Today we're thrilled to be joined by John Watson, Customer Success Manager at Altium. He and Tech Consultant Zach Peterson chat about the importance of education for designers, what it's like working with students, and what new opportunities there are for PCB designers in today's market.
Get Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE
- Introduction to John Watson, Altium Customer Success Manager
John talks about his teaching profession at Palomar College in San Marcos, California where he teaches Basic and Advanced PCB designThe Middle College Program at Palomar College was created for junior and senior high school students to give them a head start in taking college coursesThe demand for PCB designers is driven by a lack of interested individuals in the industryAn increasing number of young engineers are drawn to computer science and software development, while the fields of hardware, electrical engineering, and PCB design are experiencing a declining interestJohn elaborates on the content covered in his comprehensive 32-week course, encompassing both fundamental and advanced aspects of PCB designCompanies are losing their talent every single day through retirement. Now more than ever, there is a huge need to fill the pipelineJohn shares his early days as an electrician on the kitchen floor with a screwdriver in the toasterJohn finds Ai concerning, and he doesn’t allow it in his classJohn describes the kind of students he has in his classOveranalyzing is a typical problem for electrical engineersPCBs are works of artZach describes a PCB designer as a “constraint manager”John works with different organizations to give the students a leap towards their next step after they finished his 32-week courseFrom a janitor to a PCB designer, a winning moment to one of John’s studentsGive back no matter what level we’re at, this is John’s message to his peers and everyone in the electronics industryThere are 25 spots available in John’s PCB design course, those who will not make it will be on the waiting list. You can check more information here.- Connect with John Watson on LinkedIn
Visit the Palomar College WebsiteCheck out John Watson's PCB design course outline hereRead John Watson's BlogsGet Your First Month of Altium Designer® for FREE