It is that time of year again. As the last days of school wind down science teachers across the country are pulling out the best science experiments and projects to keep student interest high in the classroom. From flowing volcanoes to model bridges and windmills, science is often a subject that can capture the attention of an entire classroom even on the late days of May and early days of June.
Science, technology, engineering, and math are subjects that are attracting a lot of attention lately. In fact, as the interest in STEM courses grows some companies like prototype PCB manufacturers find themselves filling a growing number of high school orders for their products. In fact, prototype printed circuit boards (PCB).
The use of PCB design services should come as no surprise since that these products are in almost all of the products that we use. From cell phones to microwaves, the prototype PCB manufacturer is involved. As the devices that we use continue to change in size, the continued need for PBCs in a variety of industries will continue. From a small firm that is trying to develop a car accessory that will block texting while driving to large industries who are mass producing an item that they have been selling for years, prototype PCB manufacturing companies are often the starting point. Consider some of these other points about the printed circuit board industry, a filed that is bound to impact anyone who is considering an engineering field:
- Two types of circuit assemblies are related to the printed circuit board. One is a hybrid circuit and the other is an integrated circuit, which is sometimes called an IC or microchip.
- The legend on a circuit board contains the component designators, test points, switch settings, and other indications helpful in assembling, testing, and servicing the circuit board.
- Legends are printed in one of three ways: ink jet printing, silk screen printing, and liquid photo imaging.
- Once the legends are printed and the PCBs are assembled, there are a variety of soldering techniques used to attach components. High volume production is usually done with a surface mount technology (SMT) placement machine and bulk wave soldering or reflow ovens. The most skilled technicians are able to solder the tiniest of parts, including 0201 packages which are 0.02 inch by 0.01 inch.
- PCBs are one of the most common pieces of equipment in the technological gadgets that fill our days and our nights.
As classrooms across the U.S. continue to wrap things up for another school year, a growing number of teachers and industry scientists hope to continue to attract young minds toward the field of science, technology, engineering, and math. Few of these current and future scientists, however, will get very far in their career before they learn about the basics of the products provided by prototype PCB manufacturers.