IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1546209
22 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2026 BY DA N S KW E R ES, F L E X I B L E C I RC U I T T EC H N O LO G I ES FLEX007 | F L E X C O N N ECT I O N S In my more than four decades in the industry, I've watched design tools and manufacturing capa- bilities evolve in ways we could hardly have imag- ined when I started, touching everything from conventional rigid boards to today's highly sophis- ticated flexible and rigid-flex circuits. But anyone with meaningful experience in the PCB industry can relate to the phrase, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." Some of the advances I've seen have made us better engineers. Others have made it easier to create unnecessary complexity. Our CAD systems let us specify incredibly tight tolerances, route astonishingly dense designs, and call out require- ments that were once impossible to manufacture. It's impressive, but using it wisely requires engineering judgment, something software can't provide. Looking back over my career, where I have Four Lessons in Engineering Judgment for PCB Designers Editor's note: This begins a new column series by Flexible Circuit Technologies, which will appear monthly in I-Connect007 Magazine. The column will feature five rotating authors who share expertise from their many years of working with flexible circuits.