PCB Design Takes Center Stage at FED’s Design Awards

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PCB designers often work behind the scenes, but their decisions can determine whether an electronic product succeeds in manufacturing. At the FED Annual Conference in Germany on Sept. 23, the PCB Design Award 2026 will put that work in the spotlight. Marcy LaRont interviewed FED Managing Director Christoph Bornhorn and board member Erika Reel about what makes a winning design, and how the profession is changing as AI, automation, and other technologies reshape electronics development.

Marcy LaRont: Christoph and Erika, before we get into the Design Awards, please tell us briefly about your roles with FED.

Christoph Bornhorn: I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the association and for ensuring that FED remains a leading platform for the electronics community. My responsibility is to continuously expand the association's reach and membership, ensure we provide excellent service to our members and customers, and organize training sessions, events, and conferences.

Erika Reel: As a longtime member of FED and now a member of the board, I help shape the strategic direction of the association. I am responsible for PCB design as well as training and continuing education. One of my projects has been the introduction and development of the Certified Electronics Designer (ZED), a comprehensive professional qualification program for PCB designers in Europe.

LaRont: I’m sure you’re looking forward to your annual conference. What can you tell me about it?

Bornhorn: This is Germany’s leading industry conference for electronic design and manufacturing and serves as a platform for the entire electronics value chain, bringing together PCB designers, electronics manufacturers, EMS providers, OEMs, technology suppliers, and applied research institutions to exchange practical knowledge and discuss the latest developments in electronic hardware design and production. Each year, more than 300 industry professionals participate in 45 expert presentations, panel discussions, keynote speeches, and a dedicated technology exhibition.

What makes the FED Conference particularly important is its strong focus on real-world industrial challenges and solutions. The conference promotes the exchange of best practices and highlights emerging technologies such as AI, automation, advanced packaging, and digitalization.

For many participants, the FED Conference is not only a source of technical expertise but also an important networking event in the German-speaking electronics industry. It creates opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and knowledge transfer that ultimately drive the future of electronics development and manufacturing.

LaRont: What do the PCB Design Awards recognize?

Reel: The awards were established in 2012 to recognize outstanding achievements in PCB design and the increasingly important role of PCB designers. Our primary goal is to give visibility to the engineers, designers, and development teams whose work forms the foundation of every successful electronic product. While end products often receive the attention, the complex engineering behind PCB design frequently remains unseen. We want to change that!

PCB designers serve as the central interface between development and manufacturing by coordinating requirements from circuit design, production, assembly, and testing. They have a significant influence on the costs and quality of the subsequent manufacturing process. Therefore, the award is intended to raise public awareness of the profession.

LaRont: How are the awards categorized?

Reel: There are four categories: 3D, High Power, High Density, and Simply Ingenious. Among the numerous award winners are actually two of our current board members: Michael Schleicher, who is also very active at the Global Electronics Association, and Michael Matthes, who oversees design matters on the board. What all the award winners have in common is that they have successfully implemented exceptionally clever solutions to complex challenges in PCB design.

LaRont: What makes an award-winning design?

Bornhorn: An award-winning design combines technical excellence with practical manufacturability and clear documentation. It demonstrates outstanding engineering skills in overcoming design constraints, whether it was maximizing performance in extremely limited space, managing high currents and controlled-impedance signals, or achieving exceptional density and reliability for advanced computing applications. In short, an award-winning design translates complex requirements into elegant, efficient, and manufacturable solutions.

LaRont: What separates a very good PCB design from an award-winning one?

Bornhorn: A very good PCB design successfully fulfills its technical requirements. An award-winning design goes beyond that by solving particularly difficult challenges in an innovative and elegant way. The winning projects in the past demonstrated, for example, exceptional optimization of space, power density, thermal management, signal integrity, reliability, and manufacturability, often under severe constraints. They stood out not only because they worked, but because they achieved outstanding results with remarkable precision, creativity, and engineering discipline while maintaining excellent documentation and production readiness.

LaRont: What are some of the judges’ criteria?

Bornhorn: The jury evaluates submissions against a range of technical and practical criteria that reflect both engineering excellence and real-world manufacturability. Key aspects include the overall symmetry and clarity of the design, the effective use of available board space, and a placement strategy that achieves high component density without compromising functionality or reliability.

Particular attention is paid to whether functional groups can be clearly identified within the layout, demonstrating a logical and well-structured design approach. The stackup concept is also an important evaluation factor, which is why entrants are required to provide a layer stackup sketch as part of their documentation.

In addition, the judges assess DFM considerations to ensure that the design can be produced efficiently and economically. Finally, a strong submission clearly describes the technical challenges involved and convincingly explains how these challenges were addressed through the design.

LaRont: What are you most looking forward to at this year’s PCB Design Awards, and what can attendees expect?

Reel: I am looking forward to the opportunity to put PCB designers and their achievements in the spotlight. As I mentioned earlier, these professionals often work behind the scenes, yet they play a critical role in turning innovative ideas into reliable, manufacturable electronic products.

Attendees can look forward to seeing some truly outstanding and innovative designs. The award finalists showcase what is possible when engineering excellence meets creativity, and they provide valuable inspiration for the entire industry. It is always fascinating to learn how design teams have solved challenging technical problems and transformed ambitious concepts into successful products.

In addition, attendees can benefit from the accompanying FED Conference, which covers current trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in electronics design and manufacturing.

LaRont: How has the role of the PCB designer changed, particularly as AI and digital tools become part of the process?

Bornhorn: One of their biggest challenges is the rapid transformation driven by AI and digitalization. PCB designers see a fundamental change in how products are conceived, developed, and optimized.

AI can support tasks such as component selection, design verification, layout optimization, signal integrity analysis, and documentation. That creates tremendous opportunities for greater productivity and faster development cycles, but it is changing the role of the PCB designer. Their routine activities are being automated, while the demand for system-level thinking, engineering judgment, creativity, and interdisciplinary collaboration is growing.

The profession is therefore evolving from a focus primarily on PCB layout to a key contributor to the overall product development process. Continuous learning has never been more important as designers need to understand electronics, manufacturing, reliability, sustainability, data management, and the intelligent tools that support these activities.

LaRont: Thank you, Christoph and Erika.