Newsletters

Browse our past newsletters on PCB design and industry information

OnTrack Newsletter: Component Shortages, Industry Trends and Online Education - March 2021 OnTrack Newsletter March 2021 VOL. 4 No 6 State of the Electronics Industry 2021 Vincent Mazur, Technical Product Marketing Engineer, Altium Ltd. With the challenges of 2020 behind us, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for hardware designers in 2021? In this article, Vince Mazur, Technical Product Marketing Engineer at Altium looks ahead to three emerging trends and share steps to address each one successfully in the year ahead. Read Read Article

2021 Start image

State of the Electronics Industry 2021 With the challenges of 2020 behind us, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for hardware designers in 2021? In this article Vince Mazur, Technical Product Marketing Engineer at Altium, looks ahead to three emerging trends and share steps to address each one successfully in the year ahead. Introduction It's an understatement to say that 2020 is a year that we won't soon forget. Last year imposed many new challenges on all of us-- Read Article

Header image

An Altium Badge of Honor for Engineering Service Bureaus Engineering bureaus are essential to the electronics industry, ensuring high-quality contract work across a wide range of specialties. Altium has partnered with over 800 independent service bureaus over the years, elevating the quality of PCB design. Engineering service companies and contractors using Altium typically provide engineering design services specializing in everything from electrical and mechanical design to signal and power integrity Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: New Altium Subscription Plans, Free Webinars, PCB Design Blogs - January 2021 OnTrack Newsletter January 2021 VOL. 4 No 5 New Altium Subscription Plans: Fit, Flow and Flexibility In this interview, Altium Chief of Staff and Head of Investor Relations, Kim Besharati discusses the new Multi-Level Subscription Plan that was rolled out earlier this month. By providing unprecedented flexibility, choice and a ground-breaking way for design engineers to collaborate with the entire supply chain, this new subscription plan is Read Article

Person typing on laptop

New Altium Subscription Plans: Fit, Flow and Flexibility In this interview, Altium Chief of Staff and Head of Investor Relations, Kim Besharati discusses the new Multi-Level Subscription Plan that was rolled out earlier this month. By providing unprecedented flexibility, choice and a ground-breaking way for design engineers to collaborate with the entire supply chain, this new subscription plan is poised to fundamentally improve the way electronic products are realized around the world. Judy Warner Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: Online Digital Experience, Trustworthy Part Data, AltiumLive Videos are Here! - November 2020 OnTrack Newsletter November 2020 VOL. 4 No 4 Altium Online Digital Experience: Going “All-In” on Customer Centricity In October, Altium unveiled an all-new Online Digital Experience that now allows anyone to digitally access technical support, account management, make purchases, and connect with us in real-time. Through all of the Altium.com webpages, you can engage with over 130 Altium staff members through our human-monitored chatbot and our Read Article

Newsletter Photo for November 2020

Altium Online Digital Experience: Going “All-In” on Customer Centricity Judy Warner: Lawrence, you are working on a new groundbreaking Online Digital Experience that will further advance our focus on customer centricity; tell us about what this is and what it will mean for Altium users. Lawrence Romine: This is very exciting, Judy! As you well know, Altium’s success is built on our focus on the users of our products and services versus a classic value proposition aimed toward executive decision-makers. In our world Read Article

Announcing the Official Altium Brand Store We've been asked by everyone from customers to AltiumLive attendees to employees for real, branded Altium merchandise for years. We’ve heard your requests and we're overjoyed to announce that the Official Altium Store is live! The new curated Official Altium Store has everything you've been asking for; we'll also be adding new merchandise regularly, including seasonal essentials like tank tops and hoodies. Simply visit brandstore.altium.com and Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: AltiumLive 2020: Meet the Speakers, Getting Started Guide and Brain Food - September 2020 OnTrack Newsletter September 2020 VOL. 4 No 3 AltiumLive 2020 Virtual Summit: Meet the Speakers Since announcing that AltiumLive 2020 will be a virtual event, our team has been busy assembling a world-class line up of speakers and industry experts to offer insights into the best engineering practices to help drive your career forward. In this article, you will learn about the speakers and topics you will encounter at this year's FREE virtual Read Article

Meet the Speakers

AltiumLive 2020 Virtual Summit: Meet the Speakers AltiumLive 2020: Virtual PCB Summit registration is now open...and for the first time, it's both virtual and free! While we're disappointed not to be meeting with you in person, we are very excited about offering AltiumLive in a format that enables everyone to attend without the barriers associated with time-off, cost, and travel. Read on to learn more about the speakers and topics we have in store at this year's event. The backbone of every Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: Modern Concurrent Collaboration with Your Supply Chain and Your Team, Brain Food - August 2020 OnTrack Newsletter August 2020 VOL. 4 No 2 A New Experience of Digital Collaboration has Positive Impact on Calumet Electronics In this article, we interview Rob Cooke of Calumet Electronics, a US Based PCB Fabricator in Michigan. Cooke shares his recent experience collaborating on a multi-board design with a design engineer and EMS provider using Altium 365. He talks about his impressions and the implications this will have on design engineers Read Article

Man Typing on computer, collaborating with others

A New Experience of Digital Collaboration has Positive Impact on Calumet Electronics Judy Warner: Rob, please give us a brief overview of Calumet and your role there. Rob Cooke: I've been with Calumet Electronics for just over a year and a half in the role of Director of Engineering Services. I have responsibility for our CAM/Tooling group that handles new orders. I also oversee our Design Engineering services group and our Software Development team. Calumet Electronics is a 50-year-old company that has been making Printed Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: AltiumLive Virtual Summit, OSV, Brain Food - July 2020 OnTrack Newsletter July 2020 VOL. 4 No 1 AltiumLive 2020 goes “Virtual” Like most events in 2020, Altium is transitioning our annual flagship conference, AltiumLive, to an online experience this year. We will host our North American event from October 6-8, and our European event from October 20-22, 2020. And the best part is...it’s free to attend! Read Article Watch Video Brain Food Technical Articles to Keep You Sharp How to Design Your PCB Test Read Article

AltiumLive

AltiumLive 2020 goes “Virtual” Like most events in 2020, Altium is transitioning our annual flagship conference, AltiumLive, to an online experience this year. We will host our North American event from October 6-8, and our European event from October 20-22, 2020. And the best part is...it’s free to attend! While nothing can duplicate the experience of a live event or being physically together, we are busy planning ways to deliver our unique AltiumLive experience in the first Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: Microvia Reliability, Ben Jordan Whiteboard, Tech Articles - June 2020 OnTrack Newsletter June 2020 VOL. 3 No 13 Microvia Reliability in Ultra-High Density Interconnect Designs. Earlier this year, while attending the IPC Apex Expo in San Diego, we met with Jim Brown of GreenSource Fabrication. He shared with us how the GreenSource team has been on the frontlines of facing down the highly problematic and pervasive issue of microvia reliability. Through their involvement with tier one companies, IPC, and building out Read Article

Reliability image

Microvia Reliability in Ultra-High Density Interconnect Designs Judy Warner: Early this year, we had the opportunity to meet at IPC Apex in California. In our conversation, you talked about the pervasive issue of microvia reliability. Will you please describe the issue for our readers? Jim Brown: Judy, as the demand for technology has increased, it has trickled down to PCB density. The result is Ultra-HDI, stacked microvias, and sub-75-micron lines. Microvias have been in use for well over a decade but Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: At Last...Engineering in the Cloud, RF Power Dividers and Brain Food - May 2020 OnTrack Newsletter May 2020 VOL. 3 No 12 Open Source Ventilator: Schematic to Fully-Functional in Thirty Days with Altium 365 ® On May 1, 2020, Altium 365 was released to the public, marking a historic day which represents an unprecedented shift in how electronics are designed and realized. With this cloud-based platform, design engineers can work from anywhere and connect with anyone--including all primary and secondary stakeholders. During the Read Article