About Author

Dave Young

Dave Young is an electronics engineer who loves working on hard problems. With a strong background in measurement technology, Dave has a particular affinity for analog design, verification, and design for manufacturing to ensure devices always meet specs. His consultancy, Young Circuit Designs, is tuned to help startups and small businesses create and maintain their custom products. Leveraging 20 years of professional experience, his projects span the entire design life cycle from idea to design to manufacturing to legacy support.
Engineering education is another big part of Dave’s life. In addition to publishing articles and videos, he enjoys inspiring the next generation of engineers. Dave co-founded BlueStamp Engineering, which offers hands-on electromechanical maker education for high schoolers. He also operates Engineering Up, which offers free after-school project classes for local youth.
Dave is always keen to explore the latest tools, techniques, or approaches that will help him and his colleagues create something remarkable.

Recent Articles

PCB Layout Replication: The Perfect Tool for Test Jigs Altium Designer 24’s ‘Layout Replication’ feature represents everything you want from a great design tool; taking over tasks that are both crucial to the mission and tedious to execute. Anyone who has laid out a production test fixture for an array of small PCBs knows it’s like walking a tightrope between the need for precision and the repetitive task of placing and routing circuits multiple times. Imagine what you could do with all the time Read Article

PCB assembly (PCBA) and supply chain management

Take the Risk Out of Prototype PCB Assembly (PCBA) There is a special feeling one gets when polishing off a Rev A design and ordering the first set of PCBs from a board house. While designers everywhere would likely not trade that feeling for anything, taking some of the uneasiness off the table would probably be a welcome change. Here are review steps that should prove more effective at settling nerves than an after-work visit to the bar—and infinitely more effective at preventing errors! There Read Article

The Art of Selecting Connectors Connectors are the unsung stars of both a product and its hardware development. Any Apple user knows the romantic tale the company has spun from infatuation with the first magnetic power connector through the betrayal of the 3.5mm jack to today’s ‘it’s complicated’ status thanks to the baggage their dongles create in pursuit of beauty. Product developers have similar emotional experiences with their prototypes. An unreliable connector that has Read Article

Should I Make, Find, or Download My PCB Symbols and Footprints? Easily generate the most realistic, accurate, and data-rich 3D models in Altium Making footprints and schematic symbols has to be one of the most tedious stages of PCBA development. The hassle is not lost on anyone, and there are many different solutions that have been released over the past several years. This article will go through many of the options available today and some pros and cons of each. Component generation is a rich problem thanks Read Article