OnTrack: The PCB Design Podcast

Altium Develop gives your entire team real-time visibility into PCB designs, supply chain data, and manufacturing feedback — so thermal and power decisions never get made in isolation: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=ipc-2221-vs-2152-the-truth-about-pcb-trace-current-ratings If you've ever sized a PCB trace using the IPC 2221 charts or relied on a 10°C rise rule of thumb, this episode of the OnTrack Podcast is essential viewing. Host Zach Peterson sits down with Mike Jouppi — the engineer behind IPC 2152 — to unpack decades of misunderstood standards, flawed assumptions, and what designers should actually be doing when it comes to conductor sizing and thermal management. Mike walks through the critical differences between IPC 2221 and IPC 2152, explains why the internal trace data in 2221 was never derived from actual in-board testing, and reveals how adding copper planes to your design can dramatically increase power dissipation even while keeping temperature rise "within spec." If you're designing power-carrying traces without thinking in terms of power loss budgets, this conversation will change how you approach every future layout. 👉 Resources from this episode: - High Power PCB Design: Pushing the Limits with Caleb Buck: https://youtu.be/aYi080GbV08 - Eric Bogatin on Signal Integrity, Oscilloscope Mastery & More: https://youtu.be/k88xgF8_jpk - Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-jouppi-a6547034a/ - Dive Deeper into IPC 2221: https://resources.altium.com/p/ipc-2221-calculator-pcb-trace-current-and-heating - Explore IPC 2152: https://resources.altium.com/p/using-ipc-2152-calculator-designing-standards 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #Altium #PCBDesign #IPC2152

Altium Develop gives your entire electronics team — engineers, procurement, and manufacturers — real-time visibility into your PCB designs and supply chain, all in one platform: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=greenpak-for-automotive-reliability-integration-real-world-demos Renesas' Automotive GreenPAK is a configurable mixed-signal IC that's changing how engineers approach component integration in vehicle electronics. In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Michele Deviato, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Renesas, and Oleh Saphia, Applications Engineering Manager at Renesas, to break down what truly separates automotive-grade components from their industrial counterparts. Spoiler: it's far more than just temperature range. AEC-Q100 qualification, vibration-resistant packaging, minimum pin pitch requirements, and rigorous reliability testing all play a critical role — and GreenPAK is built to meet every one of them. Beyond the spec sheet, this episode dives into why Automotive GreenPAK is gaining rapid adoption across OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers — and even into space technology applications. Michele and Oleh walk through how GreenPAK consolidates entire boards of discrete components into a single reconfigurable IC, reducing BOM cost, board area by up to 90%, and failure rates all at once. Oleh then takes viewers through a live Go Configure Software demo, building a real LED animation circuit in minutes — no firmware required. 👉 Resources from this episode: - Dima's Previous Episode: https://youtu.be/2b4TWE5zlB4 - Learn More about Automotive GreenPAK: https://www.renesas.com/en/products/programmable-logic/greenpak-programmable-mixed-signal-products/automotive-greenpak-programmable-mixed-signal-ics - Go Configure: https://www.renesas.com/en/software-tool/go-configure-software-hub - Learn More about Renasas: https://www.renesas.com/en - Conenct with Michele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-deviato/ - Connect with Oleh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oleh-sapiha-505557197/?originalSubdomain=ua 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #Altium #GreenPAK #AutomotiveElectronics

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Stephen Newberry, Victor Kronberg, and Ching-Ping Wong from Chipletz — a fabless advanced packaging company pushing the boundaries of die-to-die interconnect technology. The team shares their background, their work on chiplet-based package design, and the technical paper they presented at DesignCon, which introduces the wallstrip transmission line: a novel interconnect structure designed to improve insertion loss, manage crosstalk, and enable higher data rates in chiplet packages without the need for a silicon interposer. The conversation dives deep into the signal integrity challenges of advanced packaging, including how the wallstrip structure compares to traditional microstrip and stripline configurations, the role of the UCIE standard in enabling chiplet interoperability, and the long-term potential for an open chiplet marketplace. Whether you're a PCB designer curious about making the leap into IC packaging or an SI/PI engineer tracking the cutting edge of high-bandwidth interconnect design, this episode offers rare, expert-level insight into one of the most exciting frontiers in electronics engineering. 👉 Resources from this Episode: - Connect with Chipletz: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chipletz/posts/ - Connect with Victor Kronberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorkronberg/ - Connect with Ching-Ping Wong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ching-ping-wong-21883286/ - Connect with Stephen Newberry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stnewberry/ - Learn more about Chipletz: https://www.chipletz.com/ 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #Altium #ChipletDesign #AdvancedPackaging

Altium Develop connects your entire electronics product team — from design to supply chain to manufacturing — in one unified platform: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=violet-labs-the-integration-hub-solving-hardware-data-chaos Hardware engineering teams have long struggled with disconnected software tools — CAD systems that don't talk to PLMs, PLMs that don't sync with MES platforms, and engineers spending hours manually copying BOM data between systems. In this episode of the Altium OnTrack Podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Lucy Hoag, founder and CEO of Violet Labs, to explore how her company is tackling this pervasive problem. Lucy shares her journey from astronautical engineering and satellite design to building a no-code integration platform that acts as a centralized hub for all the disparate tools hardware teams rely on every day. Violet works like a "Zapier for hardware engineering" — connecting mechanical CAD, electrical CAD, PLM, MES, ERP, project management tools, and more through a single middleware platform. Lucy and Zach dig into why native integrations between major software vendors remain rare, the regulatory constraints that have stalled innovation in aerospace, and how Violet's no-code approach removes barriers for non-software engineers. They also discuss Violet's newly launched MCP server, the role of AI in responsible data orchestration, and what's next on the product roadmap. 👉 Resources from this video: - Learn about Violet Labs: https://youtu.be/or7okfDOyv8 - Connect with Lucy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyhoag/ 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #Altium #HardwareEngineering #PCBDesign

The hardware startup landscape has transformed dramatically since 2020, and investors are finally paying attention. In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Mihir Shaw and Benji Chia, co-founders of Hardware FYI, to explore why hardware companies are becoming attractive investment opportunities again. From PCB fabrication innovations to manufacturing automation startups, discover how a new generation of engineers is disrupting traditional industries and building companies that venture capitalists can no longer ignore. Mihir and Benji share their unique perspectives as both hardware industry insiders and startup investors, discussing the companies making waves in aerospace manufacturing, on-demand fabrication, and automated PCB design. Learn how their popular newsletter grew from zero to 20,000 engaged readers by delivering first-principles technical content that traditional publications overlook. 👉 Resources from this episode: - Building a hardware startup? Altium Develop streamlines your path from schematic to fabricated boards with integrated manufacturing quotes and project management: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=hardware-startups-investable-again - Connect with Mihir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihirmshah8/ - Connect with Benjamin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjchia/ - Learn more about Hardware FYI: https://www.hardwarefyi.com/ 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #HardwareStartups #PCBDesign #Altium

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Karen Burnham, chief engineer and founder of EMC United, to explore why electromagnetic compatibility remains one of the most challenging aspects of product development. Karen shares her journey from physics to NASA Johnson Space Center and eventually into EMC consulting, offering invaluable insights into why so many engineers struggle with compliance testing and what they can do about it. Whether you're a new designer facing your first EMC test or a seasoned engineer looking to refine your approach, this conversation covers critical topics including common misconceptions about ground plane splits, the dangers of blindly following data sheet recommendations, requirements management pitfalls, and cost-effective pre-compliance strategies. Karen also discusses the evolving role of simulation and AI in EMC design review, upcoming changes to CISPR standards, and her practical seminars designed to help engineers avoid costly failures. 👉 Resources from this Episode: - Struggling with EMC compliance? Altium Develop gives you access to expert-led courses on design for EMC, helping you avoid costly test failures before your first prototype: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=karen-burnham - Connect with Karen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-burnham-42104425 - Check out Todd Hubing's Interview: https://youtu.be/7PJGPDiA31Q - Check Out EMC United: https://www.emcunited.com/ 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #EMC #PCBDesign #Altium

In this episode of the Altium OnTrack podcast, host Zach Peterson sits down with Todd Hubing, president of LearnEMC. With over 40 years of experience in electromagnetic compatibility starting at IBM in 1982, Todd brings unparalleled expertise to some of the most misunderstood topics in PCB design. This conversation dives deep into grounding myths, decoupling capacitor placement, stack-up strategies, and common mode currents, challenging long-held assumptions that many designers take for granted. 👉 Resources from this Episode: - Connect with Todd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddhubing/ - Check out LearnEMC: https://learnemc.com/ - Effective Strategies for Choosing and Locating Printed Circuit Board Decoupling Capacitors: https://cecas.clemson.edu/cvel/pdf/EMCS05-632.pdf - Check out the latest from Altium Develop: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=todd-hubing 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #EMC #PCBDesign #Grounding