-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueBreaking High-speed Material Constraints
Do you need specialty materials for your high-speed designs? Maybe not. Improvements in resins mean designers of high-speed boards can sometimes use traditional laminate systems. Learn more in this issue.
Level Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Planning Your Design Education Strategy
March 9, 2022 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
There are (finally) some young people joining the PCB design and design engineering community. We’re glad to see their youthful faces at trade shows and conferences. But if you’re a recent grad and working in your first “real” job, you might be asking yourself: How do I set up an education and training plan for my career in PCB design? What’s my next step?
We asked Eric Bogatin to weigh in with his thoughts. Eric has a unique viewpoint: He’s a veteran signal integrity instructor, as well as a professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In this interview, Eric lays out some of his planning strategies and the need for a degree in electrical engineering in the PCB design world.
Andy Shaughnessy: Eric, how do you help your students plan their educational objectives at the college?
Eric Bogatin: This is an important question. It is never too early to start thinking about what your career goals are, either working in the industry or just as a student. If a student is not 100% clear and dedicated to a particular path, I encourage them to use the opportunity as an undergraduate to experiment and explore topics. They need to get enough experience to figure out what they like—design, measurement, software, simulation, circuits, fields, designing systems, working with people, working behind a computer, teaching, or something else.
Once they have a sense of what they really enjoy and a plan, then we select courses to help support that path. Because of the core courses most EE students need to take, there is not a lot of flexibility, but there are usually four or five electives that a student can select.
Shaughnessy: What criteria should designers keep in mind when evaluating their educational needs in the industry?
Bogatin: You need a balance between the fundamental principles and the hands-on experience applying these principles. Taking online classes is fine, but plan to get some kits so you can actually build and measure circuits. Taking some courses in which you will get experience designing and building reference designs will help build your confidence.
Shaughnessy: What would you advise to PCB designers who want to set up their own strategic learning plans?
Bogatin: If you want to be a PCB designer, rather than a circuit designer and hardware designer, then you probably don’t need a BSEE degree. Just getting some electronics experience and training in designing and building some boards is good enough to get started. But if you are going to be a hardware engineer and take responsibility for the circuit design and do the board design, then a BSEE and lots of hands-on experience designing and building circuits is important. You cannot get too much experience building working circuits in a solderless breadboard to gain experience in debugging and characterizing circuits.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the March 2022 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Würth Elektronik in United States Embarks on New Milestone with State-of-the-Art Headquarters
05/17/2024 | Wurth ElektronikWürth Elektronik in the United States, a leading manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical components as well as custom magnetics, has announced the commencement of construction on a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters. This new facility underscores the company’s commitment to innovation and grow in the electronics industry.
IPC APEX EXPO: Some Thoughts About Growth
05/16/2024 | Dan Feinberg, I-Connect007After two and a half days of wandering the aisles at IPC APEX EXPO 2024, for the first time, I almost felt like I was exploring CES. There were so many booths and exhibits that I could describe, but I’d like to focus on the growth and huge value of this event, which has expanded well beyond just the growing and impressive exhibit show floor.
Airbus Achieves Eurodrone’s Preliminary Design Review
05/16/2024 | AirbusThe Eurodrone programme has successfully performed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Led by Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor, this major programme milestone has been completed with OCCAR and representatives of the four customer nations (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) in the presence of the three Major Sub-Contractors (MSC), Airbus Defence and Space Spain, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo.
A Review of the 2024 Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show
05/16/2024 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007The Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show (DMEMS) in Del Mar, California, recently took place at an unlikely venue: the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Doug Bodenstab, founder and show organizer, says the show covers everything in electronics manufacturing: design tools, components, base materials, training, testing, board fabrication, AI, data analytics, and more. While you can find about anything online these days, Bodenstab adds that there is no substitute for meeting people in person.
TactoTek Licenses IMSE Technology to Polestar for Sustainable Electronics Design Innovation
05/15/2024 | TactoTekPolestar, the Swedish electric performance car brand, and Finnish smart surface pioneer TactoTek, have entered a collaboration to explore integration of Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE) technology into Polestar’s vehicle programs.