5 Tips to become a Professional PCB designer | Vaibhav Sugandhi

Summary

In this video, passionate PCB designer and tech startup founder, Bible Savindi, shares five essential tips for aspiring PCB designers in the electronics industry. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding PCB design fundamentals, practicing with real-time projects, adhering to industrial standards like IPC and IEEE, gaining practical experience through internships at startups, and learning from expert tutorials. Savindi also introduces a beginner's course for PCB design, available for free, to help newcomers grasp the basics and kickstart their careers.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Understand the fundamentals of PCB designing, as it's crucial for building a strong foundation in the field.
• 🛠️ Practice with real-time projects to gain hands-on experience and apply the learned fundamentals.
• 🏭 Familiarize yourself with industrial design standards such as IPC, IEEE, and IEC to ensure your designs meet industry requirements.
• 💼 Work as an intern at a startup to gain practical experience and bridge the gap between education and industry.
• 👨‍🏫 Watch expert tutorials and learn from experienced PCB designers to acquire advanced skills and techniques.
• 🔗 Networking and communication are key in the industry, so learn how to collaborate effectively in a team.
• 📚 Engage in continuous learning to stay updated with the latest tools and technologies in PCB design.
• 💡 Be open to experimentation and innovation, as they are integral to advancing in the field of PCB design.
• 🎓 Consider taking courses or certifications to enhance your knowledge and credibility as a PCB designer.
• 🌟 Seek mentorship and guidance from experienced professionals to navigate the complexities of the industry.

Q & A

What is the first step to becoming a PCB designer according to the video?

The first step is to deeply understand the fundamentals of PCB designing, which includes understanding terms like tracks, clearance, footprint, schematic symbol, and their roles in PCB designing.

Why is practicing with real-time projects important for a PCB designer?

Practicing with real-time projects helps a PCB designer apply their fundamentals in reality, understand the role of tracks in PCB designing, and learn about industrial standards and methodologies used in the industry.

What are the industrial design standards that a PCB designer should be familiar with?

A PCB designer should be familiar with standards such as IPC (International Printed Circuit), IEEE, and IEC standards, which dictate how components are placed on PCBs, track creation, track width maintenance, and overall circuit design according to product application requirements.

How can working with a startup company benefit a beginner PCB designer?

Working with a startup as an intern exposes a beginner to real-time product development cycles, allowing them to design PCBs according to IPC and company standards, and gain practical experience under expert guidance.

What does the speaker recommend for learning from experts in PCB designing?

The speaker recommends watching expert design tutorials, specifically mentioning YouTube channels like Altium Designer, Carl Bujjija, and Grid Squad, to learn from their use of EDA tools and techniques in designing PCBs for various applications.

What is the role of documentation in PCB designing according to the video?

Documentation plays a crucial role in PCB designing as it helps maintain design records, facilitates communication between team members, and is essential for project management and reporting work progress within a company.

Why is understanding industrial project management standards important for a PCB designer?

Understanding industrial project management standards is important for a PCB designer to work effectively in a team, communicate designs, and maintain industry-level documentation, which is vital for large-scale industry operations.

What is the significance of DRC and ERC checks in PCB designing?

DRC (Design Rule Check) and ERC (Electrical Rule Check) are significant in PCB designing as they help identify and rectify errors in the design process, ensuring the PCB meets the required standards and specifications.

What is the advice for someone who is new to PCB designing and finding it difficult to understand expert terminologies?

For beginners who find it challenging to understand expert terminologies, the speaker suggests starting with an absolute beginner course for PCB designing, which covers the fundamentals and basic terminologies in detail.

How can one access the beginner course for PCB designing mentioned in the video?

The beginner course for PCB designing can be accessed for free and is open source. Interested individuals can find the link in the video description or click on the 'I' button on the video to join the course.

What is the importance of understanding the fundamentals of PCB designing before starting a career?

Understanding the fundamentals of PCB designing is essential as it provides a solid foundation, introduces the real world of PCB designing, and helps one decide whether to pursue a career in this field or not.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Fundamentals of PCB Designing

The video begins with the speaker, Bibil Savindi, a passionate PCB designer and technology startup founder, introducing five important tips for aspiring PCB designers. The first tip emphasizes the importance of understanding the fundamentals of PCB designing, like knowing the alphabets of a language. Just as language requires understanding words and sentences to grasp grammar, PCB designing requires understanding terms such as tracks, clearances, footprints, and schematic symbols. These basics are crucial for anyone starting their journey in the PCB designing industry.

05:00

🛠️ Practical Experience with Real-Time Projects

The second tip focuses on the necessity of practicing with real-time projects to gain hands-on experience. The speaker suggests designing a power supply as a practical example to understand how PCB designing is applied in real-world scenarios. This practice helps in understanding the role of tracks, industrial standards, and methodologies used in PCB designing. The speaker also encourages moving from single-layer to multi-layer PCB designs to gain a comprehensive understanding of real-world PCB designing.

10:03

🏭 Understanding Industrial Design Standards

The third tip highlights the importance of understanding industrial design standards, such as the IPC standard, which is fundamental for PCB designers. These standards guide how components are placed on a PCB, track widths are maintained, and how circuits are designed according to product requirements. The speaker also mentions other standards like IEEE and IEC, emphasizing the need for understanding these before entering the PCB designing industry. Additionally, the speaker discusses the importance of documentation and communication within a team, which are crucial for successful collaboration in product design engineering.

Keywords

💡PCB Designing

PCB (Printed Circuit Board) Designing refers to the process of creating the layout for electronic components on a printed circuit board. It is a crucial part of electronic engineering, as it determines the physical implementation of electronic systems. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the fundamentals of PCB designing as the first step in becoming a successful designer. The video aims to provide tips for those looking to start a career in this field.

💡Fundamentals

The term 'fundamentals' in the context of PCB designing pertains to the basic principles and concepts that form the foundation of the discipline. These include understanding what tracks, clearances, footprints, and schematic symbols are. The video script mentions that grasping these fundamentals is essential before delving into more complex aspects of PCB designing, as it lays the groundwork for understanding the language and techniques of the industry.

💡Real-time Projects

Real-time projects are practical, hands-on experiences that allow designers to apply their theoretical knowledge in actual scenarios. The script suggests practicing with real-time projects to gain a deeper understanding of PCB designing. For instance, designing a power supply circuit can help a designer learn how tracks and components interact in a functional PCB, which is vital for career growth in the electronics industry.

💡Industrial Standards

Industrial standards are the guidelines and specifications that govern the design and manufacturing processes in various industries, including PCB designing. The video script highlights the importance of understanding standards like IPC (International Printed Circuit) for proper component placement, track creation, and width maintenance. Adhering to these standards ensures that the PCB designs meet industry quality and safety requirements.

💡IPC Standard

The IPC (Institute of Printed Circuits) Standard is a set of widely recognized specifications in the electronics industry, particularly for PCB design and manufacturing. The video mentions that understanding IPC standards is fundamental for any PCB designer, as it dictates how components are placed on a board and how tracks are designed, which directly impacts the functionality and reliability of the final product.

💡Documentation

Documentation in the context of PCB designing refers to the process of recording and maintaining design details, project progress, and other relevant information. The video script underscores the importance of documentation for effective communication within a team and for meeting industry requirements. Proper documentation ensures that the design process is transparent, traceable, and compliant with project specifications.

💡Internship

An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization to provide practical training for individuals, often students or recent graduates. The video suggests that working as an intern in a startup company can be beneficial for beginners, as it offers exposure to real-world product development and helps bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application in PCB designing.

💡EDA Tools

EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools are software applications used by engineers to design and analyze electronic systems, including PCBs. The video mentions that watching experts use EDA tools like Altium Designer can provide valuable insights into industry practices. These tools are essential for PCB designers to create, simulate, and optimize their designs according to industry standards.

💡YouTube Channels

The video script recommends several YouTube channels as resources for learning PCB designing. These channels, such as those by Carl Bujjija and Grid Squad, provide tutorials and demonstrations that can help viewers understand the practical aspects of PCB designing. Watching these channels can be a way for aspiring designers to learn from experts and gain knowledge on various applications and techniques in the field.

💡Absolute Beginner Course

The 'Absolute Beginner Course' mentioned in the video is a resource designed for individuals who are new to PCB designing. It covers the basics and terminologies of the field in detail, allowing learners to start from scratch. The course is offered by the speaker's company, Linked Frequency, and is intended to help beginners build a strong foundation in PCB designing before moving on to more advanced topics.

Highlights

Understanding the fundamentals of PCB designing is crucial, akin to learning the alphabets of a language.

Fundamentals include knowing what tracks, clearances, footprints, schematic symbols are in PCB designing.

Practicing with real-time projects is essential for a hardware design engineer to apply the fundamentals practically.

Designing a power supply is an example of a real-time project that helps in understanding PCB designing.

Understanding industrial standards like IPC is necessary for working in a team and following industry practices.

IPC standards guide component placement, track creation, and track width maintenance in PCB designing.

Other important standards include IEEE and IEC, which are followed in the PCB designing industry.

DRC and ERC checks are part of the design activity in the PCB industry for error checking.

Working with a startup as an intern provides exposure to real-time product development and industry standards.

Internships help bridge the gap between education and industry by providing hands-on experience.

Watching expert design tutorials is a learning mode that helps in understanding the use of EDA tools in industry.

YouTube channels like Altium Designer, Carl Bujjija, and Grid Squad are recommended for learning PCB designing.

Carl Bujjija's channel is known for experimenting with brushless motors and electromagnetic induction principles.

Grid Squad's channel helps in understanding the basics of electronics and circuit design.

Watching expert videos helps in learning skills, tips, and tricks for real-time product development.

Linked Frequency offers a beginner course for PCB designing covering fundamentals and basic terminologies.

The beginner course is free and open source, suitable for anyone starting in the PCB designing industry.

Transcripts

find tips to become a PCB designer in

electronic industry hi everyone I am

bible savindi passionate PCB designer

and Technology startup founder in this

particular video I'm going to share you

a 5 important tips which I followed when

I started my journey as a PCB designer

in electronic industry

so let's start

[Music]

first step is deeply understanding the

fundamentals of PCB designing I hope

everybody understands that without

knowing the alphabets of any language it

is difficult for anyone to understand

the words without understanding The

Words it is difficult to form a sentence

and without knowing the sentence and

creating a sentence you cannot

understand the grammar that's how the

fundamentals of that particular language

is very important in the similar way in

PCB designing industry you also

understanding the fundamentals like what

is a track with what is the clearance

what is footprint what is schematic

symbol all these things plays a vital

role to start your career in PCB

designing industry without even thinking

about a career just you want to know how

exactly PCB designing looks like you

must understand the fundamentals of PCB

designing in the first place once you

understand the fundamentals of PCB

designing probably will get to know how

exactly the terminologies and complex

methodologies are being used in PCB

designing engineering once you

understand how exactly the terminologies

are being used you can decide whether

you want to pursue your career as a PCB

designer or you would want to continue

with that because that is the place

where you get to know or you get

introduced to the real word of PCB

designing so that's why understanding

the fundamentals of any technology is

very much in that case understanding the

fundamentals of PCB designing industry

is very essential to start your career

as a PCB designer

second tip is all about practice with

the real-time projects of course it is

essential for a hardware design engineer

to practice more and more with respect

to real-time examples so that he or she

can understand how exactly PCB designing

is done in real time for example if you

want to learn the single layer PCB

designing try to design a power supply a

5 volt DC power supply 12 volt to DC

power supply or maybe a 230 volt AC to a

5 Volt or 3.3 Volt or a 12 volt

multi-voltage DC power supply in fact in

that particular process only you will

get to know how to apply your

fundamentals in reality you will

understand how exactly the track would

plays a vital role in PCB designing you

will also understand what are the

industrial standards are being used in

this particular design activity

nonetheless when you start designing the

single layer pcbs you are getting

introduced to the industry but when you

start designing a two layer pcbs with

practical examples you can experience

how exactly pcbs are designed in real

world so that's why practicing more and

more project with the Practical examples

makes a very important note as a tip

number two

third tip is all about understanding the

industrial design standards whenever you

want to enter into any industry it is

essential that you must understand how

exactly the industrial standards are

followed in the company because without

knowing how to work in a group without

knowing how exactly the communication

happens between a two engineer it

becomes very difficult to play a team

role in the entire product design

engineering that's why in industrial

standards of PCB design industry there

are several standards you must

understand before entering into the

career of PCB designer one among them is

IPC standard which is international

printed circuit which is fundamental and

very essential to understand how to

place a component on the PCB how to

create a track on the PCB how exactly

the track width is need to be maintained

in the PCB designing or even that matter

how to design the entire circuit

according to the product application

requirement like IPC standards there are

IEEE standards IEC standards which are

being for follower in the design

industry of the PCB designing world so

you must understand all these

fundamentals before even entering into

the career of PCB designing once you

understand these fundamentals probably

you can understand how exactly

converting the present requirement or

maybe the customer requirement into

real-time product

nonetheless to check the errors we use a

DRC error check or maybe ERC check which

are again a part of the design activity

in the PCB designing industry once you

understand these industrial standards

probably you will become a technically

competent to work in a team which is

already working on a project in the

industry nonetheless you also need to

understand how to do the documentation

how to report the work to be done in in

the meeting or maybe you also need to

know how exactly you share your work

with other teammate in your project work

say for example if you are working in a

group of people or if you are working in

a company where group of people are

working on certain project you must

understand how to communicate between

one point to another Point how your

designs are need to be maintained in

fact in large scale Industries

maintaining a documents is one more

hectic task which is being solved by

artificial intelligence nowadays but

once you understand all these things

once you understand how exactly the

induscale people works by understanding

the industrial project management

standards then probably you can get into

the industry with ease of Designing the

products in PCB designing industry

four is working with a startup company

as an intern of course when you start

your career obviously will be not having

any experience and most of the companies

in their interview either they ask for

experience or they ask for internship

experience because without having

experience working in Industry it

becomes very difficult to answer

interview questions or participate in

the interview and to crack that

particular interview when it comes to

our education system and most of the

things that we learn in theory will not

be applicable in Practical that's why

there is a huge gap between our

education and our industry again it's a

big topic to discuss we'll keep it in

the other video but right now what we

can focus is you become a smart person

by taking more and more internship

activity in your college days or even if

you are done with your college you can

take another three month to six months

of time to do a certain internship with

a PCB designing software company or

maybe a PCB design engineer at certain

esdm company for example in our company

we hire interns to work on certain

projects three months of time or maybe

six months of time is allocated to them

to complete one project in that

particular project they are exposed to

the real-time product development

activity which is product development

cycle in esdm Industry on that time they

are literally designing the pcbs to

match the IPC standards as well as our

company standards to deliver the product

to the customer of course we will be

helping them in the process as expert or

guiding them to finish the project on

time however they will be given with a

chance to experience how exactly the

products are designed in real time

industry that kind of internship will

always help you to start your career as

a PCB designer tip number five is watch

experts design tutorials of course we

have a habit of learning from various

modes and one among them is watching

other experts doing that particular

piece of Designing when we watch

multiple videos which are posted on

YouTube most of the time and you can see

how the experts are using the tools and

techniques of that particular tool which

is a Eda tool by the way and to design a

PCB so one among them is Altium designer

is a YouTube channel which helps you to

understand how exactly ultim software is

being used in industry to develop a lot

of projects online and also the second

online Creator or a YouTube content

creator is Carl bujjija he is one of the

best person who will teach you how

exactly the pcbs are designed for the

various applications in fact he is one

who is experimenting with respect to

brushless motors I mean the PCB motor

design using electromagnetic induction

principle and the third YouTube channel

which I recommend is grid Squad because

this one channel will help you to lot a

lot to understand how exactly basics of

electronics is used and how exactly the

circuits are designed when you are

designing the product by electronic

means when we are watching these is kind

of videos you will get to know how

exactly experts are designing the

circuits by using a Eda tool by doing so

or by watching them you will learn lot

of skills or a lot of tips and tricks

that you can Implement while you are

developing your product in real time

however if you are a beginner who

doesn't have any experience of

understanding the terminologies of these

great creators then don't worry I have a

backup for you we at linked frequency

have created absolute beginner course

for PCB designing industry to start with

in fact in this particular course I have

covered the fundamentals of PCB

designing basic terminologies of PCB

designing and covered it in a very

detailed manner that you can literally

learn from scratch the link for this

particular course is given in the

description or you can click on the I

button here to join that particular

course of course it is free of cost and

it is open source for anyone to start

with and complete I believe these five

tips are going to help you to start your

career as a PCB designer in electronic

industry consider subscribing to our

Channel linked frequency help us to grow

by sharing this video with your friends

and colleagues see you again in the next

video Until Then tune yourself to make a

difference

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