Sierrathon – The PCB Design Challenge

One-day FULLY ON SITE competition

• Competition goals:
• • Participants will be challenged to design a compact, functional PCB that meets specific performance, cost, and size requirements.
• • The focus will be on creating a practical, manufacturable board that achieves a defined purpose, while making thoughtful design decisions about component selection, layout, and overall functionality.
• • The competition encourages creativity, problem-solving, and engineering judgment under real-world constraints.
• We'll provide:
• • Schematic diagram with reference designators, pin numbers, and net names.
• • Bill of materials (BOM) with suggested part numbers, package types, and dimensions.
• • Placement rules (keep-out zones, connector edge positions, component clearance, etc.).
• • Routing constraints (minimum trace width, clearance, differential pair requirements if applicable).
• Your challenge:
• • Create the schematic in your design tool.
• • Build a stack-up with the number and types of layers you choose.
• • Place the components according to the given constraints.
• • Complete routing within the DRC rules.
• Phase 5: Live presentation
• • Present design decisions, optimizations, and trade-offs to a panel of judges.
• Scored on: Clarity, justification, and innovative thinking.
• Design tool guidance:
• • You’re free to use any PCB design software you prefer. We recommend KiCad since it’s free and open-source.
• • KiCad runs best on standard laptops; underpowered devices like Chromebooks may be slow.
• • Windows users with Intel graphics should ensure their drivers are fully up to date to avoid display issues such as green lines.