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Browse our past newsletters on PCB design and industry information

Student-Designed Solar Cars from Down Under Judy Warner: Please share how your team was started, how many cars you have built to date, and give us an overview of Violet. Kristian Bojidarov: Sunswift is a team of undergraduate students from the University of New South Wales who design, build and race the world’s most advanced solar-electric vehicles. With the knowledge gained since Sunswift’s founding in 1995, the team has recently completed the manufacture of our sixth vehicle, Violet Read Article

Getting a Handle on Flex Cost Drivers Judy Warner: You've been in the board fabrication business for over 20 years. What factors do you see as contributing to the rise in flex and rigid-flex designs? Tara Dunn: I believe that space, weight and packaging are the primary factors driving designs to flex and rigid-flex technology. For customers that are already using flex and rigid-flex, I am seeing an increase in their percentage of new designs using flex and I am also noticing an Read Article

5 Noteworthy Women in PCB Design Women in technology is a hot topic, especially how to get more women involved in technology-related fields. What I find most interesting about this subject is what motivates people to pursue a career in technology in the first place. In general, there are a lot of men in this field and, as a woman in tech myself, I think attracting new people to the industry is always positive. I encourage people to pursue careers in technology, no matter their Read Article

PCBs from Space to Snow Plowing OnTrack Newsletter February 2018 On Track Newsletter February 2018 VOL. 1 No 11 Welcome to the February edition of the Altium^® On Track Newsletter. There is justifiable concern in our industry about where the next generation of PCB designers will come from. Estimates show that in approximately ten years, 50% of currently working PCB designers will be retiring—which is an alarming statistic! Since joining Altium exactly one year ago, I have seen overwhelming evidence from around Read Article

Left Hand Robotics Autonomous Snowbot Judy Warner: Shane, so nice to meet you. Before we get started, I just had to ask what the story is behind your unique name? Shane Zinner: In this area, there was an American Indian Chief Niwot or Left Hand (-ed) (c. 1825–1864) who was a tribal leader of the Southern Arapaho people and played an important part in the history of Colorado. Many 'Left Hand' things, such as Left Hand Canyon, Left Hand Brewery, and the town of Niwot, Colorado were Read Article

James MacKinnon’s Career Path to NASA Judy Warner: James, please share a little bit about your academic background and how you learned to design PCBs. James MacKinnon: In my junior and senior year at the University of Florida I had some classes where we were required to do some fairly simple PCB design. Basically, if you don't pass those classes, then you don't graduate. And since it's an EE-type class, they want you to create a PCB. They were simple circuits for junior design Read Article

Modern DFM, Princeton University, and Uniquely Shaped PCB Design OnTrack Newsletter January 2018 On Track Newsletter VOL. 1 No 8 Happy New Year and welcome to the January edition of the Altium^® On Track Newsletter! In Designer Spotlight, we bring you a fresh perspective on DFM and prototyping with industry veteran Dirk Stans, owner of Belgium-based PCB manufacturer Eurocircuits. In Next Gen Innovators, we give you a glimpse under the hood of another impressive Formula SAE contender, Princeton University’s Racing Electric team. In the On Read Article

9:06 What are Embedded Passives/Actives and how to use them? In this Episode, John Magyar is talking about Embedded Components and the Differences between SMT Passive, SMT Active, Embedded Passive Watch Video

Princeton Racing Electrical Team and the Formula Hybrid Competition Judy Warner: It is a pleasure to meet you both. Jasper, let’s begin with you. Will you please share what the Princeton Racing Electric team does, how the team was formed, and in what year? Jasper Gebhardt: Princeton Racing Electric is a team of students who design, build, and race single-seat electric race cars. We compete in the Formula SAE collegiate design competitions, in particular, the Formula Hybrid competition. The team was founded by Read Article

Expert Dirk Stans Bridging Gaps in PCB Manufacturing Judy Warner: Dirk, please give us a brief overview of your career path and history in the electronics industry. Dirk Stans: As an electronics engineer, I started my career at DISC which became Barco Graphics just one year after I joined the company. From day one I was active in the sales of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems for the PCB industry in Europe. It was there that I gained insight into the evolution of the European and global Read Article

6:17 IPC Standards for Your PCB Design - OnTrack Watch Video

Drones, Robots and Thermal Management: OnTrack Newsletter December 2017 On Track Newsletter December 2017 VOL. 1 No 9 Welcome to the December issue of Altium Designer’s On Track Newsletter. In celebration of our far reaching global community, we are shining the spotlight on an impressive PCB designer from Norway this month. Tor-Anders Lunder designs boards for a startup company called Staaker which makes a tracking drone with a camera mount for sports enthusiasts. In Maker Space, we highlight a group of Brazilian Read Article

Azevedo the ITAndroids: Humanoid Robot Soccer Team Judy Warner: How long has the ITAndroids team been in existence, and how did it get started? Arthur Azevedo: The ITAndroids team was created in 2005 by Jackson Matsura. Back then he was a masters student, now he is a professor in the electronics department. Two undergraduate students and another master’s student joined the team. They won the Latin America RoboCup (LARC) 2D Soccer Simulation that year. They quickly became one of the Latin American Read Article

Meet PCB Designer Tor-Anders Lunder and the Self-tracking Drone He Helped Develop at Staaker Judy Warner: Tor-Anders, will you please share a little bit about your journey to becoming a PCB and how you ended up at Staaker? Tor-Anders Lunder: Sure. After my master’s degree at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim I had already been doing some projects involving PCB design and was curious about the whole process from design to assembly, and wanted to learn more in this field Read Article

17:51 Creating Layer Numbers and Stacking Stripes in Altium Designer Click to download the PCB Library files. Watch to see exactly how you can create layer numbers and stacking stripes Watch Video

6:46 Make your Product Fit that Unusual Shape John Magyar, an expert in complex PCBs, highlights how new Challenges in the Electronics Industry dictate new ways of designing Watch Video

OnTrack Newsletter November 2017 On Track Newsletter November 2017 VOL. 1 No 8 Welcome to the November edition of Altium’s On Track Newsletter. This month in Rock Stars and Superheroes we feature a who presented a talk at AltiumLive 2017: ANNUAL PCB DESIGN SUMMIT in San Diego. Not only is he a very talented , he is a leader and advocate for regional Altium^® User Groups and shares how to start and build your own. In Space you’ll meet an impressive young man who decided to learn Read Article