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Flex Cost Drivers, Solar Car Drivers and DFM OnTrack Newsletter March 2018

Judy Warner

| Created: March 23, 2018 | Updated: September 25, 2020

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 Wales who are building some of the most advanced cars of their kind.

Featured in our OnTrack video series is David Marrakchi who shares some key fundamentals of DFM and how to improve your yields.

Behind that we share three juicy portions of Brain Food—some on the subject of flex to augment what you will learn from Tara Dunn’s piece. Last but not least, we share some Regional News.

As OnTrack continues to grow as a brand within the Altium brand, we continually look for new ways to produce useful and interesting content and resources that will help you stay sharp, learn from thought leaders and grow. To that end, we are proud to announce the launch of the OnTrack Podcast that will feature conversations with subject matter experts, thought leaders, and accomplished PCB designers and engineers. We invite you to subscribe and give us feedback about what you would like to hear.

As always, I love to hear from you and get your feedback about this newsletter as well by emailing me at judy.warner@altium.com.

Enjoy and always...stay OnTrack!

Judy M. Warner

Director of Community Engagement

DESIGN LIKE A GIRL

Getting a Handle on Flex Cost Drivers

Tara Dunn has been in the PCB industry for over 20 years. Although her company, OMNI PCB, represents several companies that cover the entire technology spectrum, she has developed a keen expertise in DFM for flex and rigid-flex designs. She presented a very popular talk at AltiumLive 2017: Annual PCB Design Summit last fall to teach designers about flex cost drivers. Here, Dunn shares some of those tips on how to minimize the cost of flex and rigid-flex designs which continue to rise in market prevalence.

Read Full Article Here

NEXT GEN DESIGNERS

Student-Designed Solar Cars from Down Under

The engineering students of University of New South Wales (UNSW) have a long and proud history of making the world’s most advanced solar-electric cars. In this interview, the Sunswift team’s business manager, Kristian Bojidarov, shares insight on the team’s history, their achievements and plans to keep pressing toward a viable solar-electric car and a sustainable future.

Read Full Article Here

OnTrack VIDEO SERIES

Introduction to DFM - Maximize Your Yield

Technical Marketing Manager David Marrakchi discusses an introduction to Design for Manufacturing and how to maximize your PCB yields.

Watch the Full Video Here

BRAIN FOOD

Tips, Tricks and Training

Altium Designer - PCB Design Software Altium 365 - PCB Design Platform Enterprise PCB Design Solutions FREE Trials

About Author

Judy Warner has held a unique variety of roles in the electronics industry for over 25 years. She has a background in PCB Manufacturing, RF and Microwave PCBs and Contract Manufacturing, focusing on Mil/Aero applications.

She has also been a writer, blogger, and journalist for several industry publications such as Microwave Journal, PCB007 Magazine, PCB Design007, PCD&F, and IEEE Microwave Magazine, and an active board member for PCEA (Printed Circuit Engineering Association). In 2017, Warner joined Altium as the Director of Community Engagement. In addition to hosting the OnTrack Podcast and creating the OnTrack Newsletter, she launched Altium's annual user conference, AltiumLive. Warner's passion is to provide resources, support, and advocate for PCB Design Engineers worldwide.