Online PCB Design Training
Online PCB design training sessions offer live, instructor-led guidance tailored to your team's needs—without the need for travel. Delivered via Zoom or Teams, these sessions combine practical demonstrations with Q&A opportunities, ensuring your engineers walk away with actionable insights. Whether you're new to PCB layout or looking to sharpen your skills in the most cutting-edge areas of PCB design, virtual sessions are an efficient way to level up.
Recommended as hour-long sessions for up to 30 hours of training. Ideal for distributed teams.
In-Person Seminars
Take your design skills to the next level with in-person PCB design seminars. These 1- or 2-day events are ideal for corporate teams, startups, and engineering departments looking for immersive, application-specific training. Seminars cover everything from layout fundamentals to advanced topics like ultra-fast digital signal integrity and ultra-HDI. Hosted on-site at your facility or at a local venue, our seminars are fully customized to match your products, workflows, and tools.
Includes access to training materials.
Altium Designer Training
As the industry's most popular PCB design software, Altium Designer sets the standard for efficiency and ease-of-use. We provide engineering-focused PCB design training using Altium Designer as the tool of choice, allowing paricipants to grow their engineering knowledge and Altium Designer skills in the same course.
- Schematic and PCB Project Setup - Best practices for organizing hierarchical schematics, variants management, project libraries, project structure, and PCB layout constraints.
- High-Speed PCB Design - Topics in high-speed PCB design focus on serial and parallel buses spanning into the multi-GHz bandwidth range, including via designs and simulation workflows.
- HDI & Ultra-HDI Design - PCB stackup design, microvia design, and routing features specific to HDI/ultra-HDI PCB layouts, including constraint management and DFM.
- Advanced Routing Strategies - High layer count routing with impedance controlled interfaces, multiple BGAs, multiple via spans, and varied timing constraints in serial and parallel buses.
Participants without an Altium Designer license can use CircuitMaker for free.
Ready to Get Started?
Get in touch with NWES today to schedule your training sessions or in-person event. We'll work with you to deliver a PCB design course with bespoke technical content that meets your company's needs. We also help promote your in-person event in our marketing channels.
Example PCB Training Topics
From Basics to HDI PCB Design
A complete overview of design approaches for modern mixed-signal, RF, and high-speed digital PCBs. Start with 2-layer boards that actually pass EMC and progress through high layer counts, fast edge rates, and DFM for HDI boards.
- Avoid outdated design practices that lead to EMC failure. Learn about modern stackups and grounding strategies for today's designs.
- Learn best-practices for modern high-speed digital layouts, RF designs, and mixed-signal systems, starting from schematics and progressing to routing in aggressive desgins.
- As density increases, DFM constraints force a transition to HDI. Learn about these DFM constraints and how to conquer them.
Topic level: Beginner to Intermediate
SI/PI/EMI Fundamentals
Get hands-on with the three pillars of system-level reliability: signal integrity (SI), power integrity (PI), and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Get 101-level theory and practical design steps for modern PCB layouts delivered by an internationally recognized SI expert.
- Full overview of materials, stackups, and transmission lines, and how they impact SI, PI, and EMI.
- Understand how the SI pros analyze high-speed designs up to multi-GHz channel bandwidths.
- Go beyond simple capacitor placement: get a full view of multi-port PDN design.
- Don't succumb to long-standing myths; get the full context behind guidelines from application notes and so-called "experts."
Topic level: Intermediate
Differential Pairs at 112G and Beyond
Targeted training for high-speed digital designers working at the fastest data rates. Learn how to design, route, and validate differential pairs operating at 112G-PAM4 and faster data rates, including via transitions, full simulation & analysis, materials, and compliance with modern SerDes interface specs.
- View examples from real component designs and understand why certain design chioces are mandatory at 112G.
- Learn why vias are the major challenge to designing at 112G-PAM4 and faster data rates.
- See how package selection and pin density impact signal integrity as channel bandwidths reach the end of quasi-TEM propagation.
Topic level: Advanced
Signal Integrity in Ultra-HDI and Substrates
Miniaturization is driving PCB design and IC substrates to new levels of density, leading to thinner layers and smaller traces. When designs reach the ultra-HDI regime, signal integrity constraints that worked in older designs no longer apply in extremely thin low-Dk materials.
- Material selection and PCB stackup design with very thin materials, including IC substrate stackup designs.
- Crosstalk, mode conversion, and via design rules at high frequencies in ultra-high density PCB layouts.
- Transmission line designs and simulation limits of conventional solvers in differential geometries.
Topic level: Advanced
Meet the Trainer
Zachariah Peterson is the founder of Northwest Engineering Solutions and is an internationally recognized expert in PCB design and signal integrity, including signal integrity in ultra-HDI PCB design and in high-speed digital designs with today's fastest serial interfaces. He has provided training and seminars throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, educating engineers of all experience levels. His major clients include PCB manufacturers, EDA software companies, simulation software companies, and US mil-aero OEMs. With a background in lasers and with a wealth of design experience, Zach brings real design examples alongside a solid theoretical basis to teach practical approaches to solving tough problems in today's cutting-edge technologies.
Our Results
40+ Online and In-Person Seminars
1000+ Engineers Reached
2000+ Hours of Coursework Delivered
Ready to Improve Your Design Skills?
Our training programs are built for engineers who want practical skills, real-world design strategies, and expert guidance from experienced professionals.- Engineer-led training – Learn from an active PCB design expert with deep industry experience in high-speed, RF, and ultra-HDI systems.
- Flexible formats – Choose from online sessions, in-person seminars, or Altium Designer-focused courses tailored to your team's needs.
- Real-world applications – All training content is grounded in real design challenges, with tips and techniques you can apply immediately.
- Customizable content – We can tailor training to match your company's needs, experience level, and development goals.
Why Work With NWES?
- Broad expertise - We're a digitally-driven remote-first organization with diverse talent and experience. We know your technology because we've used it and built it.
- Manufacturing partners - We work with local and overseas CMs and EMS providers that are ISO-9001, AS9100, ISO-13485, IPC-A-610, NADCAP, and/or ITAR/JCP certified. We help you find the best option to produce prototypes and scale to volume production.
- Supply chain management - We take a proactive approach on projects to ensure your design can be produced at the required volume. We'll manage procurement from major distributors or brokers throughout your project.
Ready to crush your next advanced design? Find out the difference our experts can make.
Contact us today for more information.
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