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Will Cool Technology Attract the Next Generation of PCB Designers?

I’m loath to admit it, but my high-carb, high-fat, high-sugar, low-exercise diet plan is failing me, and I’ve got to make some changes in my life. OK, so my habits aren’t quite as bad as that, but they aren’t the best either. Meanwhile, my blood pressure has decided to do some aggressive stress testing of my cardiovascular system. It was so high at one point I thought that I might spring some leaks, so it is time to really focus on getting healthy and reducing some of these bad habits. I’m very sad to say my plan includes reducing my salt intake. Wow, eggs without salt are really…boring.

On the other hand, this problem has given me the opportunity to play around with some new technology. I purchased a blood pressure system that does all the work for me. It pumps the cuff up, measures my pressure and pulse, and then releases the pump. It will even average three measurements in a row to give me a more exact reading, and it keeps an extensive record of my readings. On top of that, it also connects to my home network to transfer those readings. I must admit, I’m excited about this. Oh, sure, I’m still all jazzed up about my conversations with Alexa each morning to find out news and weather, and I love flying my Star Wars X-wing drone around the house. Additionally, there are also plenty of other high-tech devices around the house that are equally entertaining. But there’s something about having a piece of technology in your hands that helps extend your life that makes it just a bit more enduring than the latest high-tech toy.

We live in an increasingly connected world. Ben Jordan of Altium recently theorized in these pages that there could be more than 200,000 new designs required to fulfill the needs of the 20 billion connected devices projected to be in use by the year 2020. Yes, you read that correctly, 20 billion connected devices. To support the creation of all these devices will take a lot of work from PCB designers. Ben Jordan estimates that with an average of five design spins for each design, we are looking potentially at the completion of a million designs in the next few years.

To read this entire column, which appeared in the March 2018 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.