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A strong design constraint strategy carefully balances a wide range of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we explore the key requirements, common challenges, and best practices behind building an effective constraint strategy.
All About That Route
Most designers favor manual routing, but today's interactive autorouters may be changing designers' minds by allowing users more direct control. In this issue, our expert contributors discuss a variety of manual and autorouting strategies.
Creating the Ideal Data Package
Why is it so difficult to create the ideal data package? Many of these simple errors can be alleviated by paying attention to detail—and knowing what issues to look out for. So, this month, our experts weigh in on the best practices for creating the ideal design data package for your design.
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PCB Designers Can Compete to Become IPC Design Champion of 2022
September 27, 2021 | IPCEstimated reading time: 1 minute

IPC announces a new IPC Design Competition, inviting printed circuit board designers to compete to become the IPC Design Champion of 2022. The IPC Design Competition is composed of two heats – a virtual preliminary heat and an in-person layout final for the three top contestants on January 25, 2022 at IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego, Calif.
The preliminary heat will be held November 1, 2021 to December 1, 2021, allowing designers to use their preferred tools to complete a full board buildup within 30 days. Provided with only a schematic and a BOM (bill of materials), competitors will be judged against their interpretation and implementation of design per IPC standards and general DFX (design for excellence) principles. Three finalists will be invited to participate in the four-hour layout final at IPC APEX EXPO 2022.
“Every year, design engineers spend hours completing and perfecting their designs. The IPC Design Competition gives us the chance to meet those designers and put their skills to the test,” said Patrick Crawford, manager, design standards and related industry programs. “We can’t wait to see the results and crown a design champion at IPC APEX EXPO.”
Registration for the IPC Design Competition is free, but space is limited to 20 contestants. Registration ends October 29, 2021. For more information, visit www.ipc.org/ipc-design-competition-2022.
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