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78 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2022 Semi-additive PCB fabrication processes add a new tool to the PCB designer's toolbox. As with any new tool, there is a learning curve. To help shorten that curve and expand the grow- ing body of knowledge, I spoke with Randy Chase, CID, senior manager of PCB and Mod- ule Design at pSemi, a Murata Company. Tara Dunn: Randy, you and I have known each other quite a while. I think your expertise in both design and fabrication makes you uniquely qualified to evaluate new technologies and PCB design approaches. Would you please tell us more about your background? Randy Chase: My career started in middle school with basic draing classes. In 1973, while I was in high school, I got a job in draing and design for a small electronics company. Aer learning about schematics and design, I wound up in a service bureau. I learned so much that I am for- ever grateful to L&M Draing Service for really getting me going. Aer that, I was a "road shop- per" for many years, and continued to develop as a designer, keeping pace with the most senior guys. Aer paying my dues, I created my own successful service bureau. en I partnered with a buddy who was going out on his own; we had developed a relationship from working together years earlier, so we decided to make a bigger service bureau. It became very successful. From there, I became an independent con- sultant to large and small companies. I've been involved in every aspect of configuration man- agement, mechanical draing, and PCB design, most recently in a director or manager position, coaching more junior designers and exploring developing technologies. My experience is quite unique and diver- sified, but as for PCB designs, I've designed everything from satellites and aircra, broad- cast systems, cellphones, and super computers, to irrigation systems, semi-trucks, submarines, medical devices, and electronic wine stoppers. I even have a design on Mars. Everything had its challenges, but all were successful. ere may not always be a readily available solution to a given issue, but the joy comes from the creative process— to develop or create a solution. Aer nearly 50 years in the industry, I must say that the Aver- atek Semi-Additive Pro- cess (A-SAP™) is one of the needed break- through solutions for the roadblocks design- ers have been running into for years. Semi-Additive Process: Evaluating from a Design Perspective PCB Talk by Tara Dunn, AVERATEK