Speaker Bios

Daniel Beeker is technical director at NXP Semiconductor, where he provides applications support and special function development tools and instrumentation for NXP Automotive customers worldwide. He has more than 43 years’ experience in electronics system design and EMC. He also specializes in EMC and signal integrity design techniques for systems and PCBs. He has completed more than 200 PCB design evaluations for customers and internal NXP products. He teaches field-based design techniques at NXP and industry conferences worldwide, more than 100 sessions with more than 5,000 attendees since 2010. He is also involved with NXP IC package design and IC development tool teams to support improved EMC performance, working on more than 20 IC designs. His unique approach to EMC is the result of many years of collaboration with one of the fathers of the industry, Ralph Morrison.

Robert Carter is vice president of marketing, business development, and technology for OakMitsui’s FaradFlex ultra-thin embedded capacitance materials and support of advanced technology low loss low profile VSP copper and Micro-Thin copper. He has over 35 years of professional experience in printed circuits, advanced electronic materials, MEMs, RF modules, sensors, and chip packaging. Previously, Carter initiated the startup of two major PCB factories in China, and led engineering, development, and application organizations at companies such as Xerox, Toppan, Multi-Fineline Electronix, Rogers Corp., Flex2Chip, and Panasonic Electronic Materials. He studied chemical & materials engineering and business management at California Polytechnic University and Grand Canyon University.

Stephen Chavez, CPCD is a principal printed circuit engineer with three decades of experience. He is acknowledged throughout the industry as a global subject matter expert (SME) in PCB design. His continued career evolution has elevated him to industry though leadership and as an industry influencer regarding printed circuit engineering. He is currently principal technical product marketing manager with Siemens. He’s an editor/contributor to industry publications and host of the Printed Circuit Podcast. He is a coauthor and instructor of the PCEA Training curriculum and certification (PCEA Certified Printed Circuit Designer, or CPCD).

Karen Ebner is a principal mechanical engineer and Lead-Free Tin Whisker TIG Co-Chair at Raytheon. She is a senior engineering leader with a proven track record of developing and executing against comprehensive project plans while actively managing project risk. Her well-rounded technical background includes complex electronics and a strong ability to facilitate and coordinate diverse groups across multiple functions and suppliers.

Ray Fugitt is technical sales manager at Downstream Technologies. He has 37 years’ printed circuit board experience, 11 at Hadco in product and CAM engineering. In 2002, he joined DownStream in technical marketing and later, technical sales positions, where he supports and provides training for the BluePrint PCB and CAM350 products.

Rick Hartley, a retired senior principal engineer at L-3 Avionics Systems, is principal of RHartley Enterprises, through which he consults and teaches internationally. His focus is on correct design of circuits and PC boards to prevent and/or resolve EMI, noise and signal integrity problems. He has consulted with major corporations in the US and 14 other countries. His career has focused on computers, telecommunications and aircraft avionics, as well as medical, automotive and appliances. He has taught seminars at numerous conferences, including the IEEE EMC Symposium, PCB West, IPC Apex Expo and others. He is on the board of directors of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association, a past member of the Editorial Review Board of Printed Circuit Design magazine and has written numerous technical papers and articles on methods to control noise, EMI and signal integrity.

Dave Lackey is vice president of business development at American Standard Circuits, He has been involved with manufacturing PCBs since 1980 and has worked in various shops, most of which had military certifications and utilized higher technology. He has extensive experience building metal-core boards and PCBs requiring thermal management solutions, as well as flex and rigid-flex boards. He has a strong engineering background and is knowledgeable in most industry technologies.

John Johnson is director of business development at American Standard Circuits. Prior to that, he held vice president roles in sales, customer support and applications engineering at Averatek, and spent 15 years at Electrotek, a Wisconsin PCB fabricator.

Mike Marshall is a field applications engineer at NCAB Group USA in the North Central regional office. He has 40 years of experience in the PCB industry. His career began with PCB manufacturing processes and development including process engineering, equipment development, plating processes engineering, photoimaging techniques, and NC-drill/route programing. Later in his career, he went on to develop experience in PCB assembly and electromechanical assembly operations in QA management before joining NCAB Group in 2019.

Ethan Pierce is the founder of Dodec Labs. An electrical engineer by trade, he has spent his career building, consumer, medical, and defense connected products at leading companies from Apple to leading IoT companies Blues Wireless and Particle. His specialty is maintaining holistic design intent from concept to mass production, producing high performance hardware designs.

Mike Tucker is director of engineering and technology at Millennium Circuits (MCL). He has over 27 years; technical experience in PCB manufacturing (rigid/rigid-flex/HDI/flex/MPCB). He has been responsible for the development and implementation of manufacturing processes and methodologies to drive the company’s technology curve, capabilities, and competitiveness. He is an expert in front-end engineering, CAM tools, automation of CAM tooling, integration of CAM tools with MRP/ERP/shop-floor operations and software development of shop-floor software operations. He works closely with engineers, designers, program managers and OEMs to build mission critical parts from concept to prototype to production.

Susy Webb, CID, is a senior PCB designer with 40 years of experience. Her career includes experience in coastal and oceanographic oil exploration and monitoring equipment, pointto-point microwave network systems, and CPCI and ATX computer motherboards. Webb is a regular speaker at PCB East and PCB West, and international design conferences, and consults for individual companies and PCEA chapters. Her presentations discuss practical implementation of complex engineering concepts into board layout and methods to improve the overall design and flow of printed circuit boards. She is CID certified, a former writer/columnist for PCD&F, a chapter writer for Clyde Coombs’ Printed Circuits Handbook, and one of the judges for the annual TLA competition. Webb is also an active member of the PCEA Executive Board and education committee and is a member and past president of the Houston Chapter of the Designers Council.