Global PCB Connections: Mission Critical—Communication Between PCB Designers and Fabricators
Designers Notebook: Implementing HDI and UHDI Circuit Board Technology
Connect the Dots: Designing for Reality—Pattern Plating
McCauley Design Group Spreads the CAMM2 Gospel
July 30, 2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
At PCB East, I met Charlene McCauley and Terrie Duffy of the McCauley Design Group. The duo was leading a class on designing with the new CAMM2 DDR5, a JEDEC specification and standard created by Dell, which is due to replace the aging SO-DIMM in laptops. The CAMM2 (Compression Attach Memory Module) is solderless and frees up lots of real estate that SO-DIMM famously requires.
Now that CAMM2 is a standard, other companies are ready to take advantage of this technology, and Charlene and Terrie are in demand as speakers. I asked them to take me through their work with CAMM2 and what it means to motherboard designers.
Andy Shaughnessy: You had a full house for your class, and the attendees are still talking about it. Tell me about the groundbreaking stuff you’re covering here at the conference.
Charlene McCauley: The attendees were wonderful. This class was about designing with DDR5 and adopting the CAMM2 compression connector. Now, CAMM2 has become a world standard for DDR5 memory. We are part of the development team that has done CAMM2, and now we're out presenting and sharing the knowledge that we've gained over the past four years.
Shaughnessy: Will you give me some background on the company?
McCauley: I started the McCauley Design Group in 2015 in Austin, Texas. I had been laid off from Dell, so I called Tom Schnell, now a senior engineer at Dell and who we’re working with and asked if he needed any help. Tom is one of those inventors who has all the new future ideas. I ended up starting McCauley Design Group, and we became his team. Tom is the chair of the CAMM2 committee for JEDEC, as well as the inventor of the specification. He has been our engineer, and we've been his designers—his hands for creating this future technology.
I’ve been teaching at Austin Community College for nine years. Terrie was one of my students, and I hired her six years ago. She was a great student, and with her background in numbers and programming, I asked her to work for me. She's the main one doing the constraints, designing, and everything, but her numbers background helps us be successful as a team doing cutting-edge, futuristic stuff.
I have also “adopted” some of my other PCB design students; they work with us for as long as possible, maybe six months to a year. I’ll help them find jobs with bigger corporations where they can learn from those designers. All I provided was more knowledge.
Shaughnessy: Adopting your students is a great idea. So, Terrie came on board, and she has been the “fixer” for your company, so to speak.
McCauley: Yes. I've been trying to show Terrie what I know after being in PCB design for 44 years. I’ve done all different types of boards in all different industries. In one presentation I attended here at PCB East, the instructor talked about going from light table to CAD, and I was there. I did that, and it wasn't easy. But CAD got adopted, in my mind, because it was still colorful and visual, and it also sped up my process. With CAD, it was easy to make changes. That whole experience gives me a positive feeling about AI right now because I know AI will not take over our jobs. But you have to make it easier, more productive, and visual for a designer to use.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the July 2024 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Flexible Thinking: Musings on High Density Interconnections
10/30/2024 | Joe Fjelstad -- Column: Flexible ThinkingPeople have been using high density interconnection (HDI) technology since the early 1980s, although it was not called HDI until the late 1990s. In the 1970s, ’80s, and early ’90s, engineers used HDI methods to develop hybrid circuits, which were later referred to as multichip modules (MCMs). These were arguably the first instantiation of heterogeneous interconnection technology, which has been the industry buzzword for almost a decade. These devices are a way of integrating multiple chips—both integrated circuits and discrete devices (resistors, capacitors, and inductors)—into a single package, typically using ceramic substrates with layers of insulation and metallic inks (often gold) and firing them at high temperatures.
Scanfil Continues to Succeed in Defending its Profit Margin in Challenging Market
10/29/2024 | ScanfilScanfil updated its outlook for 2024 on 10 June. Scanfil estimates its turnover to be EUR 780–840 (previous, issued on 23 February: 820–900) million, and an adjusted operating profit of EUR 54–61 (57–65) million.
The Chemical Connection: Troubleshooting PCB Process Problems
10/29/2024 | Don Ball -- Column: The Chemical ConnectionAs a supplier of PCB wet processing equipment, we inevitably find ourselves involved in helping customers solve sudden process problems that may or may not be caused by equipment malfunctions. For the most part, equipment problems are relatively easy to identify and repair: sensors for chemistry and equipment control, clogged nozzles and filters, leaks in the plumbing, etc. But what happens when the equipment checks out and the problem is still there?
SMTAI Returns to Its Chicago Roots
10/28/2024 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineSMTA International, the anchor conference and exhibition for SMTA, returned to the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, Oct. 20–24. After a COVID hiatus, followed by two years of co-locating with the MDMA show in Minneapolis, SMTAI went back to its Chicagoland home turf. The 2024 installment of the SMTAI event included more than 110 exhibitors, co-location with The ASSEMBLY Show, over 100 technical papers in the conference, technical forums, social activities, and renewed enthusiasm in the attendants.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
10/25/2024 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007Just this month, the Fall issue of IPC Community was released, spotlighting the global activities of IPC and its members. SMT007 Magazine covers the scary situation around counterfeit components. Design007 Magazine is not playing tricks with its hard-hitting discussions about “partial HDI.” (If you are asking yourself what that is, you really need to take a look.) Finally, PCB007 Magazine’s alternate metallization issue offers some real treats, including an interview featured this past week with Carmichael Gugliotti of MacDermid Alpha. In you’re in the U.S., here’s to an early Happy Halloween.