The virtual preliminary heat will be held January 15 to February 9, allowing designers to use their preferred tools to complete a full board buildup within 25 days. Provided with only a schematic, a component BOM (bill of materials) and a use-case brief, competitors will be responsible for completing the board and exporting a documentation package via Gerber or IPC-2581, Generic Requirements for Printed Board Assembly Products Manufacturing Description Data and Transfer Methodology. Competitors will be judged on their implementation of design rules and layout per IPC standards as well as general implementation of design for excellent (DFX) principles.

“This year, we have placed emphasis on making the design easier to complete in the time allotted. The preliminary designs should take no longer than 10-12 hours for the average designer to complete,” said Patrick Crawford, manager, design standards and related industry programs. “Anyone with an interest in board design can register, but we’re recommending that hobbyists and professionals alike have several years of experience designing boards and a familiarity with and ability to implement IPC standards requirements.”

Three finalists will be invited to participate in the four-hour layout final at IPC APEX EXPO 2024 and will join the IPC India Design Competition Champion to compete. In the final round, competitors will be given a partially complete project file and will have four hours to complete a layout including design rule specification, routing, and component placement. Competitors will be provided complimentary short-term licenses of Altium Designer to use for the finals competition.

Registration for the IPC Design Competition is free and closes January 15, 2024. For more information, including eligibility requirements, information on preliminary and final heats and registration form, visit  www.ipc.org/ipc-design-competition-2024.