Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
Target Condition: Floor Planning Without a Floor
Happy’s Tech Talk #42: Applying Density Equations to UHDI Design
IPC Announces New Training Course: PCB Design for Manufacturability
January 10, 2025 | IPCEstimated reading time: Less than a minute
IPC announced the launch of a new training course: PCB Design for Manufacturability.
This three-week online program, taught by an industry expert with over 40 years of experience, is designed to equip PCB designers with the knowledge and skills to reduce or eliminate design, documentation, and capability issues that often arise during PCB fabrication.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Understand the importance of Design for Manufacturability (DFM) in the PCB design process.
- Learn how to identify and address potential manufacturing challenges early in the design phase.
- Gain a comprehensive understanding of PCB fabrication processes and capabilities.
- Develop best practices for creating manufacturable PCB designs.
Course Content:
- DfM Course Introduction, Fabricator Capability and Materials
- Panelization, Stackups and Surface Finishes
- Conductive Features, Holes/Vias and Other Mechanical Features
- Masks and Inks, Impedance and Signal Loss, and Electrical Test
- FPC, Documentation and Specifications
Participants will receive valuable resources, including:
- PCB Fabrication Design Rules: An editable document to help designers avoid common design issues and ensure compatibility with fabricator capabilities.
- Rigid PCB Fabrication Acceptance Specification: An editable document outlining recommended qualification and performance specifications for all IPC-6012 requirements.
Course Dates:
February 11, 2025 – February 27, 2025
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST
Registration: click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
The Global Electronics Association Launches Design Village at APEX EXPO 2026
09/02/2025 | Global Electronics AssociationAPEX EXPO, the hallmark electronics tradeshow hosted by the Global Electronics Association, announced the launch of the Design Village, a new feature in the exhibit hall that will unite the world’s leading innovators and showcase next-generation solutions for the electronics industry.
Mastering PCB Floor Planning
08/28/2025 | Stephen V. Chavez, Siemens EDAPlacement of PCB components is far more than just fitting components onto a board. It’s a strategic and critical foundational step, often called “floor planning,” that profoundly impacts the board’s performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Floor planning ties into the solvability perspective, with performance and manufacturability being the other two competing perspectives for addressing and achieving success in PCB design.
Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
08/26/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonI’d like to share a harsh truth, and I say this as a friend: PCB designers are often their own worst enemy. It’s rarely the complexity of the circuit, the last-minute changes from mechanical, the limited enclosure space, or the ever-expanding list of design rules that send projects to the dust heap of failed boards. More often, it's our own decisions, made too quickly and narrowly, and with too little foresight, that sabotage an otherwise good design.
Target Condition: Floor Planning Without a Floor
08/27/2025 | Kelly Dack -- Column: Target ConditionBy a show of hands, how many PCB designers have been asked to start a layout without a board outline, keep-out zones, or even height constraints? How many have had to work within a specific enclosure before the schematic was finalized? If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Starting a PCB layout without critical constraints is like hiring an interior designer to buy furniture and carpet for a house you haven’t even purchased yet, or, even worse, trying to fit four bedrooms' worth of furniture in a one-room cabin.
I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/22/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007In this week’s roundup, we have a variety of articles covering design, manufacturing, sustainability, and, of course, tariff negotiations. We have a milestone anniversary to celebrate as well, with Dan Beaulieu about to publish his 1,000th column. When does Dan even sleep? Here’s to hoping that we have 1,000 more weeks of "It’s Only Common Sense."