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48 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2023 If there's one thing that helped my career in printed circuit board design more than anything else, it would be my time working at a service bureau. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with the different captive shops I've worked for in larger companies throughout my career. Over the years, these organiza- tions have provided the opportunity to lay out boards for computer systems, test equipment, display hardware, and much more. But in all those captive shops, the board types have usu- ally been pretty much the same, which stands to reason when you consider the type and range of products sold by each parent corpo- ration. e service bureau, however, was a dif- ferent story. How I Learned Advanced Design Strategies Back in the Day It is important to note: Working at the ser- vice bureau was a long time ago. CAD systems were in their adolescent phase, and designers were transitioning from light tables, X-Acto knives, dollies, and tape. At the same time, new types of electronics were growing at an accel- erated rate, which went hand-in-hand with all the new CAD tools and designers—like me. On any given day, you would find yourself working on a standard board type for a garden-variety computer, and then switch over to a one-off power control board for an industrial appli- cation. While at the service bureau, I worked on boards ranging from an inch square to over three feet. I saw everything from single-sided Tim's Takeaways Feature Column by Tim Haag, FIRST PAGE SAGE