PCB Design Engineers

A PCB Designer is a highly skilled professional with a holistic responsibility for both electrical engineering and PCB design. They are involved in a range of tasks, including embedded software development, schematic capture, layout, routing, component footprint creation, documentation, and more. PCB Designers work closely with other specialists, such as MCAD designers, CAD librarians, and fabrication houses to ensure that PCBs are successfully manufactured for electronic products.

PCB Designers in PCB design may also be referred to by other job titles, such as Module Designer, Board Designer, Embedded System Designer, Layout Designer, Layout Engineer, or Senior PCB Designer. These titles reflect the diverse range of skills and expertise required for success in this role, from software and electrical engineering to mechanical design and fabrication. Overall, PCB Designers play a critical role in the PCB design industry, ensuring that products meet necessary standards and are delivered to customers on time and with the highest level of quality and functionality.

AI Vision with the Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit

AI Vision with the Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit In Getting Started with the Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit, we unboxed and played around with the Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit from AMD Xilinx. This board provides us with an FPGA and ARM processor powerful enough to run a full distribution of Ubuntu on it. In this article, we're going to build and run the SmartCam application using a Raspberry Pi camera. This application will be able to detect faces in real-time and demonstrate that on Read Article

Altium Designer 25: Pioneering Collaboration, Product Development, and Advanced Simulation

Altium Designer 25: Pioneering Collaboration, Product Development, and Advanced Simulation In the fast-evolving world of electronics, collaboration is key to efficient product development and innovation. Altium Designer 25 (AD25) emerges as a powerful platform designed to bridge traditional gaps, enabling seamless collaboration across teams and improving the efficiency of high-complexity PCB projects. This article explores how AD25’s new and enhanced capabilities—spanning PCB CoDesign, Product Design with Harness and Multi-board Read Article

WB in AD

Wire Bonding in Altium Designer Introduction Wire bonding technology has evolved significantly over the years and so has its use cases and applications. As devices become more compact and powerful, designers need precise tools to handle complex interconnects, and Altium Designer has responded with capabilities that streamline wire bonding for Chip-on-Board (COB) designs, stacked dies in cavity, and other high-performance applications. This article explores the advanced wire Read Article

WB Article 1

Wire Bonding: Modern Applications, Technology Trends and Cost Considerations Introduction Wire bonding has long been the dominant method for connecting semiconductor dies to package lead frames and circuit boards, particularly in Chip-on-Board (COB) technology, where the die is directly mounted onto the PCB. Wire bonding for COB became popular in consumer electronics, such as calculators and early digital devices due to its reliability and cost efficiency in mass production. Over time, wire bonding COB evolved to meet the Read Article

Projects Orange Pi 5 and the Rockchip RK3588 Processor

Getting Started with the Orange Pi 5 and the Rockchip RK3588 Processor The Orange Pi 5, powered by the Rockchip RK3588 processor, has quickly gained popularity as a major contender to the Raspberry Pi 5. Packed with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A76, quad-core ARM Cortex-A55, Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU, and an NPU, this board is a total workhorse. It’s sometimes hard to know where to start, so in this guide, we will take you through the essential steps to get the Orange Pi 5 up and running. We’ll cover how to download, install Read Article

What is Propagation Delay

What is Propagation Delay in High Speed PCB Design? In high speed design you may be dealing with the question of what is propagation delay. Altium Designer gives you the design tools to expertly work with this. Read Article

Leading Component Distributors

7 Leading Component Distributors Powering Electronics Innovation Imagine this: A design engineer is burning the midnight oil, racing to finish a prototype for a groundbreaking medical device. With a sudden spark of inspiration, she realizes that to solve a design challenge, she needs a specific microcontroller – and fast. What does she do? Who does she turn to? An electronic component distributor, of course. There are thousands of component distributors today, including many regional and specialist suppliers Read Article

Compare Commercial Altium 365 vs Altium 365 GovCloud

Compare Commercial Altium 365 vs Altium 365 GovCloud If you're trying to understand how commercial Altium 365 differs from Altium 365 GovCloud, you're in the right place. This article breaks down the specifics, helping you grasp the unique features of each. Read Article

SAP in Ultra HDI PCB Fabrication

Exploring Semi-Additive Processes (SAP) in Ultra HDI PCB Fabrication As PCB technology continues to evolve, new manufacturing techniques like ultra-high-density interconnect (UHDI) PCB fabrication are unlocking incredible possibilities. Among the most transformative advancements are semi-additive processes (SAP) and modified semi-additive processes (mSAP), which enable the creation of finer traces and spaces beyond what traditional subtractive etching can achieve. These innovations are pushing the boundaries of Read Article

Chip Counterfeits

How Chip Counterfeits Are Getting More Sophisticated Despite the quality assurance and rigor of semiconductor standards, the industry is still prone to counterfeiting, which can only have detrimental effects the longer it continues. There are various elements that should provoke electronics buyers and manufacturers to dig deeper into the procurement process to uncover any potential blemishes in products they wish to purchase. With shortages afoot in some areas of the PCB market and abundances in Read Article

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Flexible Circuit Design

Top 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Flexible Circuit Design Designing flexible circuits presents unique challenges that even seasoned PCB designers can find difficult to navigate. While flexible circuits offer significant advantages—such as reduced weight, space savings, and the ability to conform to complex shapes—they also require careful attention to detail. This post will explore some of the most common mistakes in flexible circuit design and provide strategies to avoid them. 1. Ignoring the Bend Read Article

Avoiding Costly Delays Essential Tips for PCB Designers

Avoiding Costly Delays: Essential Tips for PCB Designers Have you ever experienced the frustration of having your PCB design order placed on hold by your fabricator? This is a common issue that many PCB designers face, particularly with new flexible circuit or rigid-flex designs. When an order is placed, the anticipation of a smooth production process can be quickly disrupted by an unexpected hold, often due to engineering questions or clarifications. These holds are not just minor inconveniences—they Read Article

Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design: Component Placement for EMC

Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design: Component Placement for EMC In this second article of the Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design series, we will dive deeper into one of the key concepts for maintaining low levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Board segregation, also known as board partitioning, is a method used to organize the different circuit parts of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to keep them separate. This improves the overall performance of the board, particularly in terms of EMI. This Read Article

How To Start A Chip Industry From Scratch LI

How To Start A Chip Industry From Scratch Starting a semiconductor chip industry from scratch is a monumental task that requires a blend of advanced technology, skilled workforce, substantial investment, and supportive policies. Here’s a structured article that delves into the key features of the semiconductor chip industry and the critical conditions needed to establish and sustain it. What it Takes to Start a Chip Industry From Scratch Introduction The semiconductor chip industry is Read Article

Regulatory Changes and Compliance

Regulatory Changes and Compliance: Impact on the Electronic Component Supply Chain and Adaptation Strategies Understanding RoHS and REACH The RoHS Directive, introduced by the European Union in 2003 and updated as RoHS 2 in 2011 and RoHS 3 in 2015, restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. These substances include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and certain flame retardants. The goal of RoHS is to reduce the environmental impact and improve the recyclability of electronic products. REACH Read Article

Dive into the Future of PCB Integrate PLM Today

Dive into the Future of PCB: Integrate PLM Today! The PCB industry has been going through a period of transition over the past couple of decades, mainly driven by the relentless pace of technological advancement and the increasing complexity of modern devices. PCBs themselves have also evolved in recent times, having become the key to an intricate neural network powering everything from consumer devices to critical infrastructure. This escalating complexity demands a holistic, integrated Read Article

Transform Your PCB Design Processes with PLM Integration

Transform Your PCB Design Processes with PLM Integration With growing demand and increasing volumes of PCB’s necessary to power the huge number of devices in development today, it falls on PCB designers to be both effective and efficient—their efforts are critical determinants of success. However, if companies have not yet invested in modern technology and teams find themselves dealing with legacy systems, it becomes an uphill battle. The traditional approach to PCB design often has hurdles, including Read Article