Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/679419
38 The PCB Design Magazine • May 2016 space company, "reuse" is important. Reuse has to be a full team effort and requires "buy-in" from the EEs to the designers to the librarians to the components engineers. It will save time in design and definitely save time down in the lab when testing out the design since the reuse por- tion of the design has already been validated. Taking advantage of reuse is a culture that needs to be developed and with today's automation tools, the capability is there. It just needs to be taken advantage of. When reuse is integrated into a design, reuse can be a very powerful asset to you and your company. Shaughnessy: Do you perform post-processing and documentation manually, or use a tool such as DownStream? Chavez: At the Electronic Systems Center, which is the business unit I work for within UTC Aerospace, the electrical designers (ECAD) are closely integrated with the mechanical de- signers (MCAD). I'd say we have a mix of auto- mation and manual post-processing and docu- mentation steps. We have an integrated ECAD to MCAD hand off process that has been devel- oped and is continually optimized. This process details how ECAD generates certain outputs to MCAD which is who actual creates the final CCA drawing that is completed within a me- chanical tool set. All though ECAD is capable of creating a CCA drawing within the Mentor Graphics tool set, Mentor Graphic Expedition is an "electrical tool" for PCB design. In my opin- ion, it is not a mechanical drawing tool such as NX which is the tool set that our MCAD team uses. I have not had the opportunity to use the DownStream tool but I have some colleagues within the industry that have had good success with this tool and they really like it. Shaughnessy: Are there any manual tasks you'd like to see automated in your EDA tool in the future? Chavez: I would like to see more options to au- tomate manual tasks on the fly and at the de- signer's discretion. Shaughnessy: What would you like to see in the PCB design software tools of the future? Chavez: In today's competitive market, first and foremost, I'd like to see the overall cost of these tool sets come down. As company's look for ways to save in expenses, it's very hard to maintain justification for using these high end tools sets when there are not being utilized to their fullest potential or if there are modules that are required to purchase within a specific toolset and may not be of much use for your ac- tual needs. I would also like to see more of these software tools be willing to integrate better with other tool sets within their same category as well as complementing tool sets and even soft- ware such as adobe PDF and Visio for example. As I always state, it's not the tool that makes the difference but rather the designer that does. It's your career and your responsibility to progress, continue to learn, and think outside the box. It's not your employer's responsibility to train you and make you better. It's your responsibil- ity! Where you want to end up in your career is up to you. Just know that with continued edu- cation, gaining experience and learning the use of today's automation tool sets, you have the potential to create some great magic! Shaughnessy: Thanks for speaking with us, Steph. Chavez: Thanks for the opportunity. PCBDESIGN EDA TOOLS: AUTOMATION VS. CONTROL " It will save time in design and definitely save time down in the lab when testing out the design since the reuse portion of the design has already been validated. Taking advantage of reuse is a culture that needs to be developed and with today's automation tools, the capability is there. "