American Made Advocacy: Success in Washington Requires Patience, Persistence, and Sustained Focus
The Government Circuit: News on Defense Electronics, Europe, and Sustainability
Defense Speak Interpreted: SWaPing Nanosatellites for Defense Systems
EDA Tools and the Designer of the Future
January 28, 2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
We’re seeing new, young technologists moving into the PCB design and design engineering segment, and it’s just in time; many veteran designers are headed to retirement.
At the same time, there have been various recent advances in EDA tools. What will the PCB designer’s job—and the designer’s software tools—look like in the next five years?
Bob Potock, vice president of marketing for Zuken USA, weighs in on the PCB designers of tomorrow, and the EDA tools that will take them into an evermore complex future.
Andy Shaughnessy: I imagine Zuken has a “profile” of its typical user. How do you see this their job and its requirements evolving over the next few years?
Bob Potock: At Zuken, we believe that the PCB design and layout market is evolving. Today’s tools are mature, powerful, and easy to use. However, what's changing in the design process is how the tools are used and by whom. The standard hand-off from the design engineer to the PCB layout designer is becoming a thing of the past. A board with average complexity is more commonly designed, placed, and routed by the same individual: the hardware engineer. The modern hardware engineer will be an electrical engineer who can learn how to do PCB layout on the job. Moderately complex board designs now and in the future will see the traditional PCB layout function moving to the hardware engineer.
The high-complexity PCB market is different. The tools are more powerful, and the designs have more critical requirements. IC packaging may become part of the PCB layout activity at this complexity level. The traditional design engineer hand-off to the PCB layout designer may still exist. However, this modern PCB layout designer is an electrical engineer with training in power integrity, signal integrity, manufacturing, and IC packaging.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the January 2025 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Standard of Excellence: Building Trust with Customers—The Foundation of Excellent Service
01/29/2025 | Anaya Vardya -- Column: Standard of ExcellenceDo we trust each other? Trust is the lifeblood of long-term customer relationships. We earn, nurture, and reinforce trust through every interaction and decision. Trust is the cornerstone of any business striving for excellence. In the PCB industry, where precision and reliability are paramount, building trust with customers is essential. Let’s explore how we can establish and maintain trust.
SMTA UHDI Symposium 2025, Part 2: State of the Art
01/29/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007A group of about 50 attended the second annual SMTA Ultra High Density Interconnect Symposium on Jan. 23, 2025. After a morning of technical presentations on challenges and solutions regarding UHDI technology, we gathered for a delicious Mexican buffet lunch and some networking before reconvening for an afternoon of more technical topics.
SMTA UHDI Symposium 2025, Part 1: Challenges and Solutions
01/28/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007SMTA hosted its second annual Ultra High Density Interconnect Symposium, a conference on cutting-edge PCB technology, on Jan. 23, 2025, at the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona. A highly pro-business state with a special affection for the tech sector, Arizona is home to the biggest Intel semiconductor fab in the United States and the new TSMC chip fab. With an intimate group of approximately 50 attendees, the SMTA event offered a great forum for learning, interactive discussion, and networking.
Fresh PCB Concepts: Tariffs and the Importance of a Diverse Supply Chain
01/28/2025 | Team NCAB -- Column: Fresh PCB ConceptsWith the new Trump administration, we anticipate an increase in tariffs on products from China, including printed circuit boards (PCBs). The current U.S. tariffs on PCBs from China is 25%, with two-layer and four-layer boards excluded from the tariffs until May 31, 2025. I’ve recently received a lot of questions about tariffs, even from the engineering end. While we are uncertain what the future will hold, this situation illustrates why it’s important to have a diverse supply chain.
North American PCB Industry Sales Up 59.6 Percent in December
01/27/2025 | IPCIPC announced today the December 2024 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.19. Total North American PCB shipments in December 2024 were down 0.3 percent compared to the same month last year. Compared to the preceding month, December shipments were down 3.9 percent.