Estimated reading time: 1 minute

The Shaughnessy Report: Bringing Sexy Back to EDA

Amid all of the hullabaloo in this industry, we sometimes forget one absolute truth: We’re all geeks. Admit it. If you’re reading this, there’s no way around it: You are a geek.

Years ago, I hired an associate editor right out of college. Tracy was 22 and about as hip as 22-year-old women generally are.

After putting on my “Trainer Andy” hat, I broke down the world of electronics design for Tracy. Along the way, I mentioned that the chip designers often consider themselves to be higher up in the hierarchy of life than PCB designers. Chip designers even consider their field to be more hip and sexy than PCB design.

You sense it at shows like DesignCon and the Design Automation Conference. The IC designers treat the mere PCB designers like red-headed stepchildren. The chip guys remind me of the Prius drivers on “South Park.” who cut down on smog but wind up raising the levels of “smug” to dangerously high.

Even within the chip design world, there are subdivisions of “smug.” The functional verification engineers breathe rarefied air and walk on petals of lavender, while the back-end folks might as well sit at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving.

We see it in the media, too. When we’re all together at DesignCon or DAC, the journalists covering chip design view PCB design editors as if we’re one step above writers for Highlights for Children. Sometimes they wrinkle their noses as if someone is trying to mask an odor.

“Oh, you cover PCB design? I didn’t know you could get into this show without an MSEE,” they intone wistfully. “Isn’t that just the cutest thing. Well, good for you! I’m sure it’s a great little publication!”  

None of them have ever pinched my cheek like a great aunt, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

So, I conveyed all of this valuable information, objective and subjective, to Tracy. What did she do? She rolled her eyes.Read the full column here.Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the December 2013 issue of The PCB Design Magazine.