Ontrack With Judy Warner

In this episode, we are fortunate to have two key personalities at Luxonis, a hardware, firmware, software, AI, and simulation company. Erik Kokalj, director of application engineering at Luxonis, and Bradley Dillon, CEO of Luxonis discuss how and who can benefit from AI technology. Tune in and make sure to check out the show notes and additional resources below. Show Highlights: Introduction to Luxonis and its founding on April 2019 The liDAR and radar as an imaging technology, Erik briefly explains the technology behind it Bradley shares why they decided to open-source some aspects of their platform and design Luxonis’s AI training, AI conversion, and AI deployment onto hardware are all open-source, for their customers can quickly develop their own model and then deploy it on the device itself Future design updates, miniaturization, and thermal management What are some of the industrial applications that are utilizing the Luxonis imaging technology? Beekeeping was unexpected! Robotic applications on robotic

In this episode, we are very excited to have Jesus Zozaya, CEO of Voltera, and Matt Ewertowski, product manager at Voltera. We will discuss pushing the boundaries in electronics design through printed electronics. Join us and together let’s discover the many benefits of printed electronics from expedited prototyping, proof of concept, and academic research. Show Highlights: Introduction to Jesus Zozaya, CEO of Voltera, and Matt Ewertowski, product manager at Voltera Jesus takes the lead in explaining what Voltera does, and introduced their first product – V-one Matt explains the difference between Printed Electronics and additive manufacturing process Electronics printer pushes the limits and welcomes new possibilities and opportunities for new materials in the electronic design space Voltera designed NOVA (their second product) with users in mind, they created a tool that all electrical engineers can utilize regardless of their skills in material science Can you do stack-ups using printed electronics? Jesus

Having Steve Sandler in this episode is such a treat! He talks about his presentations at the upcoming DesignCon 2023 in Santa Clara. He gives us a deep dive into some very complex engineering topics, including measuring the PDN Flatness and the state space model. Download this episode Show Highlights: Steve Sandler is in the running for Engineering of the Year along with Ken Wyatt Steve is doing a two-and-a-half-hour tutorial on PSMR, PSOR, and PSMR testing at the DesignCon. Molex and Tektronix are both participating in the live demonstration He s also doing a presentation with Heidi Barnes, Bandanin, and Ben Denon A lot of conferences are going virtual. The reach is undeniably great, however, what are the pros and the cons? What is valuable to who? Steve talks about the conception of Picotest in the US Picotest made the very first water-cooled probe which he will be showing at the DesignCon Innovative solutions can take decades from conception to fruition, Steve shares his PdD thesis from 2011 that got hi

One of PCEA’s (Printed Circuit Engineering Association) goals is to provide accessible education, affordable to everyone in the electronics industry. In this episode, we are fortunate to have two passionate educators in the industry, Mike Buetow and Mike Creeden. We will talk about the PCEA’s efforts to use all possible platforms to promote educational programs for design engineers. PCEA, it's an international network of engineers, designers, fabricators, assemblers…anyone who is involved in printed circuit development. And we promote Printed Circuit Engineering as a profession. We're looking at trying to take information, new design concepts, get them down into the manufacturing side, and then also to communicate those manufacturing constraints and make sure that they are communicated back to the design side. -Mike Buetow Watch the episode here Show Highlights: Introduction to PCEA and updates on its acquisition of key assets of UP Media Group Mike Buetow talks about the PCB East conference reboot Who can be

Expedite your transition from prototype to scale with the help of an experienced PCB broker! In this episode, a returning guest joins us to discuss everything that involves cost-effective PCB manufacturing. Greg Papandrew, a PCB buying and selling expert, gives us a comprehensive understanding of PCB cost drivers and tips on a good supply chain strategy. Watch this episode here Show Highlights: The process of buying and selling, Greg Papandrew is a PCB broker with 30 years of experience in the industry Greg emphasizes the importance of quoting smartly, learning when, where, and how to save money without sacrificing the PCB quality What is a good supply chain strategy? Greg dives deep into his role as a PCB broker, and his involvement in the decision making involving specs, materials, cost, and more Sending too much information can be problematic, and it involves the vulnerability of intellectual property Good communication with the PCB manufacturer and fabricator can go a long way; asking the right questions

If you look at the way people have used FPGAs, they are a miracle product in many ways. -Mark Oliver Our guest Mark Oliver, VP of marketing at Efinix talks about the evolving role of FPGAs in the industry beyond prototyping. Mark will give us a very insightful use of FPGA as an efficient custom silicon solution and will go deep on the importance of RISC-V for processor designs. Watch this episode here Show Highlights: Introduction to Efinix, an FPGA company Mark starts off by addressing the inefficient ways designers use FPGAs and how this has helped them develop a product that can be utilized from prototyping and straight to high-volume manufacturing Efinix FPGAs are cost-effective, low-power, and small-form efficient for custom silicon solution The common FPGAs integration including the SIP (Session Initial Protocol) implementation FPGA market is set to explode because it is going in the same direction as the current industry growth they  are designed as mid-volume production solutions with the potential

Join us as we reflect on the best moments and the coolest guests we've had on the OnTrack podcast this year. 2012 has been a whirlwind year for the electronics industry–chip shortages, and a supply chain crunch. Altium has passed several milestones, as well as releasing an education program. And there have been some groundbreaking reports from industry groups highlighting the need for workforce training and development, and workforce shortages coming on the horizon. Watch the episode here Claim the special offer for Podcast listeners only Show Highlights: One of Altium’s Milestone is the Altium Education Program In most of the episodes, the issue of automotive chips shortage comes up coupled with the passing of the PCB Act PCB Packaging, and production of integrated circuit substrates  Most requested repeat guests and new faces Links and Resources: Watch all the OnTrack Podcast Episode Register at Altium Education for Free Connect with Zach on LinkedIn Visit Nexar website Visit Octopart website Claim the sp

Young blood in the PCB industry, Christopher Bonsell talks about process engineering–the chemical involved in the PCB, etching and encouraging the young generation to the “cool-tech” aspects of PCB design and manufacturing. Watch this episode through the end, and check the show notes and additional below. Watch this episode here Show Highlights: Chris Bonsell published articles on i-Connect007 What kind of services does Chemcut offer related to PCB manufacturing and the role of a process engineer Chris talks about his career journey and how he landed his position in Chemcut Misconception about the circuit board industry, does it belong to tech industry? The grand challenge – the Moorse Law What is the Peri Etch Process? The lack of interest in the chemistry of circuit boards might be what’s blocking the PCB industry from moving to the next level of processing capability The US is 20 years behind in the PCB industry Is fully additive circuit board could be the big game changer in the industry? Workforce shorta

Let’s take a glimpse into a life of a young process engineer. In this episode, our guest Paige Fiet talks about her career path in the world of PCB manufacturing. She will also share how she landed her role as the Student Liaison in the IPC. Watch this episode through the end or listen on the go. We hope to inspire young engineers to become more motivated to jump into the PCB industry. Show Highlights: Paige shares her story and her exciting career path before she landed her role as a process engineer at TTM Technologies Zach and Paige exchange college experiences, they talk about the courses and curriculum then and now Paige briefly talks about her experience in getting the role of the IPC Student Liaison She also talks about how interested engineers can become involved in the IPC and encourage them to invest in a membership and attend other industry-related trade shows and conferences Participating in committees can be a rewarding and fun experience Paige had her eyes on TTM from the very beginning. She s

It’s that time again to have Altium’s VP of Marketing, Lawrence Romine, the bearer of good news when it comes to Altium Designer’s latest features. We will discuss what’s coming in Altium Designer 23 which includes multi-board and harness design capabilities. You don’t want to miss this one. Watch through the end and be sure to check the show notes and additional resources below. Watch this episode here Show Highlights Altium Designer®’s regular and reliable updates are incomparable in the industry, stay on top of the monthly updates through the OnTrack newsletter There are 3 major themes to come in Altium Designer 2023Multi-board systems and harness design – empower PCB designers and electrical engineers to design harnesses Collaboration and teamwork Make Altium Designer a necessity for every PCB designer – the world's greatest and most elegant design experience Code Designer, coming soon – the ability to work natively in Altium Designer and in Mcad tool of choice Multi-board and harness design capability,

Materials Science and how this can level up your PCB manufacturability. In this episode, our guest Geoffrey Leeds the product manager at Insulectro talks about how material science can help solve the unique manufacturing challenges fabricators are dealing with HDI designs. Listen through the end and check the additional resources below. Watch this episode here Show Highlights:   Geoffrey Leed’s role as a product manager at Insulectro, a material science distributor What is material science and how does it relates to PCB manufacturing Ultra HDI designs present unique manufacturing challenges to PCB fabricators How are your material choices impacting your design performance? Geoffrey explains why having lower CTE materials could be a double-edged sword Perfect is the enemy of good enough! You must accept some level of tolerance when your product moves into production and goes out into the real world, It can be the material tolerance or the electrical performance The PCB industry has been walking in the packagin

This is a very interesting episode, especially for hardware engineers. Duncan Haldane, the CEO, and co-founder of JITX joins us to share a very interesting approach to PCB design. JITX is a way for hardware engineers to write code to design circuit boards. I know you are excited to hear more! Watch this episode or listen on the go. Be sure to check out the show notes and additional resources below. Watch this episode here Show Highlights: Duncan talks about the Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and the general availability of JITX as an actual product. Duncan's path to engineering started in robotics How can an electrical engineer benefit from JITX? Duncan explained in detail JITX is very well integrated with Altium, it works natively with the existing designs and libraries  Hardware-generated code transforms the job of an engineer a little bit so that they don't have to manually look through all of the different specs for every component that they need JITX is a Nexar partner and uses Octoparts data, in

Electronic parts shortages coupled with inflation has been affecting the electronic industry globally. Chris Cain our guest for today’s episode is a supply chain consultant and former VP at Keysight working on supply chain and supply chain products. Chris will share with us his 37 years of experience and strategies to overcome electronic part shortages. Watch this episode here Show Higlights: Chris Cain briefly describes what supply management is, and his role as a consultant. Chris explains what it means to tap into the “scale for the larger ecosystem” of electronic providers Find alternatives and make some design adjustments where is possible Look for parts that are very scalable like memory parts and FPGAs Modular approach or designing for modules may also allow designers to have some flexibility If you can't get the parts, you can't ship your working design–having an insight into what’s coming in the supply chain could help designers in their decision making It pays to spend a little time keeping up wit

Ben Nibali, founder and President of Aptus Design Works, with Connor Richardson, the Electrical Designer, are our guests in this episode. We will discuss how you can plan the cost and lead times to successfully launch your product in the market. Ben and Connor share some excellent advice for designers and companies to streamline their product development process from prototyping to manufacturing.   Show Highlights: Aptus is a design and engineering company, and they’ve been around for about 15 years They handle initial concept development, mechanical development, controls, and mechanical prototyping and help their clients through the launching and manufacturing of their products Expecting and avoiding pitfalls comes with experience; in addition, working with trusted vendors and suppliers is huge when honoring set schedules or timeline The natural state of every project is over budget and behind schedule. Ben Nibali stresses the importance of effort and discipline to have complete control of the process  and

Matt Kelly is the  Chief Technologist at IPC. In this episode we will discuss all about the technological challenges the industry is facing. Matt will help us understand the “ecosystem” involving the semiconductor industry, advanced packaging, and IC substrates. Watch this episode here OR listen on the go! Check the show notes and additional resources below. Show Highlights: Matt Kelly’s role as the Chief Technologist at IPC The Moore's Law is continuing, but it is economically becoming difficult to maintain, this has become the driving force behind heterogeneous integration  What does the CHIPS Act really mean for manufacturers? Production of semiconductors is an expensive business–one fabrication infrastructure can cost an average of 20 billion dollars Matt stresses the need in the industry to use, and understand the “ecosystem” involving the semiconductor industry, advanced packaging, and IC substrates The US has a 20-year market leader, knowhow gap, weak sub-tier supply, skilled workforce shortage, and l

Our guest Phil Marcoux is very well-known in the advanced electronic packaging community and currently working as a business mentor in the electronics industry.  Phil is labeled as the father of SMT by the IPC. He is a Charter member of SMT Council, granted the IPC President's Award, past owner of over 40 integrated circuit packaging and camera module-related patents, and consultant on numerous heterogeneous designs and standards, just to name a few of his excellent achievements. Today we will tackle the pros and cons of heterogeneous electronic assemblies and what we can do as an industry to move forward with it. Show Highlights: Learn about Phil Marcoux and his upcoming panel discussion at PCB West  The panel will discuss “How Heterogeneous Integration Affects the PCB Industry.” Phil is looking forward to promoting PCEA and the need to embrace education PCB designers must recognize what compromises they will have to make to utilize that chiplet One of the challenges is to encourage companies to work toget

In this episode, our guest Joe Dickson, tells us about the cutting-edge technology implemented in advanced packaging at Wus Printed Circuit International.   Watch the episode here Show Highlights: Joe Dickson talks about what they do at Wus, a printed circuit manufacturing company He shares about their efforts to bring PCB technologies farther up by introducing advanced packaging options He briefly describes what printed circuit-like materials are, also known as the vertical interposers or PCIe Zach explains how a pre-packaged chip can be mounted on a board What are the reliability and signal integrity challenges that come with assembling different packages on a board Off-the-board solutions start to become more and more desirable  The flexibility of design and components is what driving the market to use more integrated packaging Speed is everything! When will the industry move on from copper and go to optical?  Knowing what's going on in simulations is very important; it opens opportunities to try new t

Performance and reliability are big in the automotive industry, especially now that electronically powered and automated vehicles are starting to become more popular. In this episode, we will learn so much about automotive electronics and the reliability of electronics systems that goes in the vehicle. Our guest Lenora Clark, the director of autonomous driving and safety technology at ESI automotive will share with us the importance of material choices for your PCB can affect the reliability and performance of your vehicle’s system design. Show Highlights: Lenora is Chemist by education. She joined MacDermid, now MacDermid Alpha Electronic Solutions, as a bench top chemist, developing chemicals for PCB manufacturersHer focus was on surface finishing helping PCB fabricator improve their process from a chemical standpoint to enhance the performance and reliability of PCBs From working with surface finishing, she worked her way up and became the project manager, product line director for surface finishing, and l

Let’s talk about Electronics reliability with the QA guru Cheryl Tulkoff. In this episode Cheryl and I will talk about risk assessment, planning for not only success but also a failure, and understanding the difference between quality and reliability. This discussion is going to be very informative for every PCB designer who wants to get ahead of their game. Watch through the end, and make sure to check the additional resources below. Watch this episode here Show Highlights: Cheryl shares her rewarding career experience in the electronics industry She worked at IBM where she was immersed in electronic manufacturing from beginning to end She also worked at DfR Solutions and National Instruments where she learned all the skills and knowledge in electronics manufacturability, quality & reliability consulting To produce a successful electronic product it is important to have the awareness to resolve every problem, from the chip level, board level, system level, and the environment level Cheryl explains why

You would not want to miss this informative, knowledge-packed conversation with Dr. Kunal Shah. Dr, Kunal generously gives us all a crash course on surface finishes and understanding different types of materials that could affect signal integrity, reliability and electronic shelf life. He will also tackle in detail the pros and cons of various types of nickel-free finishes. Watch this podcast episode now or listen on the go. Make sure to check the notes and additional resources below. Show Highlights: PCB Designers must be knowledgeable of various manufacturing processes and materials One of the things that makes liloTree unique is its innovation in materials development and ensuring better and robust reliability of the electronic assembly liloTree offers eco-friendly solutions (organic surface finishes) that enhance reliability and offer better performance in terms of signal integrity Dr. Kunal shares his background and how he founded liloTree Manufacturers are trying to find alternatives for ENIG (Electro