From classroom to General Motors: How a Siemens sponsored PCB course helped one student see the bigger picture 

When students first touch real PCB design tools, the “aha” moment often comes fast. For Margaret “Maggie” Frachioni, a semiconductor hardware engineer at General Motors and former student in the Siemens sponsored PCB design course at Wayne State University, the biggest surprise was how quickly classroom assumptions collide with real constraints. 

“Things are a lot more complex than you think they are, but at the same time they’re a lot simpler.” 

That mix of complexity and clarity became a theme throughout Maggie’s experience using Siemens PCB design software in a course sponsored by PCEA, with instruction support from Steph Chavez and Wayne State faculty. 

Why the jump from school tools to industry tools feels so different 

Maggie’s earliest PCB exposure came from a short undergrad experience using a different tool, focused more on basic navigation than professional workflow. 

“We took maybe two weeks of using DesignSpark… and we made very, very simple boards and not a lot of energy was needed because we didn’t really have any constraints.” 

In contrast, when the course moved into Siemens PCB design tools, she felt the shift immediately. 

“Especially with all of the cool gadgets it has, it’s pretty high tech and it was very cool.” 

More importantly, it revealed the invisible systems behind “just placing parts.” 

“You start to realize how many rules and how many checks and how much testing goes into the boards and so you gain more of an appreciation of PCB layouts and people who work on circuits because it’s very, very technically complex.” 

The lesson most students do not learn in circuit theory 

Maggie came into the course with a solid undergrad foundation in circuit theory, but PCB design forced a broader view. It was no longer only about what flows through a schematic. It was about the entire physical environment of the board. 

“When you’re designing a board, it’s not just what is going through the wires you’re creating. It is the whole environment of the board.” 

One quote stuck with her from a talk hosted by Daniel Beeker because it reframed how she thinks about performance and interaction. 

“It’s not in the traces, it’s in the spaces between the traces. And that’s where all the communication and all of the noise is happening and that’s how the circuits are actually working.” 

For Maggie, that was the pivot from one-dimensional thinking to a more complete understanding of what is really happening on a board. 

“I think I learned a lot more about… all the interactions that are happening between the semiconductors as opposed to just the one-dimensional electrical circuits that you’re working with.” 

What the DRC struggle teaches you about professional workflows 

Maggie had previously described the DRC process as intimidating at first. But pushing through it made the “why” behind layout decisions more concrete. 

“Having to go through that process is sort of what woke you up to what was going on in the PCB ecosystem.” 

At first, design rules sound obvious. You cannot overlap pads. You cannot cross traces on the same routing plane. Then the real-world logic arrives. In her view, DRC was more than a checklist. It explained why professional teams make the tradeoffs they do. 

“Having to go through the DRC checks and having to understand the design of the board… it explains why boards are made in a certain way and how different groups in the professional environment interact with each other when they’re trying to put all of this onto one plane.” 

Why learning Siemens tools early can change a student’s trajectory 

For students considering PCB design, Maggie pointed to something the industry keeps repeating: the workforce gap. 

“We are projecting to have huge gaps in workforce for PCB design and circuit design in the next 10 to 20 years.” 

To her, early exposure accomplishes two things. It transfers knowledge from retiring experts, and it helps students see the field as a real and stable path. 

“It’s a great way to one, get people enthusiastic about it and to spread that knowledge down from people who are now retiring.” 

And it creates a practical signal that matters to students thinking about long-term stability. 

“It introduces the interest of maybe I should pursue this and there is job security in that.” 

A course that builds confidence by building vocabulary 

Maggie credited the course with helping her participate more confidently in professional conversations at GM. 

“It was one of those experiences where you learned a lot of the things that you don’t even know existed.” 

Even when she did not fully master every topic, the breadth helped her communicate with specialists and senior engineers. 

“Because of the wide net that it cast… I feel more confident being in my role and talking to technical specialists and senior engineers and being able to understand the verbiage that they’re using.” 

That understanding matters in day-to-day work, especially when timelines and process complexity collide. 

“I feel like I can fit into those conversations a little more because I sort of have a better grasp of what’s going on.” 

What made the Wayne State, PCEA, and Siemens collaboration stand out 

Maggie described the program as well-rounded, not only because of the tool exposure, but because of the way the course brought industry and learning together. 

“I think they did a great job.” 

She highlighted the instruction team and how the course pulled in broader context, including industry engagement. 

“I think the staff, so Doctor Basu who co-taught with Steph Chavez, I think they did a really good job of cooperating with each other and also pulling in other companies and getting to offer fab tours to get the full understanding of the course and the material.” 

The “small world” moment that made the industry feel accessible 

One of Maggie’s most memorable moments was realizing the Siemens support network was not abstract. It was a real person, and that person carried across her student experience and her professional role. 

“Steph asked Rob Blakeslee to step in and help walk us through the first few steps in getting to learn PADS Pro and he was really great.” 

She reached out multiple times while learning the tool. 

“I reached out to him several times for additional help because I was struggling with the tool at first.” 

Later, she realized it was the same person supporting Siemens tools at GM. 

“He’s actually the guy who’s one of our main Siemens supports at GM. So, like, I see him in the office all the time.” 

That overlap made her feel like she was entering a real community. 

“It’s fun because it’s one of those moments where it’s like, wow, the world’s so small. Like I’m getting to know all these people and I’m like a part of the PCB world.” 

Maggie’s view of the profession and where it is going 

Maggie described the field with a combination of respect and curiosity. 

“I have a lot of respect, a lot of respect for professional PCB designers and circuit designers because so much technical knowledge goes into the board design and so much collaboration goes into it.” 

She also sees the growing influence of AI as inevitable, but not a replacement for the human role. 

“I definitely foresee more influence and more collaboration with artificial intelligence.” 

But she drew a clear boundary. 

“I don’t think AI could ever take over the full process of PCB design. So, I think there’s always going to be the human aspect of the profession.” 

The most valuable takeaway: people and support systems 

When asked what mattered most, Maggie broke it into two parts: the community and the course structure. 

“One was the people that we worked with. Steph has done a really great job of pulling me and I’m sure many of my classmates into the social world of PCB design and adjacent professions, and so that’s made me feel very welcome and very supported.” 

That sense of welcome is not just nice. It builds confidence to pursue the field. 

“That’s one of the reasons that I feel more confident maybe pursuing the career of PCB design. Because I know that I’ll have that support system who are happy to have me.” 

The second part was the instruction and accessibility. 

“The material itself of the course was planned out really, really well and it was presented in a way that… made it easy to learn.” 

She also emphasized how available the team was for questions beyond the basics. 

“Amar and Steph was always very available to answer questions and even go out of the way to answer stretch questions or stretch situations that we would ask about in class.” 

Advice to students interested in PCB design 

Maggie’s starting point is simple. 

“I think asking questions is the best way to start.” 

That means asking universities what courses exist, asking colleagues in the workplace, and leaning on the community you build along the way. 

“Siemens has so much, so many videos and so much information that you guys have on your website.” 

Her recommendation for the course is direct. 

“I would definitely recommend the class to people who are interested in this or just curious about what it is or why it should be interesting.” 

And her broader advice is the mindset that keeps students moving forward. 

“Pursue information that you’re interested in because it’s definitely available and out there and there are people who really want to talk about it.”