Complete discipline to an exercise routine has been key to helping PCB designer and business owner Zach Peterson relieve stress. Though running a company leaves little room to completely disconnect, he protects evenings and weekends for his family. His advice: Treat your health, relationships, and personal time as essential investments, not afterthoughts.

The PCB design flow is sequential by nature, transitioning through distinct yet interdependent phases, from initial back-of-the-envelope concept sketches to schematic capture, constraint definition, physical layout, verification, and finally, generation of CAM deliverables. Each stage builds upon the last, and any delay, however minor, can cascade downstream, amplifying pressure on subsequent phases.

The design dynamic duo, Design007 Magazine and the Design007 Week newsletter, covered a wide range of topics in 2025. Here are the top 10 design-related articles, columns and news reports for the year. This list, comprised of two columns, three articles, and five news items, relies entirely on readership numbers, making for as fair a comparison as possible.