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10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2024 Over the past few years, mechatronics has taken on a bigger role in PCB design and manu- facturing. As the lines blur between the ECAD and MCAD disciplines, more companies are seeking PCB designers who have some knowl- edge of mechatronics. John Watson, CID, is a professor at Palo- mar College near San Diego, where he teaches comprehensive PCB design courses that focus on the mechanical side of design. We asked John to discuss the rise of mechatronics in this segment, the need for cross-disciplined PCB designers, and the benefits that mecha- tronics skills can offer to designers and their employers. The Need for Cross-disciplined PCB Designers Andy Shaughnessy: John, what is your definition of mechatronics? How it used in PCB design? John Watson: Mechatronics is the combination of mechanical and electronics. It's definitely the way many companies are going now; they're looking for people who are cross-disciplined. Companies want a bigger bang for their buck in their workforce. e benefit of having individ- uals who know PCB design and mechanical are huge. is also goes for the other side. ere's also an area of firmware or soware develop- ment and PCB design, and I don't think we've come up with terminology for that yet. Ulti- mately, this is a result of the downturn of 2008 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team