As the rate of technological innovation continues to increase, so will demand for practical insights and novel solutions. With 66% of today’s organizations planning to deploy 5G by the end of 2020, the world will be more connected than ever—in fact, spend on IoT is forecasted to reach $1 trillion by 2022. The immense market spend on AI systems and consumer connectivity places pressure on engineers from the electronics chip, board, and system industries to advance storage, system design, and high-performance AI.

In response, DesignCon, North America’s largest chip, board, and systems event, teamed up with Design News to produce a five-part Back-to-School webinar series presented by the industry’s sharpest and most inventive minds across the semiconductor, chip, and board sectors. These highly rated educational sessions will walk through several use cases, illustrate how to use various tools to solve a range of design problems, present practical workshops, and provide attendees an understanding of why some design looks good on paper but fails once implemented. Attendees will also hear updates on DesignCon 2021 and receive a discount code for the upcoming in-person conference.

Design News caught up with Suzanne Deffree, Group Event Director, DesignCon, Informa Markets to learn more.

DN: Please walk us through what attendees can expect from the series.

SD: Our vision with the Back-to-School webinar series is to offer our community resources outside of our annual in-person DesignCon event and addresses real-world challenges engineers are facing today. All attendees regardless of experience will walk away with practical solutions to apply, from calculating single-ended or mixed-mode S-parameters of interconnected networks to understanding common pitfalls in the BKM’s used today across the industry in design and modeling of high-speed channels. 

Thoughtfully curated by our Technical Program Committee (TPC) – an expert panel of more than 90 industry professionals – the series features the highest-rated sessions from the DesignCon 2020 curriculum, previously only available to in-person paid conference attendees. Speakers include: Amphenol, ANSYS, Intel, JordanDSP.com, Marvell Semiconductor, Samtec, and Teledyne LeCroy.

DN: What was the inspiration behind the Back-to-School webinar series?

SD: Year after year, DesignCon’s conference content is rated exceptionally high serving as the community’s annual convergence point for the latest technical updates and hands-on tutorials, sessions, and boot camps. However, the chip, board, and systems market is experiencing unparalleled expansion across applications from consumer electronics to the automotive sector. We understand innovation doesn’t stop; the series is intended to extend educational offerings during a time when hands-on learning is interrupted, ensuring our community remains connected and inspired even during these challenging times – thus, attendance is free and open to everyone!  

DN: What level of expertise does the webinar series target?

SD: The webinar series, like DesignCon, features education for all levels of learning, with content for experienced engineers, recent graduates, and everyone in-between. The longevity of this industry is dependent on developing entering the field that will improve designs in the future.

We are partnering with JordanDSP.com to deliver a webinar for embedded engineers and PCB designers who have never done RF board layout. In this session, attendees will see how to visualize the elements available and build and test using desktop prototyping gear. 

For our mid-career and seasoned engineers, we offer several options:

Event: Back-to-School Webinar Series, presented by DesignCon and Design News
Where: Online
When: September 29 – October 2, 2020 
Cost: Free

Attendance is free; visit here to save your spot.