Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1514189
JANUARY 2024 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 29 Moyer: Due to the logistics of the competition, we are still going to require Altium Designer for the finals heat. Crawford: Because we review the finals designs onsite, it is much easier to open the Altium Designer project file to inter- rogate the design than it would be to have copies of all EDA tools open to review files, or to have the competitors export fabrication files to be opened with a viewer on our end. Moyer: ey can still use whatever tool they want for Heat 1 because, in this case, we are specifically looking to judge a completed design package, including all documentation that would be submitted for front-end review. Crawford: ere is an ongoing discussion for changing this in future years. I understand that this is frustrating for power-users of other tools, but it's a compromise we've had to make given the limited time and person-hours we have available onsite at APEX EXPO. How many contestants have entered so far, and when is the cut-off date for entering? Crawford: Unfortunately, not many. In the spirit of transparency, we're down from last year at this point in registration. I think that with APEX EXPO moving to April and with the registration period landing in the middle of the holiday season, things are just a little funky this year. I really hope that we can get some more signups, because this year it will be easier to complete the preliminary design. It won't be as cumbersome as the last two years, but it will still be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to see- ing competitors in Anaheim. Why should designers enter this competition? Moyer: As with the last two years, this is all about recognizing and honoring the talents of printed board design engineers who make their work an art. IPC's mission is to help com- panies build electronics bet- ter and help designers design electronics better. We firmly believe that one of the best ways to get better, whether at design, hand-soldering, or any skill, is to compete. is forces the competitors to push their capabilities beyond their cur- rent comfort zones. What advice would you give designers who enter this competition? Moyer: Be comfortable with the IPC design standards. at's a must. For both heats, the judges grade designs to the standard. Crawford: We provide all relevant standards during the preliminary heat, so the competi- tor has plenty of time to review them. We also grade a tad easier during the finals heat when it comes to adherence to standards, because we don't want to penalize someone with a shakier memory than others, but the competitor can still open them for reference during the finals event. Moyer: Another piece of advice is to not come into the competition with any preconceived notions about how to design based on your specific company standards. We care about the IPC standards. In that vein, be willing to do something different than what you do every day at work. Finally, look for all possible tech- niques of optimization in your designs. e judges use IPC standards to judge the designs, but there's also plenty of room in the rubric to award points to those who apply those stan- dards wisely. Thanks for your time, guys. See you at IPC APEX EXPO. Moyer: ank you, Andy. DESIGN007 Patrick Crawford