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Advanced design technology and AI were in the spotlight at the annual Design Town Hall, held March 19 during IPC APEX EXPO 2025. Speakers included IPC’s Peter Tranitz, Matt Kelly, and Devan Iyer, as well as a panel on the use of AI in PCB design moderated by Susan Kayesar of Siemens.
After an introduction by Peter, Matt provided an update on IPC’s recent design efforts, and Devan discussed some of the challenges and solutions in chip-package PCB co-design. Peter also spoke about the path forward for the IPC Design Leadership Council, which meets regularly to discuss the issues facing PCB designers and design engineers.
The AI panel was focused on the future, but Susan opened the proceedings with a quote from the opening scene of the dystopic 1936 Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times: “A story of industry, of individual enterprise—humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness.” I doubt AI design tools will ever take over the world, but many of us still think of Skynet when we hear the term AI, don’t we?
Seated on the AI panel were (L-R)bDirk Stoop, founder of the EDA software company Flux; Savita Ganjigatti of IPC India; Steve Watt of Zuken; and IPC design instructor Kris Moyer. It was a pretty lively discussion. The panel discussed whether AI in design tools would cause designers to abandon their drive to create artistic layouts and the risks vs. rewards of using AI. What are the limits to AI? How much of the designer’s job could be done with AI? Will AI ever render designers obsolete? (Probably not.) Everyone in the audience raised their hands when asked if they’d ever used AI.
Technical Editor Kelly Dack said the ongoing AI conversation reminds him of how the industry first looked at the cloud 10 years ago. “I’d ask 20 people on the show floor at APEX what they thought about the cloud,” Kelly said. “I’d get 20 different responses. Now the cloud is a part of our lives, and we don’t even think about it. Is AI will be the same way.”
Let’s all give a special thanks to Peter Tranitz for leading the Town Hall and steering IPC’s Design Initiative.
