OCCAM Prize – PCB Design Competition is OPEN

The first annual Occam Prize International Design Competition has begun accepting registrations from circuit designers from around the world. Cash prizes totaling $5,000 will be awarded to top designers in the inaugural year of the planned annual competition.

The purpose of the competition is to incentivize circuit designers everywhere to explore for themselves the prospective benefits associated with the Occam Process, a method for manufacturing electronic assemblies without solder to prospectively make them smaller, lighter, more reliable, more environmentally friendly and much less expensive. It has been estimated by the developers that if all electronics were to be fabricated side stepping the solder assembly process, billions of dollars, perhaps into double digits could be saved annually on a global basis.

Veteran PCB designer Darren Smith, president of AthenaTech, demonstrated the efficacy of the Occam Design and Assembly Process by taking an assembly he had previously designed and redesigning it. Using the approach prescribed for Occam assemblies, Smith was able to take the assembly to less than half the size of the original while reducing layer count from 12 to 6.

For those wishing to better understand the Occam Process, Joe Fjelstad’s eBook, “Solderless Assembly for Electronics – The SAFE Approach,” is available for free download.

The Occam Prize is awarded annually on December 21, Winter Solstice, the day the Northern Hemisphere begins to transition from days of darkness to days of light. Registrations open on August 14, 2019 and will close on November 30, 2019.

Sponsors presently include: AthenaTech – USA, CETTI – Romania, I-Connect007 – USA, MEPTEC – USA, Micropress – Brazil, Promex Industries – USA, Rainbow Technologies – Scotland, Verdant Electronics – USA, Tatsuta – Japan, Topline Industries – USA, Terecircuits – USA, UP Media – USA, and Zero Defects – USA.

Details about the Occam Prize and how to register can be found on the Occam Prize website