
Related Topics
GPUs D.O.A, Reverse Polarity Problems, A 3D Printer Pickle
Dead on Arrival for high end GPUs. Why do so many consumer electronics not have reverse polarity protection?
The aCADemy of Education - Joshua Manley of CADClass.org
This week, Josh Manley, Co-Owner & CEO of CADClass.org, shares their expertise in software and design education.
CHIPS Can’t Dip
This week we’re joined by David Schild, the Executive Director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America (PCBAA).
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MacroFab Platform Help
September 29, 2023, Episode #397
Parker and Stephen discuss community feedback that led Parker to order a Bambu X1 Carbon 3D Printer, which should be arriving any day now, S to the L to the A, “guardrails” that the U.S. Commerce Department has placed on the CHIPS for America program, the healthy job market for engineers in America right now, flagging down the double E’s, how to teach engineering students properly, new math, and much more!
Relevant links:
- MEP EP#394: GPUs D.O.A, Reverse Polarity Problems, 3D Printer Pickles
- US Commerce issues final national security guardrails on CHIPS incentives
- How Does the CHIPS Act Affect Manufacturing?
- MEP EP#388: CHIPS Can’t Dip
About the Hosts

Parker Dillmann
Parker is an Electrical Engineer with backgrounds in Embedded System Design and Digital Signal Processing. He got his start in 2005 by hacking Nintendo consoles into portable gaming units. The following year he designed and produced an Atari 2600 video mod to allow the Atari to display a crisp, RF fuzz free picture on newer TVs. Over a thousand Atari video mods where produced by Parker from 2006 to 2011 and the mod is still made by other enthusiasts in the Atari community.
In 2006, Parker enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin as a Petroleum Engineer. After realizing electronics was his passion he switched majors in 2007 to Electrical and Computer Engineering. Following his previous background in making the Atari 2600 video mod, Parker decided to take more board layout classes and circuit design classes. Other areas of study include robotics, microcontroller theory and design, FPGA development with VHDL and Verilog, and image and signal processing with DSPs. In 2010, Parker won a Ti sponsored Launchpad programming and design contest that was held by the IEEE CS chapter at the University. Parker graduated with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Spring of 2012.
In the Summer of 2012, Parker was hired on as an Electrical Engineer at Dynamic Perception to design and prototype new electronic products. Here, Parker learned about full product development cycles and honed his board layout skills. Seeing the difficulties in managing operations and FCC/CE compliance testing, Parker thought there had to be a better way for small electronic companies to get their product out in customer's hands.
Parker also runs the blog, longhornengineer.com, where he posts his personal projects, technical guides, and appnotes about board layout design and components.

Stephen Kraig
Stephen Kraig began his electronics career by building musical oriented circuits in 2003. Stephen is an avid guitar player and, in his down time, manufactures audio electronics including guitar amplifiers, pedals, and pro audio gear. Stephen graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
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