OnTrack

Rockstar PCB Designer and SI Guru Rick Hartley

Rockstar PCB Designer and SI Guru Rick Hartley Warner: Welcome back, Rick. The first time we met, we were ranting about how we both wished more designers would spend some time visiting their board suppliers and learn more about how boards are manufactured. What other pieces of advice would you give to an engineer or PCB designer today? Hartley: It's interesting you say that. Back in the '77-’78 time frame, when I first became a printed, one of the fabricators that our company used sat me and Read Article

Badgerloop’s Run for Hyperloop Glory Captures the Attention of Elon Musk

Badgerloop’s Run for Hyperloop Glory Captures the Attention of Elon Musk Team Badgerloop at the June Pod II Reveal In 2013, Elon Musk introduced the concept of a Hyperloop transit system in a white paper. He proposed a completely open source approach to its development and invited universities to participate in a pod competition. SpaceX funded the construction of a near-mile subscale version of a vacuum tube in which to trial pods for the competition. For the first competition, only 3 pods would earn an opportunity to Read Article

6:01 On Track: PCB Design and Its Role In Internet-of-Things Watch Video

For PCB Designers, Makers and Innovators: OnTrack Newsletter April 2017

For PCB Designers, Makers and Innovators: OnTrack Newsletter April 2017 On Track Newsletter April 2017 VOL. 1 No 1 Welcome to the first edition of the Altium^® newsletter, On Track. First and foremost this has been created with you in mind–the PCB designer, the Maker and the Innovator. This monthly publication has been designed to elevate, inspire and equip designers everywhere to do their magic and to help unleash the next generation of technology. When a company like Altium begins to “grow up” it’s easy to forget Read Article

Meet the Baja Racing Team from New Jersey Institute of Technology

Meet the Baja Racing Team from New Jersey Institute of Technology Bob Burghart is a Sophomore who is studying Mechanical Engineering at NJIT, and is the leader of the sub-team responsible for electronics designs for their Baja racing car. In the car, there is a main dash system, a data acquisition board, a display board, and front and rear dongles that connect to 20 sensors. As a kid, Bob had the typical curious mind of a budding engineer--always enjoying taking things apart. By middle and high school he began Read Article

PCB Designer Rick Hartley: Signal Integrity and High Speed Guru

PCB Designer Rick Hartley: Signal Integrity and High Speed Guru Hartley in the early days of PCB design doing mylar tapeups by hand. Judy Warner: Rick, will you start by giving us a brief history of your background, career, and what kind of products you have designed? Rick Hartley: I started life in electronics in 1965 at the age of 20. I was a technician for several years in an R & D department, going to school at night, studying electrical engineering. After a while, I moved to field service, spent a couple Read Article

8:26 PCB Design: Tips and Tricks for Rigid-Flex Designs - OnTrack Altium FAE, John Magyar, shows you tips and tricks to bring your Rigid-Flex Designs to life. Learn more about Rigid-Flex and PCB Design tools at https://www.altium.com Learn more about Rigid Flex Circuits here. Watch Video

5:05 PCB Design: Layer Stacks in High Speed Designs - OnTrack Watch Video

PCB Layout Tips: How to Get Your Layer Stack Right - OnTrack Watch Video

FIRST Robotics Competition Makes STEM Students into Superstars

FIRST Robotics Competition Makes STEM Students into Superstars Over 25 years ago, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) founder and prolific inventor, Dean Kamen, envisioned a high school robotics competition that rivaled the energy and excitement of the Super Bowl. An event that would turn science students into superstars and infect them with an unshakeable passion for STEM activities and careers. Chris Jennings has an infectious enthusiasm for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), as well as a rich history with Read Article

PCB Designer Cherie Litson: Accomplished BSEE and Master CID Instructor

PCB Designer Cherie Litson: Accomplished BSEE and Master CID Instructor Cherie Litson is an accomplished BSEE and Master Instructor for CID and CID+ training at Eptac. She has enjoyed a long career as a PCB design professional and now spends her days training and certifying other designers. Here she shares how she became a designer, her thoughts on differences between men and women in business approach, and what advice she would offer to others thinking about a PCB design profession. Warner: Cherie, can you tell us Read Article

PCB Designer Mike Brown Offers Advice: Stay Hungry, Keep Growing, Nurture Relationships

PCB Designer Mike Brown Offers Advice: Stay Hungry, Keep Growing, Nurture Relationships Mike Brown is a PCB Design Consultant. He caught the design-bug at the tender age of 17 and has never looked back. Recently, he shared the story of his career path from being a young, to design manager, to entrepreneur and finally selling his company, Interconnect Design Solutions (IDS), last year to the Maryland-based contract manufacturer, Zentech Manufacturing. Warner: Mike, looking back, what indicators can you see from your childhood that Read Article