Elementary Mr. Watson: Running the Signal Gauntlet
The Shaughnessy Report: Winning the Signal Integrity Battle
Connect the Dots: How to Avoid Five Common Causes of Board Failure
Altium Focuses on the Designer First
May 22, 2017 | Judy Warner, AltiumEstimated reading time: 1 minute
A few months before I joined Altium, while I was still with I-Connect007, I sat down with Lawrence Romine to discuss the company’s drive to satisfy the individual PCB designer, and not necessarily the OEMs who employ them. Romine also explains what sets designers and engineers apart from the average person, and why some Altium users have a different primary EDA tool, but use Altium when they need a design done fast.
Judy Warner: Lawrence, before we get started, why don't you tell us a little bit about your background.
Lawrence Romine: My background is about 16 years in professional business. My father was an engineer. Grew up working in the garage with my father starting at an early age. We restored British sports cars—MG, Triumph, Jaguar, and motorcycles. It's still what I do for fun.
I have a lifelong passion with aviation. Joined the Navy out of high school and got into avionics and was here at Miramar in the F-14 business, which was very exciting. I finished school and became a design engineer in the audio industry. This was for the audiophile business, which is really much more art than science. I did that for just a handful of years, but then got into the semiconductor business.
I got a job in the semiconductor business and I was selling mostly Xilinx components with a now-purchased distributor called Insight. I did that for four or five years and then moved over to software. I did that for the same reason you made some adjustments in your career. It really became difficult to track business into China and I was looking for an opportunity to get into something that offered a little more instant gratification.
When I engage with a customer at a block diagram level, we’re going to talk about their system and just roughly what technologies they are going to have on this design. Back then they would give you a completion date, a time-to-market date, and it was typically 18 months to two years, and I always added at least six to nine months in my forecasting. I'm sure you have had a similar experience.
To read this entire article, which appeared in the April 2017 issue of The PCB Design Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"In a year when every marketing dollar mattered, I chose to keep I-Connect007 in our 2025 plan. Their commitment to high-quality, insightful content aligns with Koh Young’s values and helps readers navigate a changing industry. "
Brent Fischthal - Koh YoungSuggested Items
Staying on Top of Signal Integrity Challenges
09/16/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineOver the years, Kris Moyer has taught a variety of advanced PCB design classes, both online IPC courses and in-person classes at California State University-Sacramento, where he earned his degrees in electrical engineering. Much of his advanced curriculum focuses on signal integrity, so we asked Kris to discuss the trends he’s seeing in signal integrity today, the SI challenges facing PCB designers, and his go-to techniques for controlling or completely eliminating SI problems.
ASM Technologies Limited signs MoU with the Guidance, Government of Tamilnadu to Expand Design-Led Manufacturing capabilities for ESDM
09/15/2025 | ASM TechnologiesASM Technologies Limited, a pioneer in Design- Led Manufacturing in the semiconductor and automotive industries, announced signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Guidance, Government of Tamilnadu whereby it will invest Rs. 250 crores in the state to expand its ESDM related Design-Led Manufacturing and precision engineering capacity. ASM Technologies will acquire 5 acres of land from the Government of Tamilnadu to set up a state-of-the-art design facility in Tamil Nadu's growing technology manufacturing ecosystem, providing a strong strategic advantage and long-term benefits for ASM.
Variosystems Strengthens North American Presence with Southlake Relaunch 2025
09/15/2025 | VariosystemsVariosystems celebrated the relaunch of its U.S. facility in Southlake, Texas. After months of redesign and reorganization, the opening marked more than just the return to a modernized production site—it was a moment to reconnect with our teams, partners, and the local community.
Deca, Silicon Storage Technology Announce Strategic Collaboration to Enable NVM Chiplet Solutions
09/11/2025 | Microchip Technology Inc.As traditional monolithic chip designs grow in complexity and increase in cost, the interest and adoption of chiplet technology in the semiconductor industry also increases.
I-Connect007 Launches New Podcast Series on Ultra High Density Interconnect (UHDI)
09/10/2025 | I-Connect007I-Connect007 is excited to announce the debut of its latest podcast series, which shines a spotlight on one of the most important emerging innovations in electronics manufacturing: Ultra-High-Density Interconnect (UHDI). The series kicks off with Episode One, “Ultra HDI: What does it mean to people? Why would they want it?” Host Nolan Johnson is joined by guest expert John Johnson, Director of Quality and Advanced Technology at American Standard Circuits (ASC).