Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1153097
26 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2019 about field service. Is the product serviceable in the field, or back at a repair depot? The field service engineers don't necessarily have the same tools that we used in the factory. If that's the case, then the designer has to design in such a way that it can be repaired, if that's the mission out in the field, rather than going back to the factory or repair depot. As you can see, the designer is responsible for a lot. If they don't do it right, it's going to cost you more time and dollars. Without a good understanding, you may see more failures be- cause of designs that were not given the proper attention to details. The IPC Designers Council was created by designers for designers to exchange ideas, talk about technology, and to learn between them- selves; it's not just what their one company does. The council has been in existence for so many years now, and a lot of people have learned that message and applied it successful- ly. Now is the time for the designer to be recog- nized for what they do, or don't do. Shaughnessy: Until fairly recently, many de- signers didn't have a lot of avenues for train- ing, unless they could get to a trade show or conference. Ferrari: It's unfortunate that designers basical- ly have to learn by osmosis. Many are not giv- en an education budget. And if they are al- lowed to partake in an educational event, they still have to work on their design in the eve- nings. We're at this reliability conference, and a lot of the topics that NASA was talking about, and some of the other speakers, highlight some of the problems we have with reliability. With- in each one of those, I can see where the de- signer has some control of that. I have always said that the designer doesn't have to know ev- ery single thing, but a good designer is some- one who will ask a question. Did somebody do thermal analysis, etc.? Once you bring it up to a group, then you can figure out if that needs to be looked at and addressed. I don't advocate that the designer has to know everything or every standard, but what they do have to know is what the standards contain that may be able to help them. Then, they can go look it up. I don't expect them to memorize everything. I sure don't. I wake up in the morning and can barely remember my name (laughs). Shaughnessy: I look at the designer as kind of the maestro. They have to speak to the EEs and know something about that language, and they have to deal with the CAM people too. They have to understand fabrication and some as- sembly. They're the ring leader of the circus. Ferrari: I like to say that the designer takes an engineer's design and the symbolic represen- tation of functionality and converts it to the language of the physical world—the language of the board fabricator, assembler, and field service. They convert the symbolic represen- tation. That's where it starts. Engineers have come to me and asked, "How come they can't do this thing?" When you look at it, it's not buildable, reliable, etc. It's the message we've been sending for years and years. Hopefully, by 2020, we'll be in better shape than we were in past years. Technology is getting very com- plex nowadays. Again, it's encouraging that John Mitchell understands the importance of PCB design. He attended our executive board meeting at IPC APEX EXPO 2019. He said that he could only spare about 15 minutes in his schedule after the conference, and he spent almost two hours with us. There's a lot of input that we can provide throughout the product develop - ment cycle. Shaughnessy: How do we expose the next gen- eration of young people to PCB design? Now is the time for the designer to be recognized for what they do, or don't do.