New Fil Arzola Class: Designing for the Future, and for Sustainability

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

If you have not yet taken a class from Fil Arzola, you are missing out. In late October, Fil will be teaching the class "Building Sustainable Model-Based PCBs," speaking from the design perspective. I had the pleasure of catching this course at last year's IPC APEX EXPO, and I walked away with a lot to think about. I asked Fil to discuss his upcoming course. Registration is open now.

Andy Shaughnessy: Fil, it is always good to catch up with you. What have you been doing over the summer? Have you been traveling?

Fil Arzola: Hi, Andy. I hope you are doing well and enjoying life along with all the ongoing changes in the universe of technology. I did travel in early June to Detroit for the Siemens Realize Live 2024 event, and then I travelled to Croatia for most of August for fun. Both were fantastic. I had a great time working and relaxing.

Shaughnessy: You have an upcoming design course starting Oct. 20, and it looks like you'll be covering some interesting concepts. Tell us about the class.

Arzola: Yes, I will be teaching a Global Electronics Association course, “Building Sustainable Model-based PCBs,” Oct. 20–Nov. 5, Mondays and Wednesdays. Each class lasts two hours. I invite everyone to attend. It’s an exciting, interesting, and thought-provoking course that will help new and seasoned PCB designers and engineers. The main discussion topics will include a model-based design engineering approach and how it combines with sustainability methodologies, a sample design to show design concepts, how sustainability topics apply to the technology company you work for, and some Mother Earth discussions. All interested PCB design engineers can find more information on the Association website.

Shaughnessy: What can PCB designers do to influence sustainability, and how are model-based PCBs related to this?

Arzola: PCB design is no longer just design or drafting-type work, it is truly an artform and a technical puzzle that must be solved using engineering processes, controls, and methodologies. It’s actually become quite intense, depending on the board design type. The basic but absolutely necessary first step of PCB design must be to baseline a model-based approach that integrates electrical and mechanical models, thus establishing a PCB design database. This baseline establishes an easier and more powerful approach and implementation to engineering the design using sustainable-type controls and processes. So, moving forward, PCB design engineers can be more responsible and influence their designs as model-based and utilize sustainability ideals.

Shaughnessy: For most PCB designers, sustainability is not on their radar screen. What do you hope these designers will take away from this class?

Arzola: I agree that sustainability is not something we think about as a must-do. We tend to focus on other tasks that must be implemented, to start and complete the different aspects of component placement and routing details. Our usual first thoughts, when designing a board, are: 1) Will all the components fit? 2) Do I have enough layers to complete the routing? 3) Is there any special routing that must be done? If any of these things are not adequately addressed, the completed board design will not pass signal/power integrity requirements, leading to schedule adjustments and costly updates.

However, those first thoughts actually do include the issue of sustainability; it is simply a case of not knowing it. Kidding aside, the ideals of sustainability are being practiced; they exist as other lessons-learned, or from other baseline methods. My course will help designers learn how to understand and apply all necessary design, engineering, and producibility concepts, and to weave in sustainable ideals to deliver a powerful, advanced, and solid board design. That’s the basic thought process. Those who attend will learn much more.

Shaughnessy: This course is divided into three sessions, each with a slightly different focus. Tell us about the class format.

Arzola: The course is presented over three weeks, two sessions per week, and each session is two hours. The first week reviews model-based design engineering concepts, and we’ll introduce a sample design to help with show-and-tell. In the second week, we will review and discuss sustainability methodologies, how we can integrate all of these with the PCB model database, and discuss our sample model further. In the third week, we review more sustainability concepts, especially those that affect the company thresholds, and we’ll have a nice sample design surprise.

Each class begins with a seven-minute Q&A and review. I encourage live questions as well as emailed questions during the three weeks of the course.

Shaughnessy: Will the recording also be available to registrants after the live virtual sessions? 

Arzola: Yes. All sessions are recorded and available to attendees the following day. Attendees have access to the recordings for one year.

Shaughnessy: Fil, what makes these types of educational opportunities so valuable for attendees? 

Arzola: My technical courses focus not just on how to design a board, but also on proper design database setup, the drive to consider producibility, constraint management, and the need to learn and implement engineering processes to a successful and sustainable work product. These educational opportunities are extremely valuable to all levels of experienced PCB design engineers, as well as project and supply chain leaders, as the course offers a way to learn and develop better design and engineering techniques to help one build their skill set.

Shaughnessy: Is there anything else you would like potential registrants to know about this course?

Arzola: I am hoping folks can put time aside for this technical course; they will learn a lot. The course is well-paced and modernized for today’s PCB design engineering skill set. And I look forward to seeing all of you there, even you, Andy.

Shaughnessy: Thanks, Fil. 

For more information or to register for this class, click here or contact KellyAllen@electronics.org.