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Subject: Seeking Guidance on Career Transition to Embedded Hardware Design (PCB Design)

Parth , 10-11-2023, 10:35 AM
Dear all,

I wanted to reach out and seek your guidance and insights on a career transition I am considering. I am interested in moving into the field of Embedded Hardware Design, particularly focusing on PCB Design.

I greatly admire your expertise in this field and would greatly appreciate any advice, tips, or recommendations you could provide. Whether it's resources to study, potential networking opportunities, or simply sharing your personal experience, your input would be invaluable to me.

If you have a moment to connect and discuss this further, I would be very grateful. Please let me know if there's a convenient time for you, or if you prefer email correspondence.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards.
Dario Fresu⚡ , 10-11-2023, 03:18 PM
I posted it recently, I am sure it can start already answering some of your questions 😉

https://www.fresuelectronics.com/post/how-can-i-become-great-in-pcb-design
QDrives , 10-11-2023, 07:25 PM
What is your current knowledge/experience/training/education/job etc.?
Parth , 10-11-2023, 07:32 PM
I have been working in electronics manufacturing companies since last 7 years as smt and th process engineer and also i have been working with troubleshooting of basic circuits while working in pcb testing after the assembly work and i have done Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication
Robert Feranec , 10-12-2023, 11:55 AM
I know some people who moved from test to PCB Design. I think, initially they asked in their companies to help with some small projects to get experience and later they changed jobs and moved to different companies to do PCB layout. I think this is possible, just you may need to keep looking for the right position - e.g. junior PCB Layout (keep in mind, this can be temporarily a step back in your carrier as you will need to probably start from junior position, but your skills from testing, debugging and manufacturing background may help a lot).
Parth , 10-12-2023, 07:32 PM
First of thank you so very much Mr. Feranec for your reply.

For the most of the time I have done just the testing of the pcbs according to the steps provided by the companies and also did the basic troubleshooting and qc and my most experience is in manufacturing so do i need to do any course for learning pcb design as i don't have much knowledge regarding building circuits?

Once again thanks @Robert Feranec
Parth , 10-12-2023, 07:38 PM
Is it necessary to have knowledge regarding building circuits?

Yes my experience in manufacturing may help me a lot as i have found many of the engineers don't provide testpoints and fiducials while pcb design and many other faults that i experience while doing soldering as well
Parth , 10-12-2023, 07:48 PM
Which books do i need to read for knowing the basics of the pcb design please do let me know i have been working on altium for troubleshooting and also for self learning since last few years.
QDrives , 10-12-2023, 08:03 PM
Having been in production you know better than most what effect size of pads have. Tombstoning due to copper imbalance. Test points and fiducials is nice to know, but is easy to learn/apply.
I cannot help you with books. Most of my knowledge comes from doing, reading blogs, watching video's (like those of Robert), but most of all -- having had senior engineers as colleagues (in the beginning).
Robert Feranec , 10-13-2023, 05:10 AM
Knowing how to use the most common tools will help - Altium is widely used in many professional design companies, so you can start with it. Find a simple project, redraw it in Altium. Have a look at some of my tutorials or courses e.g. Learn Altium Essentials or Learn how to design your own boards. Once you know the basics you can continue learning by designing your own boards.
Parth , 10-14-2023, 09:02 AM
@Robert Feranec thank you for the reply
Parth , 10-14-2023, 09:03 AM
one more question how to decide the track width without knowing about the circuit operation
Robert Feranec , 10-14-2023, 09:05 AM
please, could you open a new topic? thank you.
Parth , 10-14-2023, 09:05 AM
sure
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