Mentor Graphics PCB design contest
You have until Sept 24, 2010 to submit your PCB (printed circuit board) design to Mentor graphics for consideration in their annual design contest. Winners receive a TLA (technology leadership award) plaque. You will get global recognition of your company and design team through a press release and presentations / webinars. You may also be featured in industry publications. There are six categories:
- Consumer electronics and handheld
- Industrial control, instrumentation, security and medical
- Military and aerospace
- Computers, blade and servers, memory systems
- Telecom, network controllers, line cards
- Transportation and automotive
The contest is open to any design created with Mentor’s PCB solutions, including the Board Station®, Expedition® Enterprise and PADS® design flows. Judging will be based on overcoming complexity challenges, such as small form factor, high-speed content, design team collaboration, advanced PCB fabrication technologies, and design-cycle time reduction. Judging will start September 24 and winners will be announced November 9. If you define a login/password on your original entry, you can change your data even after submitting the entry. They don’t want your PCB database files, just pdfs and screenshots, so you needn’t have any security worries.
Judges include Happy Holden, vice president and chief technical officer, Foxconn Advanced Technology Group; Gary Ferrari, technical support director, FTG Circuits; Pete Waddell, president of UP Media, publisher of Printed Circuit Design & Fab/Circuits Assembly Magazine; Andy Kowalewski, senior interconnect designer, AdvantagePCB; and Rick Hartley, senior principal engineer, L-3 Communications, Avionics Systems, Inc.
Started in 1988, this program is the longest running competition of its kind in the electronic design automation (EDA) industry. It recognizes engineers and computer aided design (CAD) designers who use Mentor’s innovative technology to address today’s complex PCB systems design challenges and produce industry-leading products.
Andy T commented:
I think I'd spend a LOT less time, and money, doing the CAD of the award plaque itself and submitting it to an engraving service...c'mon guys, where's the ca$h? Or at least a free CAD seat or two?
Self-promotion without paying for the core material; in fact, having the customer buy a CAD seat before qualifying, no less - nice one, Mentor.
Almost as bad as some companies having the nerve to hire interns without paying them any wages
