Welcome to the playlist of Technical Consultant Zach Peterson, a luminary in the field of electronics and PCB design with an illustrious career in both academia and the electronics industry. With a rich background spanning nanoparticle lasers, electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices, environmental sensors, and stochastics, Zach offers unparalleled insights into the world of modern engineering. Zach focuses on research, design tutorials, and deep analyses tailored for professionals, students, and tech enthusiasts alike. Prior to his work in the PCB industry, Zach taught at Portland State University, conducted extensive research, and authored over 2000+ technical articles on PCB design. An active member of IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, American Physical Society, and the PCEA, Zach's expertise is now available to you through engaging videos. Subscribe to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements and learn from one of the industry's finest. #ZachPeterson #PCBDesign #ElectronicsEngineering
Curated by: Altium Academy (720 videos)
Altium Develop keeps requirements, design data, sourcing, and manufacturing in one connected workflow, so the decisions driving your PCB never get buried in a spec document nobody reads: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=ai-pcb-design-turning-a-100-page-spec-into-an-mcu-shortlist Marco Witzmann, Head of Requirements Portal at Altium, returns to the Altium OnTrack Podcast to show host Zach Peterson what the tool formerly known as Requirements Manager has become. In a live demo, Marco starts from a plain-language email about a wind-farm inspection drone and watches the new engineering assistant turn it into properly formulated requirements, complete with TBD placeholders instead of invented numbers. From there he breaks a high-level product spec down into mechanical, electronics, and flight software specifications, with parent-child links and full traceability generated automatically. Every change is proposed first and applied only when you approve it, so the agent never silently rewrites your project. The heart of the episode is the workflow every PCB designer recognizes: you are handed a hundred-page IMU specification and told to pick the MCU. Marco drag-and-drops the PDF into the AI-assisted importer, lets it separate real requirements from tables of contents and revision history, then asks the agent which requirements actually drive MCU selection. The answer comes back as a clean parameter-and-value spec — supply voltage, ambient temperature range, power budget, clock speed, end-to-end latency — linked back to the originals, and ready to drop straight into an Octopart parametric search. Marco and Zach also dig into what AI should and should not decide for you, why requirements work is really about faster iteration rather than perfect first drafts, how skills let a team standardize the way requirements get written, and what is next on the roadmap: API access, simpler ECAD integration, and per-project access control. 📚 More from this Episode: - Altium Requirements Portal: https://www.altium.com/capabilities/requirements/requirements-management - Requirements & Systems Portal documentation: https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-365/requirements-portal - Altium 365: https://www.altium.com/altium-365 - Octopart parametric search: https://octopart.com - Altium Develop pricing and subscriptions: https://www.altium.com/develop/pricing - Connect with Marco Witzmann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcowitzmann/ 💡 Watch Next: - Altium Requirements Portal: Simplifying Engineering Docs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achPFrmKk58 - Revolutionary System Design: How Valispace is Changing Engineering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imCJzrbvk6U - Inside Simberian's AI-Driven Design Automation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_fcpgeEE-8 💡 Stay Connected: Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more in-depth tutorials and tips from @AltiumAcademy Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below! 👉 Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/@AltiumAcademy?sub_confirmation=1 Don't forget to follow us on social to stay up-to-date on the latest Altium Academy content. 👉 Follow Altium on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altiumdesigner 👉 Follow Altium on Twitter: https://twitter.com/altium 👉 Follow Altium on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altium/ 👉 Follow Altium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltiumOfficial/ The Altium Academy is an online experience created to bring modern education to PCB Designers and Engineers all across the world. Here you can access a vast library of free training and educational content covering everything from basic design to advanced principles and step-by-step walkthroughs. Join industry legends as they share their career knowledge, review real-life design projects, or learn how to leverage one of Altium's leading design tools. No matter your level of experience, the Altium Academy can help you become a better Designer and Engineer! About Altium LLC Altium LLC (ASX:ALU), a global software company based in San Diego, California, is accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products. #altium #pcbdesign #aiengineering 00:00 Altium OnTrack Podcast Intro ️ 03:16 Design Review Structure 05:12 Target Audience for Tool 07:11 Requirements Portal Changes 09:15 Engineering Assistant Use 12:20 Applying Agent Changes 15:15 Break Down Requirements Skill ️ 18:24 AI as Engineering Assistant 20:28 AI for Requirement Inference 22:36 MCU Selection from Requirements 25:13 MCU Spec Parent-Child Trace 26:57 Agentic Flow Limitations 28:57 Requirements Portal Access 30:51 Conclusion & Farewell