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Browse our past newsletters on PCB design and industry information

Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Tips from Electronics Expert Duane Benson Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Tips from Electronics Expert Duane Benson Judy Warner: Duane, please share briefly about your background in the electronics industry. Duane Benson: I first burned my fingers with a soldering iron when I was about fourteen. Though I was formally trained and started my career in software development, my first love has always been electronics. My early hardware projects included an electronic stethoscope used to listen through walls for termites chewing on wood, and a caller ID device Read Article
The Anniversary Edition OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 The Anniversary Edition OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 VOL. 2 No 1 Welcome to the one-year anniversary edition of the Altium® OnTrack newsletter! In celebration, our team decided to make this the reader’s choice edition by sharing the top three most read articles from Rock Stars and Superheroes and Makerspace for this past year. We also have a brand new video by Ben Jordan on Multi-board: Partitioning and Planning, and a fresh batch of Brain Food and Regional News below Read Article
Ambitious Students, Makers and Innovators Ambitious Students, Makers and Innovators In the number three spot is a solar car team from the University of Waterloo in Toronto, Canada: The Midnight Sun Solar Car team. Relive the guts and the glory of this ambitious team. Congratulations, Midnight Sun Solar Team. Thank you for your pursuit of excellence and being an inspiration for our readers! Taking the number two spot is the New Jersey Institute of Technology SAE Baja team that earned first place in the endurance race, and 13th Read Article
Three Exceptional Professional PCB Designers Three Exceptional Professional PCB Designers I've had the opportunity to interview several exceptional professionals in PCB Design this past year, which includes interviewing this popular group of engineers. Here are the most popular articles in our Professional PCB Designers series: In the number three spot is a beloved professional designer, BSEE, and a CID Master Instructor who also has a passion for golfing...Cherie Litson. Congratulations Cherie and thank you for contributing so much Read Article
Flex Cost Drivers, Solar Car Drivers and DFM OnTrack Newsletter March 2018 Flex Cost Drivers, Solar Car Drivers and DFM OnTrack Newsletter March 2018 On Track Newsletter March 2018 VOL. 1 No 12 Welcome to the March edition of the Altium® OnTrack Newsletter. We have some exceptional content for you this month—so read on! In Design Like a Girl, I interview PCB fabrication veteran and flex expert Tara Dunn of OMNI PCB who will share some insight into cost drivers for flex and rigid-flex circuits. In Next Gen Designers, I interview the Sunswift Solar-Electric team from the University of New South Read Article
15:58 Introduction to Multiboard PCB Design with Ben Jordan Join Ben Jordan in an Introduction to Multiboard PCB Design. In this episode, Part One of a Multipart Series, you Watch Video
10:05 Getting Started with Design for Manufacturing [DFM] Getting Started with Design for Manufacturing is an Episode of the OnTrack Whiteboard Series. Join David Marrakchi as he gives Watch Video
Student-Designed Solar Cars from Down Under Student-Designed Solar Cars from Down Under Judy Warner: Please share how your team was started, how many cars you have built to date, and give us an overview of Violet. Kristian Bojidarov: Sunswift is a team of undergraduate students from the University of New South Wales who design, build and race the world’s most advanced solar-electric vehicles. With the knowledge gained since Sunswift’s founding in 1995, the team has recently completed the manufacture of our sixth vehicle, Violet Read Article
Getting a Handle on Flex Cost Drivers Getting a Handle on Flex Cost Drivers Judy Warner: You've been in the board fabrication business for over 20 years. What factors do you see as contributing to the rise in flex and rigid-flex designs? Tara Dunn: I believe that space, weight and packaging are the primary factors driving designs to flex and rigid-flex technology. For customers that are already using flex and rigid-flex, I am seeing an increase in their percentage of new designs using flex and I am also noticing an Read Article
PCBs from Space to Snow Plowing OnTrack Newsletter February 2018 PCBs from Space to Snow Plowing OnTrack Newsletter February 2018 On Track Newsletter February 2018 VOL. 1 No 11 Welcome to the February edition of the Altium® On Track Newsletter. There is justifiable concern in our industry about where the next generation of PCB designers will come from. Estimates show that in approximately ten years, 50% of currently working PCB designers will be retiring—which is an alarming statistic! Since joining Altium exactly one year ago, I have seen overwhelming evidence from around Read Article
Left Hand Robotics Autonomous Snowbot Left Hand Robotics Autonomous Snowbot Judy Warner: Shane, so nice to meet you. Before we get started, I just had to ask what the story is behind your unique name? Shane Zinner: In this area, there was an American Indian Chief Niwot or Left Hand (-ed) (c. 1825–1864) who was a tribal leader of the Southern Arapaho people and played an important part in the history of Colorado. Many 'Left Hand' things, such as Left Hand Canyon, Left Hand Brewery, and the town of Niwot, Colorado were Read Article
James MacKinnon’s Career Path to NASA James MacKinnon’s Career Path to NASA Judy Warner: James, please share a little bit about your academic background and how you learned to design PCBs. James MacKinnon: In my junior and senior year at the University of Florida I had some classes where we were required to do some fairly simple PCB design. Basically, if you don't pass those classes, then you don't graduate. And since it's an EE-type class, they want you to create a PCB. They were simple circuits for junior design Read Article
Modern DFM, Princeton University, and Uniquely Shaped PCB Design OnTrack Newsletter January 2018 Modern DFM, Princeton University, and Uniquely Shaped PCB Design OnTrack Newsletter January 2018 On Track Newsletter VOL. 1 No 8 Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of the Altium® On Track Newsletter! In Designer Spotlight, we bring you a fresh perspective on DFM and prototyping with industry veteran Dirk Stans, owner of Belgium-based PCB manufacturer Eurocircuits. In Next Gen Innovators, we give you a glimpse under the hood of another impressive Formula SAE contender, Princeton University’s Racing Electric team. In the On Read Article
9:06 What are Embedded Passives/Actives and how to use them? In this Episode, John Magyar is talking about Embedded Components and the Differences between SMT Passive, SMT Active, Embedded Passive Watch Video
Expert Dirk Stans Bridging Gaps in PCB Manufacturing Expert Dirk Stans Bridging Gaps in PCB Manufacturing Judy Warner: Dirk, please give us a brief overview of your career path and history in the electronics industry.Dirk Stans: As an electronics engineer, I started my career at DISC which became Barco Graphics just one year after I joined the company. From day one I was active in the sales of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems for the PCB industry in Europe. It was there that I gained insight into the evolution of the European and global PCB Read Article
6:17 IPC Standards for Your PCB Design - OnTrack Watch Video
Drones, Robots and Thermal Management: OnTrack Newsletter December 2017 Drones, Robots and Thermal Management: OnTrack Newsletter December 2017 On Track Newsletter December 2017 VOL. 1 No 9 Welcome to the December issue of Altium Designer’s On Track Newsletter. In celebration of our far reaching global community, we are shining the spotlight on an impressive PCB designer from Norway this month. Tor-Anders Lunder designs boards for a startup company called Staaker which makes a tracking drone with a camera mount for sports enthusiasts. In Maker Space, we highlight a group of Brazilian Read Article