Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1391285
76 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2021 Heidi Barnes: Give young people the tools and resources they need to be creative and push them to do something new and innovative. Access to a variety of EE CAD tools and a well- equipped lab can be a game changer. Rick Hartley: Most future designers will be EEs who do their own layout. Everyone I have talked to who is both a circuit engineer and a PC board designer has told me that PCB design (except in the case of very simple boards) is the harder of the two disciplines. at being the case, maybe companies need to get off the dime and offer a much higher salary to engineers who are willing to actively take on both disciplines. e days of "designers" who are not degreed EEs are fading fast. e future designer will be an EE and PCB designer in one package. ose folks deserve a higher wage. Eric Bogatin: By funding scholarships for engi- neers who want to study PCB and high-speed digital design. Cherie Litson: Go to your local colleges and the continuing education department. Get involved. I'm partially retired and I love teach- ing basic electronics and doing special presen- tations on DFM to those who want to improve their career options. Some of these people will eventually become PCB design engineers. Schools love this. Be on an advisory board. You get great perks and only have to attend one to four meetings a year. Lee Ritchey: Attracting people into PCB design is a very tough sell. ere are too many other offers out there that promise big pay and stock options. Stephen Chavez: Let's face it: Major universi- ties today are in the business of making money and that includes getting research grants both from the private and government sectors. PCB design education alone is simply not a big enough draw for such funding. ose of us who have been in the industry for several decades remember when a career in PCB design came with very little respect. at mentality had got- ten us where we are today. e industry is lack- ing the next generation of engineers for printed circuit engineering. Just look how many job postings there are nowadays. ere are more design jobs open than I have ever seen in my career. Today's PCB designer is not like yesteryear's "drasman." Today, that individual is so much more and requires an engineer-level education, and a broader understanding of design, fabri- cation, and assembly—along with the unique skillset of PCB design. A career in PCB design can be both fulfilling and lucrative, dependent Our company's senior designers and EEs, including me, are heading for retirement and pickleball. How can we attract new/young people into PCB design? Q