Newsletters

Browse our past newsletters on PCB design and industry information

The Benefits of Using a Professional PCB Design Service Bureau

The Benefits of Using a Professional PCB Design Service Bureau Companies and design teams look to professional PCB design service providers to support their product development for a variety of reasons. In this article we talk with Scott Miller, CEO of Freedom CAD, about what dynamics, benefits, and potential concerns come into play when contracting with a design service provider. Judy Warner: Scott, will you please give us a brief overview of Freedom CAD, the services you offer, and the types of Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: A Look Under the Hood at Altium Designer 19, and Is IPC CID Important for Your Career? - December 2018

OnTrack Newsletter: A Look Under the Hood at Altium Designer 19, and Is IPC CID Important for Your Career? - December 2018 OnTrack Newsletter December 2018 VOL. 2 No 8 ALTIUM ^® 19 HAS ARRIVED! See the New Features of Altium 19 Altium 19 has just been released and features several exciting new and enhanced capabilities. Get a first look here at some of the functionality that defines the latest version of Altium . READ FULL ARTICLE IS IPC CID TRAINING IMPORTANT FOR YOUR DESIGN CAREER? Insights from CID IPC Trainer, Stephen Chavez Stephen Chavez is the lead electrical Read Article

Altium Designer 19 Has Arrived

Altium Designer 19 Has Arrived Rather than to tell you about Altium Designer 19, we thought you’d prefer to see it with your own eyes through a series of brief videos that will allow you to explore all the new and enhanced features in Altium Designer 19. Some of the key features represented in the latest release are: Advanced Layer Stack Manager Routing Improvements Pad/via driven polygon thermal connections uVia Support Unlimited Mechanical Layers Draftsman Improvements BOM Read Article

Is IPC CID Training Important for Your Design Career?

Is IPC CID Training Important for Your Design Career? Stephen Chavez is the lead electrical engineer that oversees a global design team for a well known military aerospace company in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. He is a highly skilled engineer and PCB designer whose passion for board design goes beyond his day-to-day work. He is a member of the IPC Designers Council Executive Board, is CID, CID+, and CIT certified, a CID trainer for Eptac, and a columnist for the PCB007 magazine. In this article Read Article

Surviving the Component Shortage, Design Resources and Printed Electronics - November 2018

Surviving the Component Shortage, Design Resources and Printed Electronics - November 2018 OnTrack Newsletter November 2018 VOL. 2 No 7 WHERE HAVE ALL THE GONE? Understanding and Surviving Shortages Every EE and PCB is feeling the pinch of component shortages these days. How in the world have basic standard capacitors become scarce? When are we going to see the end of this annoying state of affairs? How can designers work around these shortages and get their work done--on time?! I gave John Watson of LeGrand a call to ask these Read Article

Design Survival Guide in a World of Parts Shortages

Design Survival Guide in a World of Parts Shortages Every EE and PCB is feeling the pinch of component shortages these days. How in the world have basic standard capacitors become scarce? When are we going to see the end of this annoying state of affairs? How can designers work around these shortages and get their work done--on time?! I gave John Watson of LeGrand a call to ask these questions and more. As a PCB design lead who oversees 50 designers globally, I knew he’d have a lot to share on Read Article

Altium Resources for Learning PCB Design

Altium Resources for Learning PCB Design At Altium, we continually produce and publish resources to help you be the best you can be, as well as help enable you to take full advantage of the features found in Altium. Since there is so much available, we thought we’d share a few shortcuts to finding whatever resource it is you’re looking for. AltiumLive: Annual PCB Design Summit is our live event where we share lots of great teaching by industry leaders, Altium staff and Altium users Read Article

Homegrown PCB Professionals, BOM Management and Subject Matter Expertise - September 2018

Homegrown PCB Professionals, BOM Management Software, and Subject Matter Expertise - September 2018 OnTrack Newsletter September 2018 VOL. 2 No 6 ARE ENGINEERS AND PCB TECHNOLOGISTS HOMEGROWN? Highlighting Multi-Generational Technologists Over the past year, I’ve noticed a subtle trend in the designers and technologists we’ve interviewed for this newsletter. Have you noticed it? There have been a number of times people cited their parents as the ones who inspired them to pursue an electronics career. (Think...Rick Hartley, Nicole Creeden, Bill Read Article

Are Engineers and PCB Technologists Homegrown?

Are Engineers and PCB Technologists Homegrown? Mihir and Milan Shah Over the past year, I’ve noticed a subtle trend in the designers and technologists we’ve interviewed for this newsletter. Have you noticed it? There have been a number of times people cited their parents as the ones who inspired them to pursue an electronics career. (Think...Rick Hartley, Nicole Creeden, Bill Brooks, Charles Pfeil, Mary Elizabeth McCulloch, etc.). This is especially true at Royal Circuit Solutions, which is Read Article

Meet the San Diego Keynotes of AltiumLive 2018: Annual PCB Design Summit - August 2018

Meet the San Diego Keynotes of AltiumLive 2018: Annual PCB Design Summit - August 2018 OnTrack Newsletter August 2018 VOL. 2 No 5 Welcome to the August edition of the OnTrack Newsletter! This month we have a special AltiumLive 2018: Annual PCB Design Summit feature in which you can get a sneak peek into what we have planned with you in mind — and what our four illustrious keynote speakers will be presenting at the October event in San Diego. (Stay tuned for more information on our Munich event January 15-17, 2019.) In Makerspace Read Article

Sneak Peek and Meet the Keynotes for AltiumLive 2018: ANNUAL PCB DESIGN SUMMIT

Sneak Peek and Meet the Keynotes for AltiumLive 2018: ANNUAL PCB DESIGN SUMMIT First, on behalf of Altium, allow me to personally invite you to join us for the 2nd annual AltiumLive PCB Design Summit! As most of you know, Altium launched our first ever User Conferences last year in San Diego and Munich which were met with high praise from attendees, sponsors, the industry and the media. This October, in true Altium fashion, we are “upping our game.” In this issue of OnTrack, we will give you a sneak peek of the agenda and Read Article

The Kyoto Institute of Technology Racing Team Aims for Third Win

Formula Student SAE Competition of Japan: The Kyoto Institute of Technology Racing Team Aims for Third Win The Kyoto Institute of Technology racing team Grandelfino aims to win its third consecutive victory in the Student Formula SAE Competition of Japan. We asked them about what makes their team special and what are the key points to win. I hope you will enjoy our first ever student team interview coming to you from Japan. Junpei is from the Kyoto Institute of Technology and is part of the Grandelfino project team that hopes to win their third Read Article

From Veteran PCB Designers to Next Gen Innovators - July 2018

From Veteran PCB Designers to Next Gen Innovators - July 2018 OnTrack Newsletter July 2018 VOL. 2 No 4 Welcome to the July edition of the Altium OnTrack Newsletter! In Rock Stars and Superheroes, we talk with veteran PCB Designer Bill Brooks, who has been designing boards since 1969. In Next Gen Designers, we introduce you to the WARR Hyperloop team from the Technical University of Munich, who won the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition II in 2017, and broke the world record as well! In the OnTrack video Read Article

WARR Hyperloop Pushes Last Year’s Design Concept Even Further

Elon Musk's WARR Hyperloop SpaceX Team Pushes Last Year’s Design Concept Even Further WARR Hyperloop team with Elon Musk after their 2017 win of the Hyperloop Pod competition II. Judy Warner: Please share briefly about the history of the WARR Hyperloop and the Technical University of Munich. Martin Riedel: WARR Hyperloop started out as a group of six students in the fall of 2015 and has since grown to nearly 40 students that compete in the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition every year. WARR Hyperloop is part of a larger student Read Article

Bill Brooks Accelerates Design-based Over Tool-based Curriculum

Bill Brooks Accelerates Design-based Over Tool-based Curriculum Judy Warner: How long have you been designing PCBs and what led you to the profession? Bill Brooks: I’ve been designing boards since about 1970. My father introduced me to electronics. He was an aerospace professional working in R&D at Hughes Aircraft Company, UCSD, and later at Aerospace Incorporated. He decided to open up a printed circuit shop out of our garage in Vista, CA while I was still in junior high school. In 1969 he taught my brothers Read Article

The Power of Assistive Technologies & Design for Assembly OnTrack Newsletter - June 2018

The Power of Assistive Technologies & Design for Assembly OnTrack Newsletter - June 2018 OnTrack Newsletter June 2018 VOL. 2 No 3 Welcome to the June edition of the Altium OnTrack newsletter! In this edition, you will be both impressed and inspired by some very young innovators who are profoundly changing people’s lives by designing and building medical assistive devices. In Design Like a Girl, you will meet Mary Elizabeth McCulloch and learn about her speech-generation device startup, Project Vive. In Makerspace, you’ll read about Read Article

Competitive Exoskeleton by Project March from the Delft Technical University Dream Team

Competitive Exoskeleton by Project March from the Delft Technical University Dream Team Judy Warner: Robbert, please tell us about your major at Delft Technical University and your role at Project March. Robbert de Lange: I’m studying civil engineering and my role on the Project March team is Acquisition and PR. Presently, I have taken off a full year of studies to focus full-time on Project March. Warner: What motivated you to take a full year off of your studies to invest in Project March? De Lange: Beyond all the academic Read Article