In this episode of the Printed Circuit Podcast, host Steph Chavez welcomes two long-time friends and PCB design veterans \u2014 Charlene McCauley, founder of McCauley Design Group, and senior PCB designer Terrie Duffy \u2014 for a conversation about real-world ECAD\/MCAD collaboration. What starts as a technical discussion quickly evolves into something more: a story of grit, mentorship, and problem-solving under pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlene and Terrie don\u2019t just believe in ECAD\/MCAD integration \u2014 they live it. From feasibility studies to production-level board layouts, the McCauley Design Group delivers high-stakes projects for clients like Dell, where a misplaced mounting hole could derail six interdependent designs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always digging into boards to get it perfect like they want it,\u201d Charlene said. \u201cAnd then they say, \u2018Can we move the mounting hole?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That kind of last-minute change isn\u2019t rare. It\u2019s daily life. And it\u2019s exactly why real-time ECAD\/MCAD collaboration \u2014 not just alignment \u2014 is non-negotiable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf mechanical wants to do something, I try to collaborate with them to get it done,\u201d Charlene added. \u201cIt always works. It always comes about.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Terrie put it, \u201cThe first time you spend three days rearranging a circuit because a mounting hole was off by one millimeter \u2014 you\u2019ll never forget it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s ultra-compact PCB designs leave no room for error. Even a half-millimeter offset can cause an inductor to clash with a thermal sink. That\u2019s why the team constantly checks boundary rules, height restrictions, and keep-outs \u2014 sometimes even before mechanical files arrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tools help, but hustle closes the gap<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlene and Terrie have seen every form of design exchange \u2014 IDX, IDF, DXF, EMN\/EMP, PDF, even napkin sketches. But when files lag behind schedule, they improvise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe use Kleenex boxes and Post-it notes to figure things out,\u201d Charlene laughed. \u201cSometimes a Post-it does a better job than a fancy export file.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their approach blends technical precision with old-school craft. When they don\u2019t have MCAD input, they search similar boards or use DXFs to reverse-engineer what\u2019s missing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou do what you\u2019ve got to do,\u201d Charlene said. \u201cBecause once the clock starts, every delay costs money.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n One recent example of tight-knit ECAD\/MCAD success? A CAM connector redesign for Dell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat project would have taken twice as long without collaboration,\u201d Terrie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, the mechanical lead on the project estimated it would\u2019ve taken up to ten years using legacy processes. With cross-functional alignment across mechanical, electrical, and packaging teams, Charlene and Terrie helped ship it in four. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat was a great opportunity,\u201d Charlene said. \u201cBuilding something new for the whole world \u2014 and proving it could be done.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While much of the episode focused on PCB design practices, it ended on something deeper: career growth and inclusion. Charlene reflected on being the only woman in her early engineering classes and the power of persistence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWomen in engineering \u2014 you\u2019ve got an open door,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re good at what you do and love it, the sky\u2019s the limit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Terrie agreed. \u201cDon\u2019t let the industry intimidate you. There\u2019s an artistic side to board design, not just math and rules.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlene credits her career to strong mentors \u2014 and now pays it forward through her teaching at Austin Community College, where she first met Terrie as a student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe got hooked on PCB and never looked back,\u201d Charlene said. \u201cNow she\u2019s teaching the class I used to teach.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you’re using state-of-the-art simulation or aligning things with a Post-it note, one thing remains true: ECAD\/MCAD collaboration isn\u2019t a feature. It\u2019s a necessity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are a lot of fancy tools out there,\u201d Charlene said, \u201cbut at the end of the day, you\u2019re just trying to solve problems and get things done. That\u2019s what matters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more expert advice on <\/strong>ECAD\/MCAD collaboration<\/strong><\/a> and listen to the<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Printed Circuit Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this episode of the Printed Circuit Podcast, host Steph Chavez welcomes two long-time friends and PCB design veterans \u2014…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110515,"featured_media":11741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12,15,17],"tags":[60,1748,1830,87,2102],"industry":[341],"product":[880],"coauthors":[1847],"class_list":["post-11740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-learning-resources","category-podcast","category-tips-tricks","tag-ecad","tag-ecad-mcad-co-design","tag-ecad-mcad-collaboration","tag-mcad","tag-mcad-collaboration","industry-electronics-semiconductors","product-supermax-ecad"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-27-at-4.05.17-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110515"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11742,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions\/11742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/electronic-systems-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Mentorship, mindset, and advice for new designers<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n