Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1183414
10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 I'm not usually a road warrior, not like some of you people in sales who live in airports. I cover four or five trade shows each year, and I attend a few conferences and other events. But I've been traveling a lot for the past few months, and I've met with dozens of designers and design engineers. After talking to many of you, I'm beginning to believe that we'll look back on this period as the "Good Ol' Days." If you ask a PCB designer for his opinion (or increasingly, her opinion), you're likely to get an earful. Designers are not a shy group of peo- ple; they are not afraid to "call the baby ugly," as the saying goes. But I'm not hearing much in the way of ugly lately. Many designers that I've met recently say that they're having fun designing boards for the latest cutting-edge devices. They feel as if they're really contributing, and they're proud to be part of a great team. There are plenty of new, challenging technical problems popping up every day, but when I hear designers talk- ing, it sounds like solving these problems is all part of the fun. The return of the word "fun" is a good omen. For a decade or so, I don't remember many de- signers using the word "fun" to describe their jobs, the electronics industry, or their compa- nies. Things were tough all over, and designers were worried about their jobs. Contrast that with today. If you're a young designer looking for a job, odds are that you won't be for long. Fortunately, we are seeing more young people becoming designers and design engineers. Let's congratulate Michael Steffen and Kalen Brown, two designers who recently passed the IPC Certified Interconnect Designer exam. They also attended the Design- ers Council Executive Board meeting at PCB West, where they were given a warm welcome. The Shaughnessy Report by Andy Shaughnessy, I-CONNECT007 Voices From the Road