DesignCon 2025: Stacking the Professional Deck

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

After two full days of technical presentations, networking, and visiting with exhibitors on the show floor, the final day at DesignCon featured an exciting lineup of sessions and discussions, culminating in a wealth of knowledge for electronics professionals and included a thought-provoking keynote on global connectivity through low-earth orbit satellites presented by Amazon's Nima Mahanfar. Additionally, the Women in Engineering reception provided valuable insights on work-life balance and personal growth in the industry.

But I started my day with Dan Beeker. If you don’t know this PCB design guru and expert instructor, you should. If you see him, you won’t forget him. His long wavy hair and bandana-crowned head, reminiscent of Willie Nelson or David Crosby, makes me smile. Dan began his session by asking, “How many of you are real PCB designers?” In an audience of about 30, roughly 10 raised their hands, and he applauded them as the unsung heroes of electronics design, stuck in the middle of demanding customers on all sides who do not completely understand what they do. 

His session, “Stacking the Deck: Maximizing PCB Layout Design,” focused on stackups (admittedly one of his favorite subjects) and signal integrity. He commented to his audience that they need to be well versed in signal integrity. “I want you to become ‘dielectric-aware’; 99.9% of your board is dielectric.” He provided recommendations and rules of thumb throughout his presentation, talking about looking at signal vias in pairs, and making sure that every signal via has a nearby ground transition via. He also shared some of his favorite stackup configurations. He briefly touched on HDI and how the rules change when you are dealing with vertical stacks of vias in two layers, but directed listeners to another class where this is the sole focus. He ended with a note of encouragement, “Board stack Nirvana can be achieved!” 

Thursday’s keynote, “Enabling Global Connectivity with Low Earth Orbit Satellite Technology,” was presented by Nima Mahanfar, director of technology at Amazon, and head of Project Kuiper, which aims to create a constellation of low earth orbit satellites to address this global connectivity problem. The satellites talk to each other through a laser link and optical mesh network, which he likened to a laser pointer. It’s a three-phased program and the “initial satellites operate at three altitudes and multiple orbital inclinations,” hover at just over 600 kilometers, and move at 27,000 km/hour. 

As a point of reference, he offered that the speed of a bullet travels at just 2,000 km/hour. Subsequent phases will orbit at higher altitudes. This “spot-based system” works by providing “multiple beams at different frequencies in virtual grid locations” throughout an area. They will be building thousands of these satellites which are not designed to last for more than 25 years, as has been the case with traditional satellite technologies. Technology changes too fast and these low orbit satellites will require updates to reflect technological advancements. 

I spent much of the day speaking with exhibitors and industry members, and later in the day I attended the Women in Engineering reception. As it often does, the topic of a work/life balance was a significant topic for both the women and men who attended this event. Daphne Allen, editor of Design News, moderated a panel that included Pegah Alavi of Keysight Technologies, Beth Kochuparmbil of Cisco, and Cathy Liu of Broadcom. They offered personal tips and tricks to stay sane and achieve some semblance of balance in their professional lives. Pegah suggested using a “values wheel” to help prioritize your day. She ranks things that come up from one to five, and that helps her mentally accomplish what needs to be done, an idea she started for her children when they were home during the pandemic. 

Beth has five children ages 11 and younger. She said that defining and keeping her boundaries at work allows her to be there for her family while also being productive and effective at work. “If you find yourself in a situation where your workplace or direct supervisor is not supportive of you needs, find a different situation,” she said.

Cathy gave her husband props for being a good partner. “Don’t over-parent your kids,” she said, and give them responsibility early. Finally, she reminded listeners that self-care is always incredibly important. 

Topics such as inherent bias, psychological overload, and creating a solid foundation for your success were discussed as well, ending the session inspirationally and leaving much for further contemplation. “You don’t have to choose,” Cathy said of work and family. “Just grab it.”

Pegah encouraged all professional women to believe in themselves and to reach out for help when it’s needed, that there are many people who are willing to help. For women in technical fields, Beth said, “Know your value. When you are the one at the table who looks different, you bring a ton of value with your difference. And trust your gut.” 

I also attended the IEEE Women in Engineering panel with including Beth Kochuparmbil, who discussed a women inventor network, a program that culminated from a study by the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) on diversity and problem-solving, and which showed only 12-13% of all inventors of patents are women. In this patent mentor program, four mentees are paired with a mentor who works together for four months, looks at problems in their worlds that might be solved, brainstorms potential solutions, and then walks them through the patenting process.

The final day of DesignCon ended with another Booth Bar Crawl, the halls a bit emptier than they had been several hours before and everyone looking appropriately tired, but with all reports that the 30th anniversary of DesignCon was indeed a good show with a lot of valuable sales activity for exhibitors.