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PCB designers engaged in improving the pro- cess and making electronic products better, denser, higher performing, and more reliable. Today, PCB designers are largely "the tip of the spear" in electronics and the drum majors of PCB manufacturing. e decisions and designs they deliver to manufacturing will oen make or break the success of the product. As products have increased in complexity over the past couple of decades, computer- aided design (CAD) and CAD tools have evolved to assist designers. Today, they are indispensable and are likely to become even more so in the next 10 years. Here are a few predictions of what might be on the horizon: You cannot escape artificial intelligence (AI). It's constantly being referenced in the press and increasingly in electronic design. We can expect AI-driven tools to assist PCB designers by auto- mating much of the layout process. Advanced design soware will optimize board designs for performance, cost, and manufacturability with minimal human input. AI will iterate designs at lightning speed, running simulations, and elimi- nating design flaws. It is questionable whether AI will fully replace the human designer because humans are highly creative and have the ability to make nonlinear leaps of inspiration. How- ever, AI might be useful in sourcing components based on criteria such as price, availability, and energy requirements. at said, as circuit designs increase in com- plexity, the design task will probably become more multidisciplinary and PCB designers will need to collaborate more closely with their col- leagues in process-related disciplines, including electrical/electronic, mechanical, and thermal engineers and soware tool developers. ey will be involved in the entire product lifecy- cle, from concept to manufacturing, ensuring smooth integration between various subsystems. As discussed here in the past, the industry will continue to focus on understanding advanced materials and manufacturing processes to keep pace with rapid new product development. HDI, UHDI, and three-dimensional manufac- turing through 3D printing technologies should continue to drive the evolution of the design process, enabling product developers to bring their visionary ideas to life. is means design- ers will need to become more familiar with the manufacturing process, something I call DWM— designing with manufacturing rather than designing for manufacturing (DFM). is may include more attention to digital twins designed to root out problematic designs as early as possible, giving the designer a chance to correct them as early as possible. Other guesses? e continuing progress in quantum computing shows promise in solving complex problems. Photos of first-generation quantum computers depict what appear to be Rube Goldberg-like hand-built structures reminiscent of things created by early PCB experimentalists. ese devices will undoubt- edly mature and will probably tap into the legacy electronics manu- facturing industry's capabilities. Sustainability is becoming a greater concern globally and will probably be a major checkpoint for PCB designers. e envi- ronmental impact of electron- ics manufacturing, particularly around e-waste, will probably drive designers to pay attention to some of the "green" alternatives, such as biodegradable PCBs and 68 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2025