Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1062752
8 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2018 There was a time when PCB designers were the odd man out. They're still a little odd, actually, but that's another story. In the 1970s and '80s, unless you worked in a hotbed of high-tech like Silicon Valley, you may not have known too many other PCB designers. That's what happens when you work in a career that isn't its own industry. And it was usually one or two designers working with an office full of EEs, none of whom understood exactly what you did anyway. Back then, it was easy for a designer to feel isolated. But the IPC Designers Council has done quite a bit to erase that feeling of being out of touch. Founded in 1992, the Designers Council is a group created "by designers, for design- ers" with over 1,000 members and 33 chapters around the globe. The DC offers networking opportunities, technical education, and cer- tification such as the certified interconnect designer program (CID and CID+). There is one important distinction about the DC. Unlike IPC membership, which is awarded only to companies, DC members are all indi- viduals. There is no cost to join the Designers Council. One of the biggest benefits of being involved with the DC is networking; you never know who you're going to run into at a meeting. Some of the monthly "lunch-and-learn" chap- ter meetings draw a crowd of PCB designers and technologists—the Orange County and San Diego chapters routinely boast 50 or more attendees—who listen to guest presenters dis- cuss some of the problems that designers face The Shaughnessy Report by Andy Shaughnessy, I-CONNECT007 The Designers Council Is Not Resting on Its Laurels