Past Technology Seminars

We at Premier, are dedicated to providing the very best commercial short training courses in the field of modern PCB design. Our Technology Seminars offer a fast track to gaining the specific knowledge and skills needed for you to approach some of the most challenging aspects of the design processes. In order to give you a "flavour" for the scope and range of our Technology Seminars, this page gives a brief write up of previous events.

Circuit & Board Layout Issues for EMC Compliance

After the success of events in Belfast and Bracknell last year, we returned with another EMC seminar. Our guest tutor Martin O’Hara was back to give more engineers the chance to gain practical advice on how to design for EMC with his "Circuit & Board Layout Issues for EMC Compliance" Technology Seminar.

Held at Limerick and Staffordshire this one-day training event was extremely popular with over 45 people attending.

Customer comments included:-

"Well presented, lots of content - now I need to digest it all"

"Very good - the course addressed a lot of issues that many people shy away from"

"Very good, essential for anyone working in PCB layout or EMC related areas"

Signal Integrity & EMI Control in High Speed Circuits

Held at the Stone House Hotel in Stafford the aim was to provide attendees with a background in the common techniques used to successfully design today’s high speed PCBs. The seminar provided information on the issues PCB designers and electronics engineers need to know about high speed digital design techniques.

As part of Premier's new Technology Seminar programme, "Signal Integrity and EMI Control in High Speed Circuits" took a recognised industry expert and delivered a concise interactive learning experience. The seminar was designed to provide engineers and designers with information that they are "expected to know" and after just one-day they returned to work properly armed and ready to address their key challenges.

Customer comments included:-

"The course has given me a new approach to high speed layout (one that will work not just sometimes)"

"The course has helped me to re-focus on known but forgotten information. it will cause me to question what I am accepting as best practice"

"Greater appreciation of EMI Control Techniques"

PCB Design for RF Applications

Held on-site at HMGCC and Berkshire this one-day training event was very popular with over 30 people attending.

The course was aimed at any board designer who wants a basic understanding of some of the special issues involved in printed circuit board design for Radio Frequency applications.

It presented a practical guide to the many issues facing the modern printed circuit board designer, at a level suitable for the competent board designer facing RF design challenges. It covered some of the basic RF concepts of wavelength, frequency spectrum, modulation, power measurement and capacitance, inductance, resonance and impedance. Typical components likely to be encountered in RF design were reviewed, which produced some discussion as to their characteristics and the special care needed in their use.

Customer comments included:-

"Very comprehensive and well presented - gave a good all round knowledge of all aspects"

"The course has made me more aware of the properties of the make-up of the PCB and the effect they have on the performance of the circuit"

"Very informative background info & will definitely mean changes/improvements to my design practices"

Courses held in 2002

Circuit & Board Layout Issues for EMC Compliance

During November 2002, we held seminars addressing "Circuit & Board Layout Issues for EMC Compliance" in Belfast and Bracknell. Delegates very much enjoyed the content and format of these one-day training events and complimented Martin O'Hara (our guest tutor) on his knowledge and delivery of what is an often over-technical subject.

The feedback from delegates was, once again, excellent and lead to an enjoyable learning experience for all

“Well presented course, clear details and plenty of good advice given”

“Good, enjoyable, well paced, not too formal”

“Provided me with useful information and filled in blanks in my EMC knowledge”

Transmission line calc.

Martin's Excel spreadsheet to help with transmission line calculations:-

txline.xls (35KB)

Signal Integrity & EMI Control in High Speed Circuits

The "Signal Integrity and EMI Control in High Speed Circuits" Technology Seminars held in Limerick and Cambridge were heralded as another success from the delegates. As expected, our guest speaker Rick Hartely's unique style and approach to the subject inspired the audience.

Comments from those who attended:-

"Really opened my eyes to the different aspects of PCB design"

"I now know what I was doing wrong"

"You're expected to pick this stuff up as you go along in my company - the problem was I just didn't know where to start (until now)"

PCB Design for RF Applications

Addressing one of the hottest subjects around, PCB Design for RF applications was held at venues in Dublin and North London. Over 45 people attended these events - all unanimously enjoyed the practical and down to earth approach.

Comments include:-

"A good introduction to the pitfalls of RF design"

"Very good, a lot of complex material served in a comprehensive way"

"Well put together, it makes a change to have a tutor who actually practices what he preaches"

High Speed Design - a practical approach

Last year we brought together over 45 people at venues in Dublin and North London to study High Speed Design techniques under the tuition of the IPC's leading expert, Rick Hartley. With a focus on practical skills and real-world examples, Rick's down-to-earth style was appreciated by all. These events herald Premier's commitment to providing a range of technology seminars focussed on key design skills.

"A very good way to understand why certain practices are used and to put forward suggestions. Not all designers are aware of PCB layout issues!"

"Excellent pace, excellent speaker, turned a long day into a short day"

"Some very good design hints, especially in PCB stackup techniques"