Top 10 Most-Read Design007 News of 2018

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Every year, we like to take a look back at the most popular PCB design news and articles. These are the top 10 most-read PCB design news items from the past year. Check them out. 

1. I-Connect007 Launches Thermal Management with Insulated Metal Substrates eBook

I-Connect007 is excited to announce the release of the latest title in our micro eBook design series: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Thermal Management with Insulated Metal Substrates. Considering thermal issues in the earliest stages of the design process is critical. Written by Didier Mauve, sales and marketing manager at Ventec International Group, and Ian Mayoh, technical support manager, this book highlights the need to dissipate heat from electronic devices.

2. Mentor Webinar: Integrating OrCAD Schematics into PADS

Mentor, a Siemens Business, has announced a new webinar on OrCAD schematic integration. The webinar will help you learn how to bring OrCAD schematics into PADS, how to design and validate PCBs more quickly, and how to prevent design errors and schedule delays.

3. Industry Veteran Nolan Johnson Joins I-Connect007 Editorial Team

Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electronics design and manufacturing. Trained as a software engineer, he wrote applications software for Mentor Graphics, where he managed Mentor's initial OEM IC verification products, including Dracula, CheckMate, and ICVerify. He then managed a series of technical training centers at ESI, Tektronix, and Synetics Solutions. In addition, Nolan held a variety of marketing and leadership positions at Clarity Visual Systems, General Electric, Rumblefish, and Planar Systems.

4. EMA Expands Library with Power Integrations EDA and MCAD Models

EMA Design Automation announced the availability of symbols, footprints, and 3D models for all Power Integrations components, which anyone can access for free from ultralibrarian.com, power.com, and digikey.com. “With this new set of models, engineers can simply download the library components they need for their Power Integrations based designs,” said Manny Marcano, president and CEO of EMA. “Having access to these verified models saves engineering time and eliminates mistakes that can occur when manually building part models.”

5. PCB Designers: Perfect Your Data Package with New eBook from Prototron

For PCB designers, producing a comprehensive data package is crucial. If even one important file is missing or output incorrectly, it can cause major delays and potentially ruin the experience for every stakeholder. Learn how to perfect your data package with I-Connect007’s most recent title: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Producing the Perfect Data Package. Written by Prototron Circuits’ Mark Thompson, an industry veteran with over 38 years of experience, this book describes exactly what a PCB fabricator requires in a design output package and explains the consequences of providing incomplete or inaccurate information.

6. Altium Sponsors Seven Teams at 2018 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition

Altium, a leading provider of electronic design systems for PCB design, has announced its sponsorship of seven teams at SpaceX’s upcoming 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition, which will take place on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Now in its third installment, the competition aims to accelerate the development of functional prototypes and encourage up-and-coming university and innovator teams to design and build the best transport Pod for high speed ground transportation. A sponsor since the first competition in 2015, Altium is proud to provide tools to help enable the next generation of electronics engineers.

7. I-Connect007 Launches Fundamentals of RF/Microwave PCBs Micro eBook

I-Connect007 is excited to announce the release of the latest title in our micro eBook design series: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Fundamentals of RF/Microwave PCBs. Written by John Bushie, director of technology at American Standard Circuits, and Anaya Vardya, president and CEO of ASC, this micro eBook provides information needed to understand the unique challenges of RF/microwave PCBs. The authors answer two main questions: what is the correct material to use for a particular project, and what can be done at the design stage to make a product more manufacturable? 

8. PCB Libraries Rebrands Flagship Product, Library Expert Pro

The Library Expert Pro has outgrown its name and is now Library Expert Enterprise. This change better reflects the advanced features it currently has, the new features planned for 2018, and its capacity to provide enterprise-level library solutions. Some of the largest companies in the world are taking advantage of these features at the enterprise level in their organization. "The rebranding is a natural step based on past, current, and planned development, and how the Library Expert is used in organizations by our customers," said PCB Libraries CEO Tom Hausherr. 

9. Orange Co. Designers Council Meeting June 28 in Irvine

For the monthly Lunch ‘n Learn meeting, the Orange County chapter of the IPC Designers Council features two guest speakers with informative presentations on multiboard design and material solutions to address skew. Altium's Chris Carlson and Norm Berry of Insulectro are the presenters. This event will be held on June 28 at Harvard Athletic Park in Irvine, California. There will be two presentations; the cost is $10 to help cover the cost of lunch.

10. Ucamco Releases Specification for Fabrication Documentation in Gerber

This extension is compatible with both Gerber X1 and X2. Existing image input/output code does not need to be changed when implementing the Gerber job file. The Gerber hallmark of simplicity and human-readability is maintained. The Gerber Job File is straightforward to implement. Partial implementations are allowed, even encouraged. Better a partial job file than no job file at all. The initial draft was published on the Ucamco website for public review by the Gerber community in March 2017. There was a lively discussion, the draft went through seven public revisions before being finalized early April 2018. It became much more practical in the process.