Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1199133
26 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2020 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team John Watson of Legrand speaks with the I- Connect007 editorial team about the design classes he taught at AltiumLive in Frankfurt, Germany, covering a variety of design chal- lenges. John shares some of his insight and explains why it's paramount for designers of any level to adapt to adversity, stay active in the design community, and continue their PCB design education throughout their careers. As John says, "Put yourself out there." Andy Shaughnessy: John, it's good to see you again. Tell us about the classes you're teaching. John Watson: I did four sessions on Altium- Live's University Day. The main thing that we were talking about was their software pack- age, Concord Pro, which is a library manage- ment system that helps to control your librar- ies and the parts that you're using, etc. There is so much information now on a part that it is unbelievable. Years ago, you would start a PCB design, and you'd have a schematic sym- bol and a footprint. Now, you have so much more information tied to that component that, when you lay it down on that schematic, it is an entire resource system developed to support your schematic and PCB. Even then, the other roles that are involved in the PCB design pro- cess, such as your MCAD person, are going to be interested in your 3D model. Then, it goes into procurement, and your sourcing informa- tion is in that component also. All of this is brought in together and con- trolled/managed through a revision process, and it's all done through Concord Pro. We were talking about those features and look- ing at the component development, includ- ing what should be in a component and what should be in a project. Then, we also looked at some advanced features of Concord Pro by looking at some of the other things that Con- cord Pro covers; it's not just for components. Many people look at it as a component library, but it's a place also for your projects to live. In our library, we set up a resource library of ar- ticles, etc., for people to reference and read. I had one other session on how to overcome the challenges of PCB design, specifically elec- Teaching Designers to Adapt and Overcome John Watson