Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1400005
16 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 that, but they certainly must understand all the different areas that are affected by the board design. ere are so many people who don't understand HDI. Happy taught classes on HDI for years, and yet I still get questions and com- ments from people who are doing things that make the board either unmanufacturable, or so expensive it's crazy. We have to keep up with technology. e problem is that many new designers— engineers, for example—still look at design- ing as connecting the dots. ey don't under- stand all the other people who are involved, and so they don't know what they don't know. Somebody's got to teach them about the fast rise time signals, the physics, the processes, and the ways to orient things that are placed and then laid out. All those kinds of things are so important to make the board work right, to not have noise, and to make it manufactur- able, with good documentation when they send it out. Shaughnessy: You've watched the growth of virtual classes and conferences over the past year during the pandemic. Do you think the virtual format is here to stay? Webb: I think the people whose companies can't afford to send them to the live confer- ences like the virtual format, but I think every- body should go to live conferences, if they can. In person, you can be wowed by the interac- tions with people that have the same goals in mind, you can talk to people about a specific issue, and you can share thoughts and encour- agement to people. You can find people that you can ask questions of aer you go home in a mentor-type situation. And so, the interaction between people is one of the great things about going to the conferences and meetings. Even in my classes, somebody will ask me a question and I will try to answer the question to the best of my ability. Somebody else will chime in with a possibility, and then somebody else will do the same. ere's a lot of give and take at the conferences that you just can't get in virtual format. Nolan Johnson: If this continues and we use an in-person format as well as the ability to join in virtually, it creates two tiers of involvement, doesn't it? Webb: Yes. I think that live, you just get a bet- ter interaction as a teacher. As a presenter, I like it, because I can look out at their faces, see if they're understanding what I'm talking about, and we have interaction through ques- tions on the presentations. But when you are dealing with people virtually, they don't nec- essarily step up and ask questions like they do in a classroom setting. ere's just not as much interaction with online classes. Shaughnessy: Sure. When your class is over, what educational resources do you recom- mend for your attendees? Webb: I am a big proponent of reading books. I used to be concerned about that, because the industry is changing so much, but it really depends on the topic. When a book covers physics, it's not the physics that are chang- ing. It might be the speed of the signal that's changing, but the principles discussed in the book are still very much adequate for what we need to do today. So, I ask attendees to list the design books and articles that they read. en I suggest that they read books and articles by authors who are instructors at the conferences, The problem is that many new designers—engineers, for example—still look at designing as connecting the dots.