Online design tools: 7 tips for safe passage

摘要

AT EDN, WE HAVE BEEN LISTENING to design engineers talk about the nature of their work, how it's been changing, and the pressures driving those changes. We meet at conferences and trade shows, listen to comments during focus groups, touch base at meetings of professional organizations, and read research reports that summarize the experience of more than 1000 practitioners (Reference 1). The clear and consistent impression from all quarters is of a discipline under increasing pressure to develop more products in less time with smaller staffs than just a few years ago. Engineers aren't necessarily working on more projects during a given interval. But the substantial thinning of the engineering fleet during the past few years leaves many OEM designers sailing out of the familiar waters of their specialties and looking for methods and tools that let them work faster and extend their technical reach.