System-driven part selection and routing are closer than ever.

it's rare for a motivational keynote speaker to have a lasting impact on attendees. At Zuken Innovation World's US iteration in June, however, Dan Thurmon certainly set the pace for the conference. The author of Off Balance on Purpose and a popular Ted Talk on embracing uncertainty, Thurmon's address had attendees referencing and even reenacting portions of his opening presentation in their subsequent presentations. The motivational speaker helped set an energetic and educational tone for the conference that followed.

And thanks to the coming AI revolution, uncertainty is what's ahead.

Zuken Innovation World is a series of conferences around the world dedicated to bringing customers, partners and Zuken experts together. A good portion of the eight concurrent training tracks at the June event in Scottsdale, AZ, was dedicated to sessions led by customer-users sharing design best practices and success stories. Surprisingly for a conference dedicated to a specific supplier, there was never even a hint of sales; this was a full-on conference dedicated to networking and educating, where one could learn about upcoming technologies, best practices, and novel implementations of toolsets that only a user would discover. At times, it was overwhelming to decide which of the concurrent sessions to attend, as multiple competing interesting presentations were occurring!

Read more: The AI Revolution is Coming to PCB Design

Smooth copper isn't always what it is purported to be.

I always trusted datasheets. Why shouldn't I? Every time I picked one up, I understood they were harbingers of truth about what something did and how to interact with it. From chips to components to widgets, manufacturers have a vested interest in ensuring users know what and how to use their products.

My trust in datasheets was eviscerated the very week I entered the printed circuit board industry. I was attending a weeklong training session on signal integrity taught by Eric Bogatin when he surveyed the attendees about datasheets and their accuracy. While my memory of the day and exact content isn't perfect, I do recall that as the very moment I learned the harsh reality: Datasheets are sometimes not as accurate as one would hope! (As an aside, Eric Bogatin's books on signal integrity are excellent resources because he has that special gift of teaching and explaining complex topics in approachable and understandable ways. The concept of "being the signal" and walking down a transmission line is just fantastic.)

Read more: Datasheets, Unveiled