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84 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 The Power of Forward Thinking Innovation comes in many forms and from more places these days. Last year, the staff of Popular Science locked themselves in a room and came up with its annual list of 100 great- est innovations. These technological advances will shape how we live and work in the com- ing years. Included were products like Om- rom's HeartGuide, HTC's VIVE Pro Eye, and Pro Display XDR by Apple, as well as the na- tional rollout of 5G cellular from all four mo- bile carriers. Breakthroughs result when visionary indi- viduals and organizations identify needs that are not being served, platforms that can be improved, or entirely new products capable of transforming daily life. What do these elec- tronic devices and an industry-wide technolo- gy shift have in common? They are all innova- tive, and they all contain PCBs. Turning Visionary Ideas Into Innovative Products Whether it's a new electronic device or ad- vancement of broader technology infrastruc- ture, moving from idea to innovation requires processes—the journey from concept to de- sign to prototype—and manufacturing. Bring- ing innovation to the market requires many skills across multiple disciplines, all working together. From mechanical and electrical engineering to sales and marketing, a team needs to have all these resources available to them to be suc- cessful. PCBs are at the heart of these products and product innovation; designing, prototyp- ing, and manufacturing them is vital to success. To the uninitiated, PCB design may seem like a rigid, by-the-book process, but It's not. Be- cause it takes creativity to turn a concept into design, PCB design is very much an art form. Granted, boards aren't quite the same as blank canvasses, and there's nothing artsy-sounding about schematics or a bill of materials or doc- umentation. PCB design is a world filled with limits, tolerances, and parameters—in other words, rules. But, like in "The Matrix," some of those rules can be bent and others broken. Connect the Dots by Bob Tise and Matt Stevenson, SUNSTONE CIRCUITS