Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1532278
into the market. is is all about the intertwining of design, manufacturing, and the capabilities of the materials as well, because the SAP and mSAP processes use different materials and processes. is is a completely different approach to soldering and attachment, especially as we get into chip-on-board and chip-on-flex. We're now getting into wire bonding and other inte- grating capabilities, which almost leads to the integration of ECAD to MCAD. Watson: at would dovetail right into this, Kris. e packages are getting smaller, and they're getting taller with advanced packaging. I think we will move away from a single-dis- cipline mentality, such as PCB design, and get more into mechatronics. I want to revamp part of my course at the col- lege to lean toward mechatronics disciplines. I have been offered a teaching position at the University of California, San Diego, to launch their PCB design course for 12 weeks. at will launch at the end of March. More universi- ties are interested in this now because they've realized how far behind they are. ey have pushed theory and skimmed over the whole PCB design process. eir engineers are being forced into these positions, and they're com- ing back to these universities and saying, "You didn't teach me what I needed." LaRont: We talk a lot about miniaturization, but what about large-format designs? I'm thinking of big data centers and heavy copper boards. Moyer: I just had a meeting with the IPC e-mobility group, which is basically about big power—think electric vehicles with a tempera- ture that ranges beyond the military tempera- ture range, from -55°C up to 220°C, instead of just 125°C. It's heavy copper, high voltage, high current, voltage isolation, and so on. What's interesting is that even when they go into high power for data centers, you still have the min- iaturization for the controller chips for the power and the processors for the servers. You just have a lot more of them on the line. So, there's the double problem, which I discuss in many of my classes: "How do you deal with high power, voltage, and current, with extreme fine-pitched miniaturization parts on the same structure?" ere are many ways around it, and this gets into some of the mechatronics manu- facturing, selective plating processes, etc., that we have to get into, as well as SAP, mSAP, and AME processes, where you are dealing with ultra-thin coppers, almost at an RF level. Watson: For the past few years, we've seen that everyone goes to the high-speed stuff. It's the cool PCB design thing. Yet we're really lacking in high power instruction. ere are only a few people who are experts on high power, and we need to fill that gap of teaching and training. With high power, there are completely differ- ent physics involved. Designers go for that high- speed design track, and that's great, but they need to balance it with high power because, eventually, they will get thrown into it. Moyer: is is becoming a cross-disciplin- ary field: mechatronics, physics, chemistry, dynamics, and thermal. In all my classes, I stress the importance of understanding all the science disciplines (except maybe biology). FEBRUARY 2025 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 13 Kris Moyer