2 - Engineering, Science & Technology

Terminology

Footprint
- the area on the circuit board covered by the basic soldering pads for a component

SMT: Surface Mount Technology
- the automated soldering of parts to the board, usually by robotics

THT: Through Hole Technology
- slender wire leads of electrical components are inserted through the holes of the printed circuit board (Takes up more "real estate" but it's a lot more robust.)

Routing
- connecting the components together with copper traces

EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility
- measures the susceptibility of the board to unintended or "spurious" signals from outside which can trigger the wrong actions at the wrong time!

EMI: Electromagnetic Interference
- checks the sensitivity to interference or 'noise' in your PCB design that can set off or interfere with the proper operation of other components

Noise
- random and undesirable voltages and power fluctuations