Engineering Circuit Design: from Simulations to Printed Circuits

This paper presents the incorporation process of soldering and printed circuit board design in EGN 187- Circuit Simulation Course at the University of Southern Maine. The original scope of this course was only circuit simulations. With this new addition, the students could experience the full engineering circuit design process from a simulation project to a working circuit. In this course, the students started off by simulating a circuit, analyzing its behavior, once the simulation is completed, they exported that to the printed circuit board designing software. Once the circuit board design was optimized, they exported those to for manufacturing. Once the physical printed circuit boards arrived, they soldered components to those and competed the project. The student testimonials attest that this was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding skills they’ve gained as an engineering undergraduate.