IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1518652
IPC COMMUNITY 25 SPRING 2024 rently working on the progression of bringing the first autonomous air taxi to commercial air services. This requires the ECAD team to begin the development of PCBs and their associated assemblies to meet the requirements of Class 3 IPC and FAA certification. How do you work? When I get deep into the routing of a PCB that has a high pin count, I tune out the rest of the world and focus on the task in front of me. It's like an artist who finds their muse: When you get tuned in, you lose track of the rest of the world. How do you incorporate IPC standards in your work? We use the IPC standards as a reference for all our drawing requirements. They are our go-to when there are questions on a particular pro- cess, whether it's an assembly standard or fabri- cation requirement. Also, I have worked on some of the standards, in parts. Last year, I worked with the training team from IPC EDGE on some revisions to the IPC J-STD-001 training. This year, I am working toward teaching some of the inherent knowledge I have learned. What is your sweet spot as a designer? It's the problem-solving when it comes to getting a board to comple- tion and being able to see the solution when others may not. What I enjoy most about designing boards is the challenge of doing something that most people do not know about. What's the craziest design you've worked on? One of the craziest, most challeng- ing designs I have worked on required a complex collaboration with my good friend Mike Kusman, a mechanical engineer, regarding a motor-control- ler mounted on the face of the helicop- ter. The two-board assembly had to be placed at the same time. The blind assembly made the placement the most critical part of the assembly and required constant collaboration between us. What's the most difficult thing about being a PCB designer? There is a poor perception from engineers. The engineering community does not view designers as the same weight class as engineers. This is a myth, as many designers are degreed engineers. I became a degreed engineer only many years later in life. Having been in this role for many years, the degree was a personal goal. The knowledge and experience of a designer requires a lot of practical training and cannot all be learned from a book. This makes the designer a valuable asset. You can find Paul at IPC APEX EXPO where he will be competing in the IPC Design Challenge. Paul also competed in the 2023 challenge, taking home third place.