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22 The PCB Design Magazine • September 2017 time" idea had permeated the entire design pro- cess from conception through the end. We were benchmarking our own design, but also bench- marking competitors. When we were doing the prototypes, we were trying to make our prod- ucts simple and easy to build, but also better than a competitor's product, including Japanese products. And we have such great DFM tools for IC design. Why aren't any of these used for the printed circuit design tools? Offshore, they're not using any new software. They're just us- ing more manpower at a lower rate so that they can undercut North America. We can't afford to lose design by outsourcing. We just really can't. I'm prepared to say we can lose PC fabrication. We can lose assembly, but if you've lost design, then it's gone, because design is where the intel- lectual property of schematic meets the physi- cal world. Shaughnessy: Hopefully, we can help start a conversation about predictive engineering, and what DFM comprises. Matties: Thanks for speaking with us, Happy. Holden: Thank you. PCBDESIGN Within 15 minutes of meeting Mark Hersam, PhD, a renowned nanotech- nology expert and professor of materi- als science and engineering at North- western University, Ethan Secor knew he wanted to work with him. Secor, a fifth-year materials science and engineering PhD candidate, didn't have a project in mind at the time, but when Hersam had an opening in his research group, he jumped right in. Secor is developing graphene-based inks, which can be printed with traditional methods like inkjet printing. "For printed electronics, instead of printing red, green and blue inks, we're printing conductors, semi - conductors and insulators — different classes of elec- tronically functional materials," says Secor. "So instead of printing pictures, we're printing electronic circuits." Printing electronics with graphene inks, either on paper or plastic sub- strates, not only reduces the manufac- turing costs of electronic components, but it also allows the use of flexible surfaces. This is critical to integrating electronics into clothing, con- sumer electronics and products. Secor is just one of 30 PhD students Hersam has worked with in his research group at Northwestern. Throughout the science and engineering depart- ments, Hersam's dedication to educating the next generation of scientists is something he is known for. "The impact of a university is made by its students," says Hersam. "The beauty of a field like nanotechnolo- gy is that it captures the imagination of young people, and will continue attracting them and bringing in the best talent." A New Way to Print Electrical Circuits PREDICTIVE ENGINEERING: HAPPY HOLDEN DISCUSSES TRUE DFM PC board that had not worked in manufactur- ing first. Interesting enough, that's the way that Gentex operates here in Zeeland. Everybody from college starts off on the factory floor for at least the first two or three years—absolutely everybody. After the first two or three years and only after you thoroughly understand how the product is made are you allowed to go in R&D, project management, automation, or one of the other areas. Everybody starts on the factory floor. Shaughnessy: I imagine that most designers do not consider themselves as the front end of manufacturing. Matties: You're right, too, in that it really ties into what we've been saying about DFP, design for profitability, because that's where it starts. Shaughnessy: Right. Hard to believe that design can control 75% of the cost. Holden: In fact, the DFMA evolved at HP, along with DFCA (design for competitive advantage). It's about the last slides I have from my HP days. You can see that the whole "do it right the first