It’s that time again! The 2015 Technology Leadership Awards are here.

Last year I had the pleasure of being on the inside of the Technology Leadership Awards for the first time. The competition has been running since 1988, and is the only one of its kind in the PCB design industry. It’s judged by leaders in the PCB industry, who, like myself, have been around for a long time.

In the past, as a customer, I had the honor of having my design team win the competition. On the outside, as a customer though, I did not get to see all of the different technology that entered the competition.

From the inside perspective, I was amazed by the talented designers in the industry and the many types of amazing designs they entered. Layouts of all shapes and sizes, high speed, analog, two-layer through many layers. All of them winners in their own right.

Well, it’s that time again! Time to start thinking about all of those PCB designs you did over the last year. Time to pick that very special one or two designs that you think are awe inspiring. Those designs that you worked so hard on so that you could get the very last trace in.

Your designs could have used any number of the Mentor Graphics design tools, including Xpedition, PADS, or Board Station. Even the designs that required extensive simulation with the HyperLynx SI/PI/Thermal tools may be submitted.

Choose a winner from your designs over the past year and prepare your data for entry.

My next blog post will talk more about creating a successful entry and providing the best possible data for the judges. In the meantime, take a look at last year’s winners and their winning designs and check out the video below.

Start planning your submission today!