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The Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) has announced a panel discussion on the technologies reshaping printed circuit board design over the next two to five years will take place at PCB West 2026.
“The Future of PCB Design” (session 10) will be moderated by Matt Leary, founder and president of Newgrange Design. The 90-minute session takes place Sept. 29 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. It is included with conference registration.
The panel will examine four developments designers are likely to encounter before the end of the decade: the current – and realistic – role of AI in PCB design; interposer boards that sit between the PCB and the semiconductor; advances in high-speed and high-current design; and the integration of optical interconnects. The emphasis is on exposure to what is coming, and on what designers should be doing now to prepare, rather than a deep technical dive into any single topic.
Panelists include Joe Dickson of WUS Printed Circuits, Takuro Sakamoto of Elephantech, Steven Clark, Ph.D., of Stanford University (retired), and Mohammad Matin of Celus.
Leary founded Newgrange Design, a Wakefield, MA-based PCB design and engineering services firm, in 1996. The company marks its 30th year in 2026 and today fields a staff of more than 30 designers and engineers working across the major ECAD platforms, along with library development, signal integrity simulation and cable documentation. Leary began his career as a full-time PCB designer and is a frequent speaker at PCEA events.
“These four topics are not academic exercises – they are going to land on designers’ desks, and sooner than most people think,” said Mike Buetow, president, PCEA. “Designers who understand where AI actually helps today, what interposers mean for their stackups, and how optical integration changes the rules will be the ones companies turn to. Matt has built a business by staying in front of exactly these shifts, and he has assembled a panel that spans fabrication, materials, research and design automation. This is the kind of session that pays for itself.”
PCB West will be held Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. The event includes a one-day exhibition on Sept. 30. Registration is open at pcbwest.com.
