Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/639114
28 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2016 by Andy Shaughnessy I-ConneCT007 Since its founding in the uncertain days of 2002, DownStream Technologies has made a name for itself with its line of PCB design post- processing tools. Founder Rick Almeida gives us an update on the latest innovations at Down- Stream, and he discusses some of the challenges and trends he sees in the PCB design segment. Andy Shaughnessy: Rick, why don't you start by telling us about some of the new tools at Down- Stream. Rick Almeida: The last few releases of our post- processing tools have been focused in the ar- eas of assembly panel design and DFM. We've added large number of new checking routines in DFM. We now have a major release in the works planned for release in late 2016 or early 2017 that focuses on integration between documen- tation and CAM file verification. This release will modularize our products so that they may be mixed and matched together to create a cus- tom PCB post processing solution based on our customers' requirements. As part of this release we will be bringing out some new tools in sup- port of IPC-2581 PCB stack-up visualization in both DFMStream and our BluePrint documen- tation tool. We are also investing in re-writes of some of the core CAM350 functions. Shaughnessy: What new technologies are you par- ticularly excited about? Almeida: We are in the process of redefining our panel design and documentation capabil- ity. We've had a lot of customer input on panel design for both assembly arrays and PCB pro- duction and our bringing our panel capabilities together in a new unified panel design tool that understands the various hierarchies associated with PCB panels. Shaughnessy: Which customer challenges led you to develop these new products? feature interview with rick almeida ...at DownStream Technologies