What Sets Apart a Great Electronics Design Engineer and a Top-Tier PCB Designer
Developing cutting-edge products requires more than just a basic understanding of electronics—it demands specialized expertise at multiple levels of the design process. While the roles of an electronics design engineer and a PCB designer often overlap, each discipline has its own set of core skills, priorities, and best practices. Understanding these differences can help companies build stronger teams and ensure both functionality and manufacturability from concept to production. 1: Foundations: Concept vs. Layout Electronics Design Engineer System-level thinking : Architects circuits that meet performance, power, and cost targets. Component selection : An electronics design engineer chooses processors, sensors, power supplies, and other parts based on specifications and availability. Simulation and validation : Uses SPICE, MATLAB, or custom scripts to verify that circuits behave as intended under various conditions. PCB Designer Physical realization : Translates sche...