PEACHTREE CITY, GA – April 16, 2025 – Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA) announced today that Rick Hartley will be joining the lineup of speakers for the free sessions on April 30 at PCB East. Hartley, retired from L-3 Avionics as a senior principal engineer and owner of RHartley Enterprises, is the most popular speaker in the history of the PCEA technical conferences and will speak on copper pours on PCB signal layers.
Registrants for the PCB East exhibition will gain access to six free technical sessions taking place at the Boxboro Regency Hotel and Conference Center in Boxborough, MA. Topics will cover AI and PCB design, flex design, simulation, UHDI, PCB signal layers, and more.

“Free Wednesday” starts with a session on “AI and Other Upcoming Changes in PCB Design,” by Matthew Leary, founder and president of Newgrange Design.

After Leary’s presentation, Stephen Chavez, senior product marketing manager of Siemens and PCEA chairman, will speak about “Exploring the World of Ultra-High-Density Interconnect (UHDI) PCB Design.”

The morning sessions will conclude with a session about “Copper Pours on PCB Signal Layers” presented by Hartley.

After Hartley’s session, lunch will be available on the exhibit floor, which is free to all show registrants.

Free sessions resume in the afternoon with three sessions:

• Simulation vs. Reality - Analyze What You Will Really Build
• Why Do You Need to Care about Tin Whiskers in High-Reliability Electronics?
• Basics of Flex Design

Following the free sessions is a reception on the exhibition floor sponsored by Cofactr and EMA Design Automation, and a PCB design community meetup to end the day.

Anyone who registers at pcbeast.com for the exhibition and free sessions by April 29 will receive free admission. Day of show registration for the exhibition and free sessions is $25.