause bottlenecks in your company’s software development process. Standalone debuggers will help distribute the workload for faster, less expensive, development. When I bought my last car, the salesman upsold me on the newer model with heated seats. Well, in the heat of the moment I had forgotten that I live in California. I ended up paying a lot more for a car with heated seats that I only Read Article
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Which Altium PCB Design Software is Right For You? Confused as to which Altium professional PCB design product is right for you? Are you just looking to dip a toe with CircuitMaker®? Are you a professional PCB just starting out or are you a full blown Printed Board design maestro who needs all the flexible horsepower that Altium Designer® offers? Find out what Altium software is right for you. Our CMO, Ted Pawela, recently did a live interview with the folks over at Adafruit. One of the questions Read Article
The Best PCB Design and Manufacturing Practices for Moisture Management A source of PCB malfunctions during PCB manufacturing, especially in outdoor environments, comes from moisture on the boards. Fortunately, there are several options for protecting your boards when they are deployed. Read on to learn which is best for your application. I once had an outdoor sensor system with a custom PCB protective coating that would stop recording data for two hours at dawn every day. This was not because the board needed its Read Article
How to Design High-Density PCBs With Buried and Blind Vias The modern is always being pushed to go smaller and cheaper. Blind and buried vias can help you save space and money on your high density PCB layout (HDI). Blind and buried vias help reduce outer layer usage, leaving more room for SMTs and BGA breakout channels. Read on to find out more! Moore’s Law predicts that the number of transistors in integrated circuits (ICs) will double approximately every two years. This law has held true since 1965 Read Article