Speaker Bios
André Araújo holds a master’s in mechatronics engineering (Polytechnic School of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil) and has over 15 years of practical experience in the development, production and maintenance of medical electrical equipment. He currently works as engineering manager at J.G. Moriya and is instructor for the PCB Design for Embedded Systems course at Portal Embarcados. He has been involved in all phases of medical equipment design, including concept development, research and development, prototyping, certification, manufacturing, maintenance and product surveillance. Key skills include embedded systems design (especially hardware), electromagnetic compatibility, risk management, project documentation, product certification and quality management systems (mainly ISO 13485).
Kristen Aguiar, CID+ has been designing circuit boards for 20 years, including a wide variety of applications such as high-power, high-density and high-speed designs. She has spent the past 10 years specializing in training designers, splitting her time between design work, mentoring new designers and an instructor for Altium training. She currently works for Newgrange Design as a PCB designer and trainer.
Daniel Beeker is president and CTO of System Solution Specialists LLC, providing consulting, training and design guidance in EMC, signal integrity and field-based PCB engineering. With over 50 years of experience, he specializes in low-layer-count, high-reliability designs driven by electromagnetic field behavior. He has completed 250+ PCB design reviews, contributed to 25+ IC package designs and trained more than 6,000 engineers worldwide. His work helps teams achieve first-pass EMC success through physics-based design.
Albert Block brings over four decades of experience in the SMTA/PCB industry to his current role as PCB manufacturing strategist at DirectPCB. Previously, Block was responsible for evaluating new designs for product reliability and ensuring their robustness for NI’s manufacturing. As a member of NI’s PCB commodity team, he performed new supplier audits. Before joining NI, he was DfM engineering manager at Solectron’s NPI group and was responsible for various chemical and test labs at Raytheon/Texas Instruments Defense systems.
Karen Burnham has worked in and around the aerospace, defense, automotive and broader consulting world since 1996. She has a bachelor’s in physics, a master’s in electrical engineering, and a talent for translating EMC to English. She has managed requirements and test planning for NASA, the Dream Chaser spaceship and other programs. She has performed troubleshooting on electric vehicles for Ford Motor Company and others. She initiated innovative SBIRs and STTRs through government centers and worked on classified programs. She has consulted on projects across a wide range of industries and sits on multiple international standards committees, which have landed her in her current role as vice president of standards for the IEEE EMC Society. Burnham founded EMC United in 2024 to help companies and hardware designers solve EMC problems, ideally before they start.
Tyler Carvalho is a PCB designer with more than a decade of experience. He has spent his career at VoltServer Inc., contributing to the development of Class 4 power technology. His work centers on designing efficient, reliable printed circuit boards. His approach is grounded in real-world application, where practical constraints shape every design decision.
Stephen V. Chavez, CPCD-I, is a principal printed circuit engineer with over three decades of experience. He is acknowledged globally as an industry subject matter expert (SME) in PCB design. His continued career evolution has elevated him to industry thought leadership and as an industry influencer regarding printed circuit engineering. He is an author, podcast host and is currently a principal technical product marketing manager with Siemens. He is one of the coauthors and instructors of the PCEA Training curriculum and Certified Printed Circuit Designer (CPCD) certification. He continues to pave the way for the evolution of the printed circuit engineering professional within the industry. His focus is on continuous improvement for the PCB design profession by serving as chairman of PCEA.
Tomas Chester, P.Eng., CPCD-I has over a decade of experience designing hardware products through all phases of their lifecycle. He has managed a variety of multifaceted, interdisciplinary projects, from simple interconnect interfaces to complex microprocessors. His creative designs utilize cutting-edge manufacturing techniques while adhering to strict industry standards and specifications. Chester has extensive experience designing standalone single-sided circuit boards and multi-board assemblies with mechanical integration. With an engineering systems and computing degree from The University of Guelph, he is now sharing his knowledge by instructing Altium and PCB engineering design courses.
Keven Coates’ career spans 33 years of embedded processor digital/analog systems, high-speed PCB layout/signal integrity, very low noise circuits, high power circuits, thermal management, battery safety, battery management and battery interface circuits for consumer, industrial, automotive, and space designs. He’s currently a senior electrical engineer at Novium Designs, working on designs for the next International Space Station. He holds a bachelor’s in engineering from Texas A&M University.
Chuck Corley is one of the industry’s foremost high-speed digital design and signal integrity experts. He was nicknamed MacGyver for his ability to solve complex technical problems when others had failed. Corley helped design many of the industry’s leading products that pushed up to the “bleeding edge” of the highest clock speeds and complexity. His designs include core Internet networking and telecom transport hardware, WIFI technology, cellular 2G/3G/4G/5G technology, phased array radar, automotive radar, satellite communications, microwave instrumentation and more. In addition to design work, over the past 40 years, Corley has taught engineering classes at universities and private companies to help new and experienced engineers reach the cutting edge of high-speed digital circuit design, signal integrity, PCB design, design for manufacturing and design for reliability.
Jamil Dewsi is CEO of Genba, a DFQ platform that closes the loop between PCB design and assembly. Genba helps design teams bring their most innovative designs to production, with more confidence in layout, component selection, and manufacturability. He previously led AI initiatives within Apple’s manufacturing and supply chain organization, and was part of the team at DarwinAI building AI-powered automated optical inspection for PCBA defect detection.
Vincent DiLello, CID+, is a senior principal product engineer at Cadence. An industry veteran, he has designed PCBs ranging from the Pebble Watch to boards that have flown into space or been installed inside slot machines in Las Vegas. He brings this vast wealth of knowledge to that of product engineer, using his desire to make designers’ lives easier by influencing Cadence tool development.
Ed Dodd is vice president of government and defense at Cofactr and serves as vice chair of SAE’s Aviation Parts Management committee. He is applying 20 years of experience leading cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions in parts management and reliability, digital transformation and systems integration to the challenges of today’s complex supply chain.
Stephen Driver has been manufacturing PCBs of all technologies in the electronics industry for over 40 years. He has spent his entire career focused on niche and disruptive technologies and manufactured PCBs using exotic materials such as PTFE, ceramic and metal. He built many PCB businesses from startup and grew them to form a group of companies with a turnover of £18 million. He is a former director of The European Institute for the PCB Community (EIPC) and was awarded a Fellowship of The Institute of Circuit Technology (ICT) in 2014 for his industry contributions.
Mark Finstad is director of engineering at Flexible Circuit Technologies. He co-chairs the IPC-2223, Flexible Circuit Design standard, sits on IPC-6013, IPC-4202, IPC-4203 and IPC-4204 committees, and has over 35 years of experience designing and manufacturing flexible circuits for commercial, medical and military/avionics applications. He has authored articles in numerous trade magazines, and currently coauthors the “Ask the Flexperts” column for PCD&F magazine with Nick Koop.
Justin Fleming, CPCD is a degreed electrical engineer. During his 15+ year career in the technical field he has held positions as a technician, electrical engineer and PCB designer. His talents have been used in PCB design, library optimization, process creation, production and assembly with a variety of market-leading companies, including Microchip, Celestica, FLIR, Livewire-EV, Harley-Davidson and Biamp, among others. He holds IPC CID+ and PCEA Certified Printed Circuit Designer (CPCD) certifications. He has been a PCEA board member since 2021 and currently serves as secretary.
Ray Fugitt is technical marketing engineer at Siemens Downstream Technologies. He has over 40 years’ experience in printed circuit boards, 11 at Hadco in product and CAM engineering, and more than 20 supporting and providing training for the BluePrint PCB and CAM350 products.
Rick Hartley, retired from L-3 Avionics, is the principal of RHartley Enterprises, through which he consults and teaches internationally. Rick’s focus is on correct design of circuits and PC boards to prevent and/or resolve EMI, noise and signal integrity problems. He has consulted with major corporations in the US and 14 other countries. His career has focused on telecom, computers and aircraft avionics, as well as consulting on medical, appliance and automotive circuits. Rick has taught seminars at numerous conferences, including the IEEE EMC Symposium, PCB West, PCB East, AltiumLive, Freescale Technology Forum, IPC Apex/Expo and others. He is on the board of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA), a past member of the Printed Circuit Design Magazine editorial review board and has written numerous technical papers and articles on methods to control noise, EMI and signal integrity.
Troy Hopkins, CPCD-I, is a seasoned hardware designer with over 17 years of experience in the electronics industry. His expertise encompasses all aspects of the hardware design process, from initial concept through to manufacturing, ensuring that each product meets stringent quality and performance requirements across many different industries and applications. Beyond teaching internationally, he also consults with major corporations and startups in the design and development of electronic hardware and printed circuit boards.
Nick Koop is director of flex technology at TTM Technologies. He has developed and applied advanced PCB technologies to support a wide range of medical, military, and global security applications. He is vice chairman of the IPC Flexible Circuits Committee and co-chair for the IPC-6013 Qualification and Performance Specification for Flexible Printed Boards Subcommittee. Koop has over 35 years of experience in design, manufacture and management in the flexible circuit industry. He coauthors the “Ask the Flexperts” column in PCD&F.
Keith Kowal has been vice president of engineering at two startup companies, including AT/Comm, a predecessor to EZPass, and was VP of engineering at Ergo Computing, developing a portable desktop PC with the first patented docking station. He was also part of a startup developing videoconferencing equipment, now called Polycom. Keith has also worked at several medical companies, including Philips. An author of technical articles in PCB Design and a presenter at many technical conferences, he also taught at MIT as an electronics technical instructor. Kowal has a master’s degree from Boston University in computer engineering and currently works for Applied Materials.
Matthew Leary is a PCB designer with 30 years of design experience. He is the founder and president of Newgrange Design, a 45-person PCB design service bureau in Boston that uses Altium, OrCAD/Allegro and PADs PCB design software in the medical, consumer product, energy, defense and research industries. He has spoken previously on AI in PCB design. He is a PCEA director.
Dave Lorusso is a veteran compliance engineering expert with a career spanning over four decades, beginning in 1980 across a wide range of companies. Specializing in regulatory design, risk assessment and leading compliance teams, he has influenced global product development at major firms such as Dell, Eastman Kodak, Schneider Electric and Motorola, as well as consulting through Lorusso Compliance Services. His deep involvement in developing and interpreting international standards, including IEC, UL and CSA requirements, alongside his active participation in professional and standards committees, has made him a recognized leader and sought-after authority in product safety, EMC and regulatory compliance for electronics worldwide.
Phil Marcoux has ventured into many areas during his long career in electronics: IC designer and product engineer, author and lecturer, and ultimately CEO of three Silicon Valley-based companies. He was named “Father of SMT” by IPC and cofounded the company that invented chipscale packaging and chiplets. Marcoux was most recently interim general manager at EPOCH International’s Silicon Valley facility and is chair of the PCEA AI task group.
Kunal Patel is a process engineer at Mega Circuit. He has eight years of experience in printed circuit board manufacturing and is responsible for the development and implementation of advanced PCB manufacturing processes. He joined the industry upon completing his master’s and has been actively involved in advancing modern PCB fabrication technologies with a focus on process innovation, manufacturability and reliability.
Zachariah Peterson has an extensive technical background in academia and industry. He currently provides research, design and marketing services to electronics companies. Prior to working in the PCB industry, he taught at Portland State University. His background in scientific research spans topics in nanoparticle lasers, electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices, environmental sensors and stochastics. His work has been published in over a dozen peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and he has written hundreds of technical blogs on PCB design for a number of companies. He is a member of IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, American Physical Society and the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA). He previously served as a voting member on the INCITS Quantum Computing Technical Advisory Committee and on the IEEE P3186 Working Group.
Ethan Pierce, CPCD is founder of Dodec Labs. An electrical engineer by trade, he has spent his career building consumer, medical, and defense-connected products at leading companies such as Apple, and leading IoT companies, such as Blues Wireless and Particle. His specialty is maintaining holistic design intent from concept to mass production, producing high-performance hardware designs.
Ramon Roche is a field application engineer at NCAB Group. His initial engineering experience was as a mechanical engineer in the industrial automation industry. In that role, he gained a wide range of knowledge on both manufacturing processes and equipment development. That experience has proved beneficial throughout his career at NCAB. Clients have relied on his expertise to ensure a seamless navigation of the PCB production process from design to fabrication. One of his passions is sustainability, and he is at the forefront of NCAB’s campaign to be the most environmentally conscious PCB provider in the world.
Stephan Schmidt serves as North American technical sales consultant for 3D MID circuits at Harting, a Switzerland-based company. Schmidt held numerous positions in his over 30 years’ at LPKF Laser & Electronics, including roles in technical support, customer applications, international sales and North American president. His expertise spans engineering and leadership in laser-based solutions for electronics manufacturing. He has a degree in electrical engineering from the College of Technology Hannover, Germany.
Rajesh Swaminathan is head of technical business development at Wizerr AI. With extensive experience in the semiconductor field, he has held key roles at companies like Analog Devices, Maxim Integrated, and GlobalFoundries. Swaminathan also founded xSi Semiconductors, a programmable power semiconductor startup acquired by GlobalFoundries. Swaminathan’s expertise lies in analog and digital power management, programmable power, and analog design, application, product, process, and operations. He holds a professional certificate from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and degrees in electrical engineering from University of South Florida and Anna University Chennai.
Mike Tucker is director of field applications engineering at SCC Shennan China Circuits. He has over 29 years technical experience in PCB manufacturing (rigid/rigid-flex/HDI/flex/MPCB). He has developed manufacturing processes and methodologies to drive technology curves, capabilities, and competitiveness. He is an expert in front-end engineering, CAM tools, automation of CAM tooling, integration of CAM tools with MRP/ERP/shop-floor operations and software development of shop-floor software operations. He works closely with engineers, designers, program managers, and OEMs to build mission-critical parts from concept to prototype to production.
Syed Ubaid Ali Warsi, CID is founder of Wavetroniks and a senior PCB designer with 25 years of diverse experience. His journey encompasses guiding boards from the initial design phase through prototyping, board bring-up, EMC compliance and full-scale production. His expertise includes high-speed PCB design and EMC, with hands-on work on 400G, 800G and next-generation 1.6T designs, leveraging Intel Agilex and Stratix FPGAs, PCIe Gen4/5, 224Gbps PAM4 SerDes and advanced HDI multi-lamination (0.2 mm CSP) technologies. Beyond his individual accomplishments, his mentorship has shaped next generation of PCB designers. Through his mentorship, several professionals are now thriving at renowned companies like Intel, Xilinx, Ericsson, Advantest, Hitek Systems and others.
Lauren Waslick is the PCB design director at Newgrange Design, where she oversees more than 30 designers and the company’s training program. She is also a senior PCB designer with over 13 years’ experience. Working at a service bureau for over a decade has allowed her to gain extensive design experience across many industries, including medical, consumer products, defense, aerospace, alternative energy, robotics and more. She specializes in flex design, as well as HDI and high-speed, and has worked on hundreds of circuit board designs in her career. In 2019, she received her MBA from Babson College.
Susy Webb is a senior PCB design engineer with over 45 years of experience. Her career includes experience in coastal and oceanographic oil exploration and monitoring equipment, point-to-point microwave network systems, and CPCI and ATX computer motherboards. Webb is a regular speaker at PCEA design conferences such as PCB West and PCB East, and international design conferences. She has consulted for individual companies and groups for the past 20 years. Her presentations discuss the practical implementation of complex engineering concepts into board layout and methods to improve the overall design and flow of printed circuit boards. She is CID certified, a former writer/columnist for PCD&F magazine, a chapter writer for Clyde Coombs Printed Circuits Handbook, and coauthor of the PCEA CPCD program. Webb is also an active member of the PCEA board and education committees.
David Wiens has held various engineering, marketing and management positions within the EDA industry over the past 35+ years. His focus areas have included advanced packaging, high-speed design, routing technology and integrated systems design. He is currently the product manager for the Xpedition Enterprise portfolio of products for electronics systems design. He holds a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Kansas.