I'm an engineer!
Teenagers used to have posters of Einstein on their walls. Decades pass and now they have Miley Cyrus adorning their rooms. What's next, a cat playing the piano? Scientists and engineers' contribution to society is far greater than these manufactured celebrities, yet we're not celebrated by twerking a wrecking ball in front of a huge raging crowd. (Not that we'd want to, but you get the point.)
The new 'superhero' is a circuit board that eloquently projects what we engineers often feel inside,
and is the first step in regaining the recognition that we
deserve! Here are a few scenarios where this board may come in handy in day-to-day life.
Say Jimmy comes over to your cubicle to thank you for finding that signal integrity bug the company's flagship product has been having. Don't say anything; don't turn around. Simply point to the 'superhero' plaque sitting there on the shelf amongst your soldering kit. BAM!
Say you're called to a crime scene in order to determine whether the perp used Emacs or VIM, effectively deciding the case. Forget that tiny badge they gave you at that IT Academy and simply flash the 'superhero' that's hanging around your neck. They'll make way and respect your authoritay.
Finally, for those small 2am moments working on a pet project -- look up from that awesome soldering job and shout FUCK YEAH!
Want one? Express your interest in the comments or email me so I know how many to make next time. Want one NOW? I'm running an open auction over on Twitter for one of the two boards I've made in the first batch. All funds will go towards PCBmodE development, and you'd get a dedicated, signed version of the board! You can bid by following @boldport and placing a bid using the hashtag #EngineerSuperhero. (There are also other ways to help support PCBmodE.)
UPDATE: The bid is currently at £75 from oomlaut! Join the bidding and be part of history!
UPDATE 2: The bid is currently at £105 from oomlaut! (You have until 1/1/2014 midnight GMT.)
Finally, a huge thanks to Beta Layout for making two instances of this board, for FREE! They've had issues with processing my Gerber files and instead of giving up, fought their tools and wanted to make sure I see the physical results. They didn't want to charge me for them. There are still some issues to work out, but unless I tell you exactly where to look, you wouldn't notice them. Really impressive customer service!
The new 'superhero' is a circuit board that eloquently projects what we engineers often feel inside,
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| The board is 10x10 cm with ENIG finish and green soldermask |
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| The bottom side isn't covered with soldermask, so light shines through and the board's appearance changes |
Say Jimmy comes over to your cubicle to thank you for finding that signal integrity bug the company's flagship product has been having. Don't say anything; don't turn around. Simply point to the 'superhero' plaque sitting there on the shelf amongst your soldering kit. BAM!
Say you're called to a crime scene in order to determine whether the perp used Emacs or VIM, effectively deciding the case. Forget that tiny badge they gave you at that IT Academy and simply flash the 'superhero' that's hanging around your neck. They'll make way and respect your authoritay.
Finally, for those small 2am moments working on a pet project -- look up from that awesome soldering job and shout FUCK YEAH!
Want one? Express your interest in the comments or email me so I know how many to make next time. Want one NOW? I'm running an open auction over on Twitter for one of the two boards I've made in the first batch. All funds will go towards PCBmodE development, and you'd get a dedicated, signed version of the board! You can bid by following @boldport and placing a bid using the hashtag #EngineerSuperhero. (There are also other ways to help support PCBmodE.)
UPDATE: The bid is currently at £75 from oomlaut! Join the bidding and be part of history!
UPDATE 2: The bid is currently at £105 from oomlaut! (You have until 1/1/2014 midnight GMT.)
 |
| Close-up of the cross between the copper "etch", exposed copper, and soldermask exposure of the copper pour to create full symbols |
Finally, a huge thanks to Beta Layout for making two instances of this board, for FREE! They've had issues with processing my Gerber files and instead of giving up, fought their tools and wanted to make sure I see the physical results. They didn't want to charge me for them. There are still some issues to work out, but unless I tell you exactly where to look, you wouldn't notice them. Really impressive customer service!
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| PCB-POOL sends out pictures of the board as it is being manufactured; a really cool feature |
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| This one came out quite nice |