Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1004549
44 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2018 minologies and components. You still need to learn how to create the traces and push some parts around, but a lot of the understanding of it is framed out, if that makes sense. Shaughnessy: I'm just wondering if all of this hype about autonomous cars, 5G, virtual real- ity, and cross reality are helping attract more young people to our industry. LaPointe: Yes, I think it has. Again, purely through osmosis, where if you have this startup company and they're working on an autonomous car, even if you went in with the intention of being an EE, at some point one of you has to switch over and start doing the PCB design. All these newer companies and tech- nologies push people into the design roles. Shaughnessy: Dan, is your background in engi- neering? Fernsebner: Yes, I graduated from the Univer- sity of Massachusetts Lowell with an electri- cal engineering and computer science degree, so the EDA space was a perfect space for me. It is a good cross between software and hardware. Shaughnessy: Did you hear anything about circuit board design when you were in college? Fernsebner: No, I mean obviously you get exposed to it when you're there, but before that, it was probably one of the furthest things from my mind. It's not something that they teach, and from my understanding today, it's still not taught. I would think in the future schools would start looking at their curriculum and start making adjustments. You can see some of that now where you have the mesh of electronics and mechanical. Schools are now offering degrees in mecha- tronic engineering. Hopefully PCB design is something that will eventually become part of the curriculum, but who knows. Shaughnessy: I think it's just a matter of reach- ing out and looking for these kids. I liked what IPC did at APEX this year; they invited high school kids from San Diego to attend the trade show, walk around, talk to everybody, and meet some of the people in the industry. Fernsebner: Things like that are great, as well as the Maker Faire, which is worldwide and quite large. Even now, a lot of the toy compa- nies, like Lego and others, are really starting to promote electronics in different forms. Shaughnessy: Maker Faire is really something. We have one employee who just got out of school a few years ago and he already knew how to solder a circuit board because he'd attended Maker Faire. Fernsebner: One toy company called littleBits lets you assemble circuits using magnetic con- nectors. I think a lot of this is making electron- ics more relevant much earlier on. Shaughnessy: Is requiring a degree really a blessing in disguise? Designers now deal with signal and power integrity and EMI prob- lems where some engineering and theoretical knowledge would probably be a benefit. Fernsebner: I agree, and I think that's probably why a lot of companies are asking for engineer- ing degrees because I think back in the day, a lot of mechanical designers and draftsmen became PCB designers. Back then, it was really about the artwork and how good you were at detailing that artwork. It's becoming much more of a science. The reality is, it's only going to get worse. We're just talking about 5G and DDR5 now, but in two years we'll be talking about 6G, DDR6, and so forth. It very much seems like nowadays the bachelor's degree is a commodity in the mar- ketplace, where having a bachelor's degree in Dan Fernsebner