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The Shaughnessy Report: Help Wanted - PCB Design Needs an Icon

For years, veteran designers like Gary Ferrari, Bill Brooks, and the late Glenn Wells, just to mention a few, have been spreading the word to young people about PCB design as a viable career. Now, there are actual PCB design classes available at a handful of colleges, and PCB design is becoming more visible to the general public.

But it’s still an uphill battle. Designers are retiring, and they just aren’t being replaced. When was the last time you met a designer who was under 30?

Imagine what it’s like to be a smart high school or college student--the kind of kid who would make a great PCB designer. You’d be interested in math and science, and you’d be considering a career in electronics. You’d be a little bit off-grid, and able to harness that facet of your personality.

But you’d be getting deluged with information. You and your friends would most likely be interested in the “sexier” careers such as game developer or Web developer. Or you may have your sights set on being an electrical engineer. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.

After all, the EE is a known quantity; I imagine there will always be kids dreaming of being EEs. Why isn’t it that way for PCB design?   

If everyone knew how satisfying (and, often, profitable) a PCB design career can be, there would be waiting lists for every PCB design job. You know exactly what I mean: You may hate your boss, your company, and/or the EEs, but you love what you do. Not many people can say that.

We need to find a way into these kids’ busy brains. What’s our hook, our 10-second elevator spiel? PCB design suffers from an image problem. It has no image, and that’s the problem.

PCB design needs an icon. Something that represents everything that design is about. Something we can show high school seniors and college students that would illustrate this career. Read the full column here.Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the July 2014 issue of The PCB Design Magazine.