This month’s column is packed with recent activities, including a spotlight on the San Diego Chapter and an interview with Luke Hausherr, the new chapter president.
There is also an update from the IPC Designers Council Executive Board as collaboration with the new IPC Education Foundation continues to evolve and an interview with a young designer.
San Diego Chapter
by Luke Hausherr, CID+
On Mar. 12, the San Diego Chapter hosted our first meeting of the year. Presenter Michael Goode discussed IC package design. It was an informative meeting, and we learned a lot about the different types of IC package design and how it is done. The audience was very engaged, with over 25 people in attendance.
We also hosted our officer elections. Here are the newly elected officials for the San Diego Chapter:
• Luke Hausherr, chairman (president)
• Ben Savage, vice chairman
• Bill Gebhardt, treasurer
• Judy Warner, education director
• John Carney, secretary
• Bob Griffith, member at large
Figure 1. New San Diego Chapter leadership (l-r, back: Bill Gebhardt, Ben Savage, Luke Hausherr, John Carney; front: Bob Griffith, Judy Warner).
Our chapter’s plans for this year include:
• Working with the national IPC council to obtain more funding
• Creating a website to attract new members
• Working with colleges and other avenues and existing connections to attract new members
• Hosting an event at the Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show (DMEMS), our biggest event of the year
As usual, the chapter meeting ended with a raffle giveaway where many people won prizes. I’d like to thank San Diego Chapter members and the new leadership team for all their support as I take on this new role and hope to contribute to the success of the chapter. Our next chapter meeting will take place at the DMEMS on May 1.
FIGURE 2. Ben Savage (left) and Luke Hausherr (right) listen to a Bob Griffith story.
Feature Interview
by Duane Benson, Screaming Circuits
San Diego PCB and Screaming Circuits are divisions of Milwaukee Electronics and headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Phoenix, and Milwaukee. As marketing manager and CTO at Screaming Circuits, I interviewed Luke Hausherr, senior PCB designer at San Diego PCB and newly elected San Diego Chapter president, about his vision for the chapter. Luke was also elected to the IPC DC Executive Board on Mar. 11, which he views as an important position for the San Diego Chapter because it will help provide more local representation.
Duane Benson: Congratulations on your new roles with the IPC Designers Council. How long have you been active in the IPC DC?
Luke Hausherr: In 2012, I was elected secretary of our local San Diego Chapter. This year, I was nominated and elected to become the president of our chapter to replace Bob Griffith who had served since 2007. At the same time, I was also nominated to become a member of the IPC Executive Designers Council, which is an important role. By being both the president of my local San Diego Chapter and a member of the IPC DC Executive Board, I will be able to better serve both my chapter and the IPC DC. I can help integrate local chapter efforts and resources from IPC to serve our San Diego design community. I hope to be a more effective voice while representing our local chapter on the national level; it’s a great opportunity.
I’ve always used IPC standards to add quality and reliability to my designs. I received my CID certification after being in the industry for two years back in 2006, which increased not only my knowledge for fabrication and assembly but also my confidence and skills to advance to a more senior-level designer rapidly. I’ve been active in the San Diego Chapter for about seven years but have been involved with IPC since the start of my career over 15 years ago.
Benson: What made you decide to join leadership?
Hausherr: I have attended San Diego Chapter meetings since the start of my career, and I was always interested in getting more engaged. When the opportunity arose to join as secretary, I eagerly took on the role. I immediately started trying to locate all the PCB designers in San Diego to invite them to our chapter events and increase attendance at our local meetings held 4 to 6 times throughout the year.
Benson: How do you think you can have an impact on the IPC DC?
Hausherr: I am extremely passionate about design and always eager to increase our membership as well as engage the community by helping spread information about design resources. I love meeting new designers and learning about technologies and advancements in our industry.
Benson: Do you have any specific goals for the San Diego Chapter?
Hausherr: My goals have been and always will be to engage as many designers through our chapter as possible. I also want to utilize my position on the Executive Board to leverage resources to deliver a variety of presentations from powerhouse keynote speakers and industry leaders available at our chapter meetings.
Benson: What’s the primary benefit that the IPC DC brings to your design community?
Hausherr: Since there are very few educators and resources for designers to continue to grow in their knowledge of technologies and advancements in the industry, the primary benefit is education. I’ve learned more from industry leaders at these events than in 15 years of designing in my profession alone. This organization allows people who may be captive or in a bubble to engage in real-life demonstrations of new materials, equipment, technologies, and practices. We also learn about things from different professions and perspectives in the industry so we can better understand electronics manufacturing as a whole.
There’s always room for improvement, but if there isn’t guidance on how to improve specifically, unfortunately we can become stagnant, or even worse, become accustomed to producing and performing subpar practices and not even realize it. Everyone in the industry can benefit from being a part of an IPC DC chapter; it serves as a great learning and networking opportunity for anyone from sales to engineering. If there is anyone out there who would like to get involved with the San Diego Chapter or just learn more about our organization, please feel free to email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Luke Hausherr has over 15 years of industry experience and has worked on hundreds of designs throughout his career for a variety of companies and end usage. Luke has designed projects ranging from analog, high-speed RF, and dense high-speed digital boards for various applications, such as aerospace, automotive, military, medical, IoT, and more. He has trained many PCB designers, supervised design teams, and written numerous training documents. In addition to his leadership positions with the San Diego Chapter and IPC DC Executive Board, Luke also serves on the advisory committee for the mechanical/drafting department at Palomar Community College.
2019 Training and Certification Schedule: Updated
IPC Certified Interconnect Designer (CID)
- April 22–25: Schaumburg, IL
- May 21–24: Pittsburgh, PA
- June 18–21: Kirkland, WA
- August 6–9: Baltimore, MD
- August 26–29: Markham, ON
- September 6–9: Santa Clara, CA
- September 19–22: Schaumburg, IL
- October 21–24: Anaheim, CA
- November 2–5: Raleigh, NC
- November 5–8: Dallas, TX
IPC Advanced Certified Interconnect Designer CID+
PCB Design Events
PCB2Day
- Controlling noise, EMI, and signal integrity in high-speed circuits and PCBs
- April 17–18: Seattle, WA
- June 13–14: Boston (Chelmsford), MA
- pcb2day.com
Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show (DMEMS)
- May 1–2: San Diego, CA
- manufacturing.show
PCB West 2019
- September 9–11: Santa Clara, CA
- pcbwest.com
Realize LIVE
- June 10–13, 2019: Detroit, MI
- Realize LIVE
AltiumLive 2019
- October 9–11: San Diego, CA
- altium.com/live-conference
STEPHEN CHAVEZ is a member of the IPC Designers Council Executive Board and chairman of the communications subcommittee. To read past columns or contact Chavez, click here.
