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32 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 Paul Farquhar recently took a few PCB design classes from John Watson, who dou- bles as a Palomar College professor when he's not working at Altium. John teaches classes on basic and advanced PCB design, and he works to help students land jobs aerward. I asked Paul to discuss what he learned in John's classes, a s w e l l a s w h e r e h e hopes to work aer- ward and how John a n d t h e c o l l e g e are working with industry to pro- v i d e t r a i n e d d e s i g n e r s f o r the many o p e n P C B designer positions. Paul, tell us a little about your background. What made you decide to be a PCB designer? I was in the Navy for 20 years, most of that time working as an electron- ics technician. As part of my job I was taught how to replace missing or broken components and/or traces on damaged circuit cards. I think that is when I first became interested in how PCBs work. Since I le the Navy, I have continued to work in the electron- What Are Hiring Managers Looking For? ics industry, mostly on electronic and mechan- ical assemblies for various Navy contracts. At my current position, the product I build seems to be updated every couple of years due to obsolete parts or assemblies. When this hap- pens, all the electronics, includ- ing all the circuit cards, have to be changed/ updated. I do not h a v e a n E E degree, but I thought that i f I c o u l d learn how to design the circuit cards then the EEs could do the design work and I could take over and put the PCBs together. is way I could continue to support our Navy customer and be a more valuable part of the team. I understand you've take a few of John Watson's PCB design classes at Palomar College. Tell us about the classes and some of the skills you're learning. e classes I have taken at Palomar College are DT-226 and 227, Printed Circuit Board Design I and II. rough each 16-week class you learn how to design a PCB from the ground up using Feature Interview by Andy Shaughnessy I-CONNECT007