Fresh PCB Concepts: Resilience and Renewal in Domestic PCB Manufacturing
Designers Notebook: Power and Ground Distribution Basics
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Heat—The Hidden Villain of Power Electronics
AltiumLive 2018 a Mecca for PCB Designers
October 8, 2018 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
After dinner, attendees drew numbers and formed teams for the after-dinner robot challenge and battles.
The bot battle was amazing, check out the video at the bottom of this page. The newly formed teams were provided a kit with instructions that for assembling the robots. Once assembled, the bot battles began. I must say, adding this challenge to the event really strengthens the connections attendees make here. The teams work together and compete against each other all in the spirit of good fun.
As day three began, the energy was high and the event carried on. The day was full of classes designed to help inspire the great minds of our industry. At the end of the day, Altium’s Judy Warner interviewed Bil Hurd, designer of the Commodore 128. Bil shared dozens of “war stories” from the early days of personal computers.
At the end of his talk, he gave away a new, autographed Commodore 64 game to the first person to explain the significance of a penguin in a Monty Python skit (it explodes), and our own Editor Andy Shaughnessy took home that prize. Trivia knowledge comes in handy sometimes. Other raffle winners took home all kinds of cool electronic prizes.
All in all, this event is one that will continue to grow and do well. As in 2017, Altium is planning another AltiumLive Europe in January of 2019. This event will take place in Munich, Germany. As the official Media sponsor of the AltiumLive events, we congratulate the entire Altium team on another successful event.
Page 3 of 3
Share on:
Testimonial
"Your magazines are a great platform for people to exchange knowledge. Thank you for the work that you do."
Simon Khesin - Schmoll MaschinenSuggested Items
The Chemical Connection: Onshoring PCB Production—Daunting but Certainly Possible
10/22/2025 | Don Ball -- Column: The Chemical ConnectionIn the past year, several potential customers, concerned about the impending application of tariffs on incoming goods, have asked us what it would take to bring their circuit board production back to the U.S. While they also had other considerations, the threat of new tariffs was the tipping point that started them thinking about the economic advantages of bringing their manufacturing back onshore. It might be interesting to relate our experiences with two of those inquiries.
Waging the Battle for American PCB Reshoring
10/21/2025 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineLegislation is shaping global trade, tariffs, and sustainability and environmental regulations. David Schild of PCBAA discusses exactly where the U.S. stands in its efforts to reshore printed circuit board manufacturing for critical industries. This conversation at PCB West occurred on the first day of the federal government’s shutdown, so it seemed especially timely to hear David's thoughts and insights on how the current political climate is affecting efforts to achieve the U.S. industry’s reshoring goals.
The Right Approach: Electro-Tek—A Williams Family Legacy, Part 1
10/15/2025 | Steve Williams -- Column: The Right ApproachThere is no bronze bust in the lobby or portrait in the conference room of Electro-Tek's founder—my Dad, Charles “Chuck” Williams—so with the facility closing last year after 56 years, I feel it is time to tell the story. Chuck Williams founded Electro-Tek in 1968 in our basement, eventually moving into the second floor of an old 1913 building in downtown Milwaukee that is still standing (the first of three eventual facilities).
ICT Symposium Review: Sustainability and the Circular Economy
10/09/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007It was pleasant autumnal weather as we made our way once again to Meriden, the nominal centre of England, for the 2025 Annual Symposium of the Institute of Circuit Technology. Delegates were welcomed by technical director Emma Hudson who introduced and moderated a skilfully coordinated programme, focused on the highly relevant theme of sustainability.
Hardware Engineers, Manufacturing Leaders Ready to ‘Build Better’ Electronics
10/06/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007According to Instrumental’s dynamic CEO, Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, the Build Better Electronics Manufacturing Summit on Sept. 30 was a passion project meant to provide a forum for hardware engineering senior leadership, who have very busy jobs and limited opportunities, to share information, thought leadership, and networking opportunities. “Build Better is really about cross-pollination and sharing,” she said, as she highlighted the importance of supporting this type of sharing in tech, which may be more important than ever before.