Design007 Magazine

Design007-Aug2021

Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1400005

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 17 of 113

18 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 like Eric Bogatin, Lee Ritchey, Rick Hartley, or Happy Holden. Anyone can write an article, but that doesn't mean they are correct. You need authors who you trust and ask questions when you can. But there are many educational opportunities. e PCEA (Printed Circuit Engineering Asso- ciation) has technical meetings, and they're online too. ere's a lot of information posted on LinkedIn. And I take a special interest in online articles written by those I know and trust, such as the ones I just mentioned. Shaughnessy: What do you think about You- Tube? I've heard designers say, "I've learned some tips on YouTube, but you have to really look for it." Webb: I actually have as well. Sometimes I will be figuring out a soware issue and I'll go to Google, which leads me to a YouTube video about how to do what I need to do. ere's so much available now for designers that wasn't available when I first started. We needed men- tors in the past so we could turn to them and say, "I can't figure this out, can you help? Holden: You know, Susy, if you go to Google, you'll only get 10% of what's available about circuits. Webb: Yes, of course. Holden: You're missing 90% if you don't use specialized soware or techniques. at's why I make it an entire chapter in my book. Every- body thinks Yahoo and Google have access to everything. No. Yahoo and Google have access to everything about Hollywood stars, but for circuit board design, they only have 10% of the information, and it's a very elaborate proce- dure to get to the other 90%. Webb: at's right. And there are some things on YouTube, as I said. But I definitely think you need to read all kinds of articles and books. e PCEA has a wonderful listing of books and articles that we have vetted as cor- rect information. And there are classes that are sponsored by soware companies, PCEA, and IPC. At PCEA, we're developing a weeklong class. e textbook is written by the PCEA EDU group, which consists of myself, Rick Hart- ley, Gary Ferrari, Mike Creeden, and Steph Chavez. is book is being used as training material through EPTEC, a company that does training in different areas around PCB design and manufacturing. We're trying to fill that mentor void by having reference document information, plus the in-person teachings that would help a person understand it all. Shaughnessy: A few days ago, Happy summed it up: Good PCB design information is very specific, but very hard to find. Is that the case in your view? Webb: Yes, it is. at's the main reason you should go to somebody you trust; if you don't trust anyone, you need to start attending con- ferences. I know that's difficult, because some companies will not send people to confer- ences. I paid my own way to conferences for years, because my company wouldn't pay, and I wanted to learn more. But it does pay off in the long run, because learning all that infor- mation paid off for my job satisfaction, my job titles, and my paycheck.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Design007 Magazine - Design007-Aug2021