What Is a PCB Designer Anyway?
First, what is a PCB? It is a Printed Circuit Board. Look to the left of this web page and you’ll see an image of a small PCB as part of a group of PCBs. Here is another example of one: Have you ever looked inside your computer, a radio or a telephone? The printed circuit boards inside it are the flat, thin, square, usually green fiberglass slabs that have electrical components attached. Harder to see are copper traces running underneath the green covering. You would have to try different angles of light to see them. These are wires that are “printed” on the fiberglass slab. They connect the electrical components, thus forming circuits. Thus the name “printed circuit board.” A company that manufactures electronic products has a cycle of production to go from concept to end user or customer. It could be thought of like this: Marketing – Sales – Product Concept – Engineering & Design – Design for Manufacturing – Manufacturing – Assembly – Packaging – Distribution. The Design for Manufact
