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Most-Read PCB Design Articles of 2015
December 23, 2015 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCBDesign007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

EchoStar’s Les Beller Shares the PCB Design-to-Fab Process
Recently, Barry Matties had the opportunity to meet and interview Les Beller of EchoStar Technologies. In this interview, Beller focuses on the many challenges circuit board designers face, strategies for bridging the gap between circuit design and fabrication, and the future of circuit designers.
Beyond Design: The Plain Truth About Plane Jumpers
Moats, islands, cut-outs in the ground plane, isolated power planes, floating ground regions, and a host of other intricate layout techniques are often used by PCB designers to reduce crosstalk, EMI, and to otherwise improve overall system performance. But a high-speed signal crossing a split in the plane causes problems along at least three dimensions, including signal quality, crosstalk, and EMI. Barry Olney explains.
Cadence’s Brad Griffin Digs Deep Into DDR
Guest Editor Kelly Dack stopped by the Cadence Design Systems booth at DesignCon 2015, where he sat down with Product Marketing Manager Brad Griffin to discuss Cadence’s advanced PCB design and signal integrity tools, and the company’s focus on DDR.
Trending at Freedom CAD: New Crop of Next‐Gen Designers
Scott McCurdy, director of sales and marketing at Freedom CAD Services, expresses his vision for what North America is bringing to the table in the world of circuit design. I‐Connect007 Publisher Barry Matties and McCurdy also discuss China, trends in product design, tools, and more.
Material Witness: Low-Flow Prepregs–Defining the Process
Let’s try to define “low flow” in terms that will make sense to both suppliers and users of the products. A low-flow prepreg is a prepreg that flows sufficiently to wet out and adhere to bonding surfaces and to fill inner layer copper details, but does not flow so much as to fill in cut-out areas in a heat sink or run unevenly out of the interface between rigid and flexible elements of a rigid-flex PWB.
Make the Right Decisions at the Right Time in the PCB Design Process
Martin Cotton of Ventec explains why the right decisions are not always the easiest decisions, but making them well and as early as possible often avoids errors and addition costs. This is certainly the case in PCB design and a key decision influencing the design process and the eventual outcome is the selection of material and of the materials vendor.
Nick Barbin: From Designer to EMS Company Owner
Many PCB designers would rather do just about anything than pore over a P&L spreadsheet. But Nick Barbin isn’t a typical designer. He co-founded the design bureau Optimum Design Associates over two decades ago, and the company later expanded into contract manufacturing and Lean processes. I caught up with Nick recently and asked him how he wound up leading an EMS company on the Inc. 5000 list.
Broadcom PCB Design: Miniaturization on the Cutting Edge
Andy Shaughnessy recently attended the Orange County Designer's Council “Lunch and Learn” meeting, held at the Broadcom offices on the campus of the University of California, Irvine. Afterward, he sat down with Scott Davis, CID, the senior manager of PC board design at Broadcom, to discuss the company’s savvy PCB design department and their approach to PCB design.
Max Maxfield Looks at the Future of Electronics
Clive "Max" Maxfield has worked for decades in this industry, and in a variety of capacities: Engineer, author, editor, columnist, blogger, and keynote speaker. Editor Andy Shaughnessy caught up with his former columnist recently and asked him what he'd been doing to stay out of trouble, and what sort of technology and futuristic electronic gadgets were piquing his interest now.
Ten Considerations for Outsourcing PCB Designs
Outsourcing your design work is a big deal. How do you know that the end-result will be as you envisaged? Will you have full control of your design? Will it be done to the quality you expect and within the time frame required? Outsourcing can pose some fairly scary questions, so what are the key things to consider and what are the pitfalls to avoid?
Suggested Items
ICT Spring Seminar: Nickel Not Welcome Here
03/12/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007After a miserable, dull, and damp English winter, a really pleasant nearly spring day with the sun shining and daffodils in bloom greeted delegates to the Institute of Circuit Technology Spring Seminar at Puckrup Hall near Tewkesbury, March 5, in Gloucestershire, UK.
Multicircuits Expands Capabilities with State-of-the-Art Automated Copper Via Fill Process
03/10/2025 | MulticircuitsMike Thiel, president of Multicircuits, a leading provider of high-reliability printed circuit boards, has announced the addition of a state-of-the-art automated copper via fill process to their advanced manufacturing capabilities. This strategic investment enhances the company’s ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions for demanding industries, including aerospace, defense, medical, and high-speed telecommunications.
EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Day 2: A Roadmap to Material Selection
02/20/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007The EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Feb. 4-5, in Luxembourg City, featured keynotes and two days of conference proceedings. The keynote session and first-day conference proceedings are reported separately. Here is my review of the second day’s conference proceedings. Delegates dutifully assembled bright and early, well-rested and eager to participate in the second day’s proceedings of the EIPC Winter Conference in Luxembourg.
Designers Notebook: Addressing Future Challenges for Designers
02/06/2025 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board is and will probably continue to be the base platform for most electronics. With the proliferation of new generations of high I/O, fine-pitch surface mount semiconductor package variations, circuit interconnect is an insignificant factor. Circuit board designers continually face challenges such as component quantity and complexity, limited surface area, and meeting the circuit board’s cost target. The printed circuit design engineer’s prominent position demands the development of efficiently manufacturable products that perform without compromise.
DesignCon 2025, Day 2: It’s All About AI
01/30/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007It’s hard to get away from the topic of artificial intelligence, but why would you? It’s everywhere and in everything, and my time attending presentations about AI at DesignCon 2025 was well worth it. The conference’s agenda featured engaging presentations and discussions focused on the technological advancements in AI, big data centers, and memory innovations, emphasizing the critical relationship between processors and circuit boards.