Ontrack With Judy Warner

In this episode, a returning guest Gabriel Goldstein shares the electronics behind the thrills in escape rooms. He also generously gives some valuable advice on finding your niche and starting your own electronics business. Gabriel was the former owner of Anidea Engineering and Escape Room Tech. Listen to this episode and be inspired by how he married two industries together and become the master of this very unique niche. Watch the episode here Gabriel’s background, he is the former owner of Anidea Engineering and Escape Room Tech The business of producing low-volume products - his first big project is an ARM9 with 16 mb of RAM, a PDA style learning device The fascinating technology in the escape room includes off-the-shelf surveillance cameras, keyboards, and maglocks. Gabriel describes the technology behind the “magic doors”They use RFID and developed their RS45-based networking system A successful escape room requires an extreme collaboration of multiple skill sets that include electronics guys, theater

Have you heard of assembly without solder? In this episode, Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad, founder and president of Verdant Electronics, talks about the Occam process.  Let’s hear about Joe’s 50 years of experience in the electronics industry and how he got started with solderless assembly for electronics. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Joe talks about his background and previous roles in the industry, including his position as the educational director in the IPC and Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Research in the Soviet Union “Assembly without solder” Joe recollects how he arrived at the idea of a better way to build electronics – build a component board and put circuits on it. Joe shares how he came up with the Occam process and its benefits “It absolutely doesn't need to be for everything, but it can be for a lot of things, and it can make products that will be at once cheaper, better performing, lighter, more environmentally friendly.” Download Joe’s bo

To develop a resilient ecosystem, understanding the root cause of the PCB industry supply chain shortages is a must. In this episode, Travis Kelly, president and CEO of Isola Group will help us understand what is going on with the current supply chain in the electronics industry. Travis will also give us his insight into the new legislation introduced in the US Congress: Bipartisan Bill to Bring Electronics Manufacturing to America and Strengthen Supply Chains. Tune in, or listen on the go. Stay up to date with the latest discussion in the PCB Industry. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. t Show Highlights: Travis's introduction and a brief overview of PCB manufacturing and fabrication in the United States About 20 years ago, the US produced roughly 26% of the world's PCBs; today, that number is down to 4% There used to be over 2000 fabricators in the late 1990s and early 2000 to less than 140 today What are the main drivers of the PCB industry supply chain shift? Th

What is the current state of the electronic industry? Dan Schoenfelder joins us today to discuss the most extreme problems the PCB design industry is currently facing: supply shortages, particularly the semi-conductor products and microcontrollers. Tune in, or listen on the go. Learn how to keep up with the industry challenges through Nexar and Octopart. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Dan shares his background and role his role at Octopart and now as the Head of Nexar sales Problems with the supply chain continue; how are companies coping with the shortages in semi-conductor products and microcontrollers? What is lean manufacturing, and what drives an inflexible supply chain? The effect of the pandemic on manufacturing facilities is still very apparent and may continue through 2013 Dan discusses the many benefits of utilizing Octopart to find and access electronic components data easily Octopart is the search engine for electronics and makes a g

Learn by doing is what Bill Kolicoski, the creator of Taste the Code Youtube Channel advises everyone who wants to jump into the electronic design. Bill is a software developer passionate about making electronics design and engineering fun. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Bill shares how he got started with his Youtube Channel, Taste the Code Bill recognizes that designing and building electronics is a perfect way to understand software or coding – making the code more tangible Making electronic design accessible for everyone is one of Bill’s missions in creating his channel Jumpstart to electronics design through learning by doing Software and hardware coexist–a software engineer should have an understanding of how hardware works It’s the eureka moments that help students understand how things work Understanding what happens in the code and the chip to make things come to life Bill emphasizes improving your design skills by exploring all pos

This episode will learn how a childhood dream can turn into reality through hard work, determination, and networking. Andrew Hartnett dreamt of working with NASA at a very young age. He will share with us exactly how he landed his Computer Engineer position in this very sought-after agency. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE Show Highlights: Andrew’s background, from his 3rd-grade drawing and high school robotics team to landing a co-op internship program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) He joined The First Robotics Team in high school A lot of networking and determination is what helps him land the co-op internship program He started working full-time in January 2010 Briefly discuss Upverter and the benefits of having high-school level educational programs for aspiring PCB designers What is NASA’s co-op internship program? Andrew describes the advantages of the co-op program over a typical internship Get exposur

Continuing our discussion on PCB design education, in this episode, joining us is Fergus Downey. Fergus is a Ph.D. student and research assistant at Curtin University in Western Australia (WA) and is currently involved in the Binar Space Program. Today, we will tackle the education and opportunities related to Mechatronic Engineering and a little overview of CubeSat. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Fergus's background and how he landed on the Mechatronic Engineering path How is the space industry in Australia driving the students to pursue an electronics-related career? Exposure to CAD tools and manufacturing processes helps students understand circuit design better Some projects the students in Western Australia like to work on Camera PCBs, radiation center PCB, CanSat PCB design, and more What are the main challenges involved in designing CubeSats, and how do Altium Designer® and Altium 365 make a great design tool for these projects? Electroni

In this episode, we will talk about the importance of engaging and exposing the PCB Design students to today’s real-world industry demands. Our guest Sid Deliwala is the Director of Lab Programs in the Electrical and Systems Engineering Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Sid will share with us how he makes Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) fun and meaningful for our future innovators. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Download your Altium Designer Free Trial Show Highlights: Sid talks about his background and his advocacy for hands-on training  Tinker and play – learn the fundamentals, try new things and take risks Making the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) major meaningful Everything in the circuit world, in the hardware world, is also very data-driven End to end experience for students, holistic understanding of Software, hardware, and PCB design Preparing students to work in a multidisciplinary engineering environment If the cloud, t

In this episode, we are very pleased to have Dr. Rob Spalding. He is a retired Brigade General at the US Air Force and now the CEO of SEMPRE (Secure EMP-Resistant Edge), a tech company based in Washinton DC that provides military-grade 5G and high-performance edge computing infrastructure for telecom operators, first responders, government and enterprise customers. Today, Rob and I will talk about all things security! Rob will tackle the importance of being proactive when it comes to protecting your data, and his advocacy to bring a better understanding of technology and innovation in Washington, DC (White House). Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Rob’s background and career before he became the CEO of SEMPRE What is SEMPRE? What are the problems it solves and the solutions it offers? Rob clarifies what’s written in his 5G report, which was taken out of context in 2018 He emphasizes building enough spectrum into the network to take full advantage of

What a very insightful discussion with Heidi Barnes of Keysight. In this episode, we will discuss all things simulations and power integrity in detail. We will dive into EM simulations, capacitor placement, Z, Y, and S parameters correlation measurements, and more! You will learn a lot from this episode! Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Heidi’s background and her 30 years of experience in the PCB design Industry When she was only 17, she did an internship at Bill and Dave in Santa Rosa, which is now the Hewlett Packard (HP) She got into the solar industry and aerospace She is currently passionate about signal integrity and power integrity Heidi stresses the importance of simulation tools and mentions the need for having reasonable rules of thumb and have an understanding of what to expect before you jump into a simulation tool The Keysight’s PathWave ADS ( Advanced Design System) environment, what does it offer? Running an EM simulation and gettin

The Hacksmith proves that everything is possible through science, one project at a time. In this episode, Ian Hillier, the COO, and Co-founder of Hacksmith Industry, will share with us what it is like to create a fully working prototype of the coolest and most fascinating objects we see in the movies, comics, video games. He will also talk about how he transitioned from a full-time mechanical engineer to a full-time youtube content creator. Watch or listen through the end! You will hear everything, from the fun, failures, and the success of recreating futuristic, fictional objects. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Ian talks about his mechanical engineering background and how he and his friend James Hobson founded Hacksmith Entertainment Ltd James has been publishing his engineering projects on his blog and videos on Youtube for 16 years and decided to do it full-time in 2015 when he reached about 70k subscribers Ian quit his job and joined James jus

In this episode, we will continue with the topic of Design WITH Manufacturing, and joining us is Mike Vinson, the Chief Operating Officer at Averatek. Mike will help us understand Averatek’s advanced PCB manufacturing processes, including the technology and chemistry behind A-SAP and 3D printing. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Mike Vinson's background Mike explains what is an Additive Process A-SAP–a semi-additive process used to make very fine features for high definition, and high density interconnects on print circuit boards. The ability to add metalization other than copper, such as platinum, gold, palladium 3D printing–a fully-additive process where all of the material is just added on, and nothing is subtracted away Averatek’s business’s scope Licensing the technology and selling the chemistry The current clientele is North America Efficient and secure prototyping Is the 3D surface solderable? MIDs or molded interconnect devices, are coo

EMIStream is now available as an Altium Designer® extension. TechDream CEO Yoshi Fukuwa will tell us how EMIStream can be a lifesaver when addressing EMI issues in your PCB design. Watch through the end, and check out Yoshi’s recent presentation at AltiumLive Connect. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Yoshi founded his company TechDream in Silicon Valley in 2002. Techdream offers EMC, EDA, and PCB solutions. They also carry EDS simulation tools and PCB materials from Oak-Mitsui technologies EMIStream was developed by NEC Solution Innovators in Japan about 25 years ago; they tapped TechDream to sell the technology in the United States to help engineers with their EMI problems 150 design rules to solve EMI problems narrowed into 15 most important EMI data and rules implemented in EMIStream Yoshi Maruyama from NEC Solution Innnovtor is the main guy developing EMIStream in Japan EMIStream’s EMI design rule check and plane resonance analysis are available

Let’s talk about the future of printed circuit board prototyping. Sean Patterson, the President of Nano Dimension USA is here to introduce the technology behind DragonFly IV®, the multi-material 3D printer for electronics fabrication. He will walk us through its current capabilities, what it can do and what we may expect from it in the future. Sit back, relax and enjoy this episode. Make sure to listen through the end and check the show notes with the additional resources below. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Sean talks about the growing company. They have 39 members in the US, and 500 globally. There are still plenty of roles available, visit Nano Dimension’s website here Started as an additive manufacturing company, specifically for circuit boards to now multi-material, and multi-layer 3D printing option for electronics through  Sean excitedly shares all the exciting things that the DragonFly IV can do. Faster electronic prototyping and proof

It's a privilege to have another well-known YouTube Creator GreatScott. He is creating electronics projects, tutorials, and everything in between. He makes electronics education fun with his experience, skills, and practical approach. This is going to be an exciting discussion so make sure to watch through the end and check out the additional resources below. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: How GreatScott started in the electronics industry and his interest in creating fun videos He started in 2013, at the age of 18, and created his first circuit project the next year First job application and the task was in the field of electrical power engineering GreatScott’s practical approach with his projects as implemented on his recent vacuum project, Every Device should have this Upgrade! (Endless Battery Run Time) The trajectory of GreatScott's career path–what brought him up into power engineering Followed his mother's advice to go for renewabl

Altium launches a new curriculum into the college in university space called Altium Education. In this episode, Rea Callender, Altium’s Vice President of Education tell us what is in the curriculum, who is it for, and how it will help PCB designers and aspiring designers advance into their career. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Altium launches Altium Education, which aims to educate anyone who knows nothing about printed circuit board design, to learn the skills to create a printed circuit board, and send it off to manufacturingStudents can still apply for Free Altium Designer® license Altium is taking the lead in PCB Design EducationTeaching the process of circuit board design Modular approach with 16 units that college professors can use to supplement their course Student can take the curriculum for free and take it as a self-phase learning tool Altium Education have received positive feedback from college professors  prior to its l

In this episode, Carl Bugeja, an Electronics Engineer and a well-known Youtube Creator, talk about his experience designing electronics, how he started, and his fascination with inventing new things. He will also share some exciting robotics projects he is currently working on. Watch through the end, and make sure to check out the additional resources below. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here.  Show Highlights: Carl's background in PCB and electronics design 02:02 A startup with a friend, Carl designed cool stuff such as drones, bluetooth, and alarm techs He created and and documented his electronics projects which he started sharing on Youtube Carl first started using Altium Designer® when he was in his third year in the University, and love using it since then Carl shares his design process, and his approach to PCB design The first project that Carl shared on YouTube is a PCB Motor 04:28 How PCB Motor project got started 06:39 Soft robotics The benefit

Clearing up the confusion about the IPC 2152 with Mike Jouppi, the “Thermal Man''. Mike originally sat on one of the IPC task groups working on standards for thermal management. He will help us be enlightened about thermal management on PCB, which will be very useful to apply to your next PCB design project. Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Storytime! Mike's background in PCB design and involvement in IPC task groups He worked in the Airforce as Missile Maintenance Specialist and later had an internship at Hughes Aircraft in Tucson, Arizona, where he did a thermal analysis The TQM mindset—total quality management is what kept him moving forward What does it mean when “Power was Negligible”; this led to Mike's first encounter with the IPC document How to take a vacuum environment into consideration? This is the question that leads Mike to start research and develop testing methods Mikes received funding from Lockheed to do internal research

It’s a privilege to be sitting down with Didrik Beck, CEO of Elmatica, the world’s oldest PCB broker company and now part of the NCAB group and CAB group. Together we will dive into exciting topics surrounding cybersecurity, compliance, and supply chain and his upcoming presentation at IPC Apex. Didrik has some interesting insights on supply chain Cybersecurity management in the PCB design and manufacturing industry. Make sure to watch through the end and check out the additional resources below. This episode will be an insightful one!  Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Dedrick Bech introducing Elmatica  World's oldest PCB broker Recently acquired by the NCAB group Securing PCBs for different partners in the PCB supply chain A quick summary of what was going to be in the IPC Apex paper that Dedrick is presenting Different levels of compliance and to what extent does this apply in the PCB design and manufacturing Controlled Unclassified Information (UCI)  Ev

Welcome to the very first podcast of the year! Altium has been very serious about designing WITH manufacturing, and so our guest for today is Amit Bahl, the director of sales and marketing at Sierra Circuits. We will talk about his passion about promoting the level of sophistication in the PCB manufacturing floor. Watch or listen on the go, this will be fun! Altium 365: Where the World Designs Electronics Watch the video, click here. Show Highlights: Amit first exposure in the PCB industry He grew up around printed circuit board (PCB) First to install a DFM tool called Valor First to install a LDI machine or a laser direct imaging machine PCB is the backbone of electronics The PCB designer must see a pcb factory. Sierra offers a virtual tour of the PCB factory. The PCB manufacturing level of sophistication, and high standards are driven by customers PCB designers must push the envelope and to be more courageous with their design, while understanding the maximum capability of their manufacturers to