Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1517130
MARCH 2024 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 9 Andy Shaughnessy is man- aging editor of Design007 Magazine. He has been covering PCB design for 23 years. To read past columns, click here. PCB designers in the pipeline waiting to take their place. Most high school guid- ance counselors are still unaware that this career even exists, but we are seeing more PCB design curricula at colleges and universities. It's basically a supply- and-demand situation, but it's a seri- ous one. What can we do to reverse this situation? In this issue, we asked our expert contributors to discuss the many chal- lenges and opportunities in the PCB design community, and they shared their thoughts on what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers and design instructors. We kick things off with a conversa- tion with John Watson, who looks into the causes and possible solutions to this "perfect storm" from his vantage point as a PCB design instructor. Next, Stephen Chavez breaks down the state of PCB design, and he predicts which specialties within design are likely to be in demand in the future. Bill Hargin explains what's needed to be the best design engineer you can be; much of it comes down to constantly reading industry books and white papers. Tim Haag, a former design instructor, discusses what it takes to be a great PCB design instructor. Joe Fjel- stad explains what technical skills and so skills are required to be a good PCB designer. Finally, Barry Olney sums it all up with his column, aptly titled "e Art of Presenting PCB Design Courses." We're getting ready for IPC APEX EXPO in April. I hope to see you on the road. DESIGN007 All Flex's Rigid Flex Center of Excellence has recently expanded expedited services for their rigid flex cus- tomers. Recent capital improvements in All Flex Solu- tions' rigid flex manufacturing facility are helping to accelerate production lead times on rigid flex designs. All Flex Solutions recently installed and qualified an innerlayer factory allowing them to issue materials to the floor and complete innerlayers in hours instead of days. The reduced cycle time gets product into lamina- tion faster to complete the remainder of the manufac- turing cycle. Matt Tannehill, President of the Rigid Flex Center of Excellence commented "we've always been capable of building very high quality, very high reliability rigid flex circuit boards. A couple of months ago we defined a set of criteria, that would allow us to support faster turn cycles for our partners. We know that if we help our customers prototype and de-bug their parts at the beginning, we'll likely have a partner when it comes to production volumes. This service will help us serve our customers better and collaborate with them on their initial designs." The quick-turn service is based on capacity loading and material availability but offers designers of rigid flex printed circuits expedited services. (Source: All Flex) All Flex Solutions Expands Rigid Flex Quick-turn Offering