For many of us, September heralds the back-to-school bustle, for our kids and more often these days, for well-seasoned workers who need to strengthen their skills or learn some new ones. Taking courses at a local college, through an online program or at a technology-focused conference, has never been more important. Education helps us stay at the top of our game, and in today’s job market, it is an essential component of success.  

As if to underscore the point, in this month’s cover story, Hal Katircioglu from Intel discusses the educational disconnect for signal and power integrity engineers in the U.S. He points out that universities aren’t doing a sufficient job educating engineers for the challenges they face on the job. Katircioglu offers insight on how companies can sponsor educational opportunities for employees.

Intel, for one, has taken a proactive approach to education and training through the formation of a collaborative graduate program at the University of South Carolina. The program, located near Intel’s center of excellence for signal integrity in Columbia, is intended to help fill a national shortage of SI engineers by providing a curriculum that graduates not wide-eyed novices but experienced engineers. The programs are tailored to develop the type of skills Intel values in engineers.
A number of notable education alliances have developed over the past few years to provide specific, real-world educational opportunities for electronics designers throughout the supply chain. In Harrisburg, PA, the Penn State Center for Signal Integrity focuses on the needs of local connector companies and has partnered with Tyco, Amphenol, FCI, Samtec, Yazaki North America, Phoenix Contact and Agilent, helping to fund targeted educational programs. The aim is to build engineers with a better understanding of electronic design as it relates to the connector.

Many of the nation’s top engineering schools actively seek industry partners for research and consortium activities. At Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering, one such consortium titled, “Mixed Signal Design and Tools,” is working on the challenges of the chip-to-package interface. The focus here is to facilitate the development of next-generation design tools that enable the deployment of SiP (System-in-Package) and SoP (System-on-Package) technologies. Industry partners include Matsushita, EPCOS, Infineon, Sameer and NXP.

In a recent blog, Happy Holden of Mentor Graphics talked about some self-directed learning opportunities available for designers. Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA, whose undergraduate engineering program was recently ranked first by U.S. News & World Report, is now offering undergraduate courses specific to PCB design. In addition, many EDA tool suppliers have formed partnerships with universities to offer students the opportunity to design using real-world tools. A student attending Purdue, the University of California-Berkley, Syracuse or North Carolina State, for example, would have the opportunity to work with tools from companies like Mentor, Cadence and Synopsys.

For those in college, programs like these are great for preparing you for your first job. However, if you already in the workforce, a more flexible approach often is preferred. Enter UP Media Group’s PCB Shows. For the past 18 years, PCB West (pcbwest.com) has provided designers with targeted educational programs that improve skills and increase design proficiency.
This year’s program brings well-respected industry experts and extraordinary course selections together Sept. 14 – 18 in Santa Clara, CA. The program includes professional development certificate courses on topics like Signal Integrity in High-Speed Circuits, a full-day tutorial presented by Rick Hartley of L-3 Communications. There is also a two-day, hands-on session covering Design of Advanced HDI Technologies presented by Happy Holden and Dan Smith, PCB Guru.

The competition is tough and design teams need to be ready for next-generation design challenges like signal and power integrity, high-speed and mixed-signal design or advanced HDI and embedded components. Not every company has the resources to foster their own university programs or participate in a consortium, but every company should understand that success is built on training and education. PCB West and the PCB Shows help to provide every company with an economical way to get PCB designers the training and education they need to stay at the top of their profession – which today translates into finding ways to design lower-cost products and in record time. We look forward to seeing you all in Santa Clara.