Workshop on “PCB DESIGN”

To fulfil the Industry goals and requirements the department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering in association with DBEATS conducted a one day workshop on “PCB Design” on the 8th of February, 2020 for the third year students of ETC. Total of 38 students attended the workshop.

The workshop started with a motivational and interactive talk on “PCB Design”. The resource person for the workshop was Prof. Flavia Leitao, faculty at Don Bosco College of Engineering.

The following contents were covered for the workshop:

• Understanding of the Circuit
• Knowledge of component packages
• Testing the circuit on breadboard
• Drawing circuit layout and transferring mirror image of layout on PCB
• Masking to remove the unwanted copper
• Etching
• Drilling and mounting of components
• Soldering

The circuit implemented on the PCB was an “Astable Multivibrator”

Firstly, the students were given a brief explanation on the different stages involved in PCB designing using power point presentation.

The Students were given a brief understanding of the different packages (TO-92,TO-220, tape and reel, Ammo, etc) and also the different types of parts (Through holes and Surface mount) along with the soldering methods (wave soldering and reflow soldering)  for the same.

The students had a hands-on experience in designing the PCB.

They first started with the masking activity, where they had to transfer the mirror image of the layout on the PCB. A very innovative and easy method of doing this was employed using the Iron. The mask was smoothened by the markers to avoid any break in the copper tracks.

The masking was followed by Etching, where Ferric Chloride was used for removing the unwanted copper. The PCB was then nicely cleaned to remove the entire mask.

The etching activity was followed by drilling and Soldering. The students were first given instructions and demo on how to use the drilling machine and the soldering iron. The students then got a hands on exposure to drilling and soldering.

The coordinators for the workshop were Prof. Flavia Leitao and Prof. Melba D’Souza.

The students showed great zeal and enthusiasm in designing the PCB and the satisfaction and joy to see the circuit work was overwhelming. The workshop was a fruitful and a very successful event.