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Browse our past newsletters on PCB design and industry information

Sneak Peek and Meet the Keynotes for AltiumLive 2018: ANNUAL PCB DESIGN SUMMIT First, on behalf of Altium, allow me to personally invite you to join us for the 2nd annual AltiumLive PCB Design Summit! As most of you know, Altium launched our first ever User Conferences last year in San Diego and Munich which were met with high praise from attendees, sponsors, the industry and the media. This October, in true Altium fashion, we are “upping our game.” In this issue of OnTrack, we will give you a sneak peek of the agenda and Read Article

The Kyoto Institute of Technology Racing Team Aims for Third Win The Kyoto Institute of Technology racing team Grandelfino aims to win its third consecutive victory in the Student Formula SAE Competition of Japan. We asked them about what makes their team special and what are the key points to win. I hope you will enjoy our first ever student team interview coming to you from Japan. Junpei is from the Kyoto Institute of Technology and is part of the Grandelfino project team that hopes to win their third Read Article

From Veteran PCB Designers to Next Gen Innovators - July 2018 OnTrack Newsletter July 2018 VOL. 2 No 4 Welcome to the July edition of the Altium OnTrack Newsletter! In Rock Stars and Superheroes, we talk with veteran PCB Designer Bill Brooks, who has been designing boards since 1969. In Next Gen Designers, we introduce you to the WARR Hyperloop team from the Technical University of Munich, who won the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition II in 2017, and broke the world record as well! In the OnTrack video Read Article

WARR Hyperloop Pushes Last Year’s Design Concept Even Further WARR Hyperloop team with Elon Musk after their 2017 win of the Hyperloop Pod competition II. Judy Warner: Please share briefly about the history of the WARR Hyperloop and the Technical University of Munich. Martin Riedel: WARR Hyperloop started out as a group of six students in the fall of 2015 and has since grown to nearly 40 students that compete in the SpaceX Hyperloop Competition every year. WARR Hyperloop is part of a larger student Read Article

Bill Brooks Accelerates Design-based Over Tool-based Curriculum Judy Warner: How long have you been designing PCBs and what led you to the profession? Bill Brooks: I’ve been designing boards since about 1970. My father introduced me to electronics. He was an aerospace professional working in R&D at Hughes Aircraft Company, UCSD, and later at Aerospace Incorporated. He decided to open up a printed circuit shop out of our garage in Vista, CA while I was still in junior high school. In 1969 he taught my brothers Read Article

The Power of Assistive Technologies & Design for Assembly OnTrack Newsletter - June 2018 OnTrack Newsletter June 2018 VOL. 2 No 3 Welcome to the June edition of the Altium OnTrack newsletter! In this edition, you will be both impressed and inspired by some very young innovators who are profoundly changing people’s lives by designing and building medical assistive devices. In Design Like a Girl, you will meet Mary Elizabeth McCulloch and learn about her speech-generation device startup, Project Vive. In Makerspace, you’ll read about Read Article

Competitive Exoskeleton by Project March from the Delft Technical University Dream Team Judy Warner: Robbert, please tell us about your major at Delft Technical University and your role at Project March. Robbert de Lange: I’m studying civil engineering and my role on the Project March team is Acquisition and PR. Presently, I have taken off a full year of studies to focus full-time on Project March. Warner: What motivated you to take a full year off of your studies to invest in Project March? De Lange: Beyond all the academic Read Article

Mary Elizabeth McCulloch Developed Voz Box and Project Vive Judy Warner: It’s so nice to talk with you, Mary Elizabeth! Please share your background, education and what inspired you to choose engineering as a vocation. Mary Elizabeth McCulloch: I was always good at science and math and I graduated from Penn State University with a biomedical degree in 2016. Both of my parents were very inspirational in my choice to pursue engineering. My Dad studied physics in college and is now an engineer who Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter May 2018 On Track Newsletter May 2018 VOL. 2 No 2 Welcome to the May edition of the Altium OnTrack Newsletter! AltiumLive 2018: ANNUAL PCB DESIGN SUMMIT is coming in October to sunny San Diego, California and pre-registration is now open! By pre-registering now, you will qualify for a 10% early-bird discount once registration officially opens in June (Stay tuned for more information about our European conference). Once again, we will be featuring Read Article

Engineers Build A New Car From the Ground Up Rose Hulman FSAE Car Judy Warner: Tell us about your team, what you make, and where you compete. Anthony Lin: We are the Rose Grand Prix Engineering team from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and we design, build, and race a Formula style (open wheel open cockpit) race car from scratch every year. This year marks our 7th year in the competition with RGP-7 (name of our new car). We compete in the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Read Article

Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Tips from Electronics Expert Duane Benson Judy Warner: Duane, please share briefly about your background in the electronics industry. Duane Benson: I first burned my fingers with a soldering iron when I was about fourteen. Though I was formally trained and started my career in software development, my first love has always been electronics. My early hardware projects included an electronic stethoscope used to listen through walls for termites chewing on wood, and a caller ID device Read Article

The Anniversary Edition OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 OnTrack Newsletter April 2018 VOL. 2 No 1 Welcome to the one-year anniversary edition of the Altium^® OnTrack newsletter! In celebration, our team decided to make this the reader’s choice edition by sharing the top three most read articles from Rock Stars and Superheroes and Makerspace for this past year. We also have a brand new video by Ben Jordan on Multi-board: Partitioning and Planning, and a fresh batch of Brain Food and Regional News below Read Article

Ambitious Students, Makers and Innovators In the number three spot is a solar car team from the University of Waterloo in Toronto, Canada: The Midnight Sun Solar Car team. Relive the guts and the glory of this ambitious team. Congratulations, Midnight Sun Solar Team. Thank you for your pursuit of excellence and being an inspiration for our readers! Taking the number two spot is the New Jersey Institute of Technology SAE Baja team that earned first place in the endurance race, and 13th Read Article

Three Exceptional Professional PCB Designers I've had the opportunity to interview several exceptional professionals in PCB Design this past year, which includes interviewing this popular group of engineers. Here are the most popular articles in our Professional PCB Designers series: In the number three spot is a beloved professional designer, BSEE, and a CID Master Instructor who also has a passion for golfing...Cherie Litson. Congratulations Cherie and thank you for contributing so much Read Article

Flex Cost Drivers, Solar Car Drivers and DFM OnTrack Newsletter March 2018 On Track Newsletter March 2018 VOL. 1 No 12 Welcome to the March edition of the Altium^® OnTrack Newsletter. We have some exceptional content for you this month—so read on! In Design Like a Girl, I interview PCB fabrication veteran and flex expert Tara Dunn of OMNI PCB who will share some insight into cost drivers for flex and rigid-flex circuits. In Next Gen Designers, I interview the Sunswift Solar-Electric team from the University of New South Read Article

15:58 Introduction to Multiboard PCB Design with Ben Jordan Join Ben Jordan in an Introduction to Multiboard PCB Design. In this episode, Part One of a Multipart Series, you Watch Video

10:05 Getting Started with Design for Manufacturing [DFM] Getting Started with Design for Manufacturing is an Episode of the OnTrack Whiteboard Series. Join David Marrakchi as he gives Watch Video