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Learn about what is involved in true concurrent engineering and get practical tips for including stakeholders early on in the design process with Bill Brooks from Nordson Asymtek. When  project collaborators come together up front, then they move forward together. Hear how Bill spends the time up front to get everyone aligned during the PCB design process to ensure fabrication and assembly processes progress with minimal issues. Listen to the...

Editorial credit: Willrow Hood / Shutterstock.com OK, I’ll admit it; I like the original Star Trek just as much as the next guy. Even with its laughable science, cheesy effects, and starships constructed with painted plywood for bulkheads, it still had relatable characters and compelling stories. But one thing that always bugged me was how our heroes could be all the way across the galaxy and jump into an alien spaceship and drive it like a...

I’m a self-professed workaholic. On a typical workday, lunch breaks become nonexistent as I obsess on my latest project or focus on clearing my list of tasks. During my off-days, however, I move to the opposite end of the spectrum. I became the epitome of laziness as I spend the whole day unwinding. I become immobilized as I sink deeper into the couch while watching my favorite TV shows. In these moments, I wish I could prepare dinner with a...

Call me boring, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become tired of taking my dates to bars. Shouting over people just to get to know someone is not my idea of a great time. The funny thing is that as everyone else talks louder, I have to talk louder to compensate. This level of crosstalk creates a vicious feedback loop and does not make for a romantic evening. Vias are critical features in multilayer PCBs that are used to route connections between...

Digital and analog elements, if not properly arranged, mix about as well as oil and water. When most designers enter the world of PCB design and start transforming their great ideas into hardware, they tend to approach from one of two directions: totally digital or totally analog. Eventually, they hit a point where they have to put analog stuff and digital stuff on the same PCB, and this is where it starts going wrong. The biggest thing that...

Building a library of PCB components requires compiling information on footprint, electrical specifications, simulation models, pin arrangements, and other specifications. The amount of information in any component library is massive and needs to be aggregated into a single module in your PCB design software. A PCB component library should be flexible enough to allow designers and engineers to define proprietary components and implement the...

Moving to PCB production is that breathtaking and nerve-wracking final step in bringing your next electronic device to life. Manufacturers require that a specific set of deliverables be provided by engineers and designers before they begin production. This includes your bill of materials, CAD/CAM drafts of your PCB, Gerber files, and component sourcing information. Probably the most important piece of information is the pricing and lead time...

I continue to be surprised by the number of designers who have yet to understand the importance of a ground plane. Think back to your basic electromagnetics classes, and you'll see why a large ground plane is important in multi-layer planar structures like PCBs. The ground plane acts as a form of shielding, confining electric fields in certain regions of the PCB stack-up, and it is simply convenient for routing and placing ground connections on...