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AltiumLive 2019 Frankfurt – A Perfect Mix of Education and Fun

The AltiumLive PCB Design Summit in Frankfurt, Germany has come to a close, with Happy Holden's keynote signaling the end of this three-day event. I met designers and design engineers from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Croatia, just to name a few. Lawrence Romine, Altium's VP of corporate marketing, estimated that the show drew about 300 PCB designers and design engineers.

The conference, at Frankfurt Airport Sheraton, started with University Day on Monday. The activities on Tuesday and Wednesday were built around keynote presentations by Rick Hartley, Carl Schattke, Jeremy Blum, and our own Happy Holden.

Tuesday night’s Robot Challenge was a riot; as Romine put it, “Nerds, beer and robots…what more can you ask for?”

Each night, a few dozen attendees would repair to the Sheraton’s sports bar and shoot pool or just hang out with other designers. I heard one designer say that the entire event was the perfect mix of education and fun.

I have to hand it to the Altium staff for pulling this off, especially considering that they only had one week in between the San Diego event and this one. I don’t know how they do it; how would you like to explain to TSA why you’re carrying a robot full of wires and servos? Altium hasn’t decided where next year’s European event will be held, but we’ll be there to cover it.