Peggy,
Excellent idea, let's hear from the participants.
Karl

Fall 1998 Participants:

Kathy Descoteaux
Praegitzer Design
Nashua, NH
Design Software: Cadence

Steve Herbstman  <<<< co-winner 1998
Electronic Systems Packaging
Westford, MA
Design Software: Veribest

Barry Hurley  <<<< co-winner 1998
PCB Design Consultants
Bonham, TX
Design Software: Accel

Daniel Mepham
3Com
Marlborough, MA
Design Software: Cadence

Sam Papa
StorageTek
Louisville, CO
Design Software: Mentor Graphics

SPRING 99 PARTICIPANTS

Nick Barbin   <<<< co-winner 1999
Optimum Design Associates
Dublin, CA
Design Software: VeriBest

Roy Beckman
Harris Canada Inc.
Calgary, AB Canada
Design Software: Mentor Graphics

Don Folk
KAW/USA
Nashua, NH
Design Software: Cadence

Jim Hoch
Mariposa Technology
Petaluma, CA
Design Software: VeriBest

John Sovinsky
CAD Design Services/Software
Santa Clara, CA
Design Software: CAD Design

Tom Stout   <<<< co-winner 1999
Optimum Design Associates
Dublin, CA
Design Software: VeriBest

Russell Sunden
Cisco Systems
Austin, TX
Design Software: Cadence Allegro

Glenn Wells   <<<< co-winner 1999
Intelect Network Technologies Inc.
Richardson, TX
Design Software: VeriBest


"Meadows, Peggy A" wrote:
>
> Maybe the right thing to do is ask the Top Gun designers, what CAD tools
> were they proficient with and why did they choose to use the VeriBest tools
> when they were competing.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:   Abd ul-Rahman Lomax [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:   Wednesday, October 13, 1999 7:26 PM
> To:     [log in to unmask]
> Subject:        Re: [DC] Mentor vs. VeriBest
>
> At 04:13 PM 10/7/99 -0500, Karl J. Bates wrote:
> >Chris,
> >        4 of 5 PCB Top gun winners so far have used Veribest, 1 used Accel.
> >There were designers using Cadence and Mentor there also.    I've used
> >Cadence and Mentor, unfortunately I haven't tried Veribest yet.
> >See this site to see the contests.
> >
> >http://www.pcbshows.com/topgun
>
> I'm sure that Mr. Bates did not intend to create any misleading
> impressions, but the Top Gun contest tests designers, primarily, not CAD
> systems. It's also interesting to note that there have been two contests so
> far. The second was sponsored by Praegitzer Industries and Veribest; there
> were eight participants, of which four used Veribest,  2 used Cadence, 1
> used Mentor, and 1 used, apparently, a service bureau's proprietary system.
> All three winners were Veribest users. The first contest had five
> participants, of which two used Cadence, one Mentor, one Accel, and one
> Veribest. The two winners used Accel and Veribest.
>
> The announcements of the winners don't even mention what CAD system they
> used, you have to look down a little farther. It's pretty clear that this
> is a contest between designers, not CAD systems. Obviously, if a designer
> chose to use a system that did not work, he or she would have trouble; but
> most of the contest has to do with design knowledge; speed does not seem to
> be much of an issue; the participants were given one and one-half days to
> complete the design, and while the design details are not found on the web
> site, it does not appear to be a difficult design. The board design itself
> is only 50% of the scoring; the remainder is based on a written test and a
> personal interview.
>
> I don't think anything can be concluded about the relative merits of the
> CAD systems involved (or not represented) from these contest results.
>
> [log in to unmask]
> Abdulrahman Lomax
> P.O. Box 690
> El Verano, CA 95433