The School of Engineering’s OpenLab once again demonstrated the passion for hardware on our campus! On Thursday, October 15, we held a new practical workshop where we dove headfirst into the fascinating world of printed circuit board (PCB) design using KiCad.
What we knew was going to be an interesting session ended up exceeding all our expectations. The response from all of you was so overwhelming that the Disseny Lab ran out of space in a matter of minutes.
⚡ Moving tables, adding chairs, and breaking records
When we opened the doors, the turnout of students far exceeded any initial forecast. Facing the wave of attendees with their laptops ready, the team jumped into action immediately: we had to move tables, unfold extra chairs, and reorganize the space on the fly to ensure no one was left out.
The result? We became the event with the highest turnout to date in the club’s history. Seeing the lab filled to the last corner with students from various engineering disciplines eager to learn was a true satisfaction.
👨🏫 A top-tier speaker: Jordi Breu i Campanyà
To guide us through this workshop, we had the immense honor of welcoming Jordi Breu i Campanyà, a true benchmark with over 50 years of experience in the electronics sector. Jordi has served as a trainer at the Schneider Electric Training Center, a teacher of technological didactics, and founder of Autocet. Currently, he remains active collaborating with the international community S100 Computers developing circuits in KiCAD and FreeCAD, as well as being a student at UAB’s Universitat a l’Abast.
Having someone with such professional background share his engineering tips and tricks live was a true privilege for all attendees.
💻 From schematic design to Gerber files
During the two hours of this immersive workshop, we went from paper theory to the screen using KiCad as our main tool:
- Schematic design: We learned how to translate the logical idea of a circuit into a clear, organized diagram from scratch.
- Routing best practices: Jordi taught us key tricks for copper trace routing, avoiding common interference errors and ensuring a robust design.
- Preparation for manufacturing: We discovered how to export the professional Gerber files needed to send our custom boards to any PCB manufacturing facility.
The event by the numbers 📊
A record-breaking event that consolidates our passion for hardware within the UAB:
- 42 attendees: All-time participation record for an event in our branch.
- Expanded capacity: Space reorganized in record time to accommodate the entire community.
- 2 hours of hands-on learning: Everyone working live with their laptops configured in KiCad.
🚀 What’s next?
Breaking our attendance record proves that the IEEE UAB x GDGoC UAB partnership is alive and thriving. We will continue organizing hands-on activities in hardware, software, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud Native throughout the semester.
If you don’t want to miss out on a spot for upcoming activities, remember to sign up as a member completely for free and follow us on our Instagram account (@ieee_uab).
Many thanks to Jordi Breu for his masterclass, to the OpenLabs team for providing the venue, and to everyone who came out to pack the room!
The IEEE Student Branch UAB x GDGoC UAB team