National Engineers’ Week – Challenge #1

Challenge:
Below is a description of a PCB layout for a small microcontroller + motor driver board.

• The motor driver traces run parallel and very close to the microcontroller signal traces.
• There is no ground plane under the microcontroller section.
• Decoupling capacitors are placed 2 inches away from the MCU power pins.
• The crystal oscillator traces are long and run across the board.
• High-current motor return current shares the same thin trace as logic ground.

Your Task:

1. Identify at least 3 [potential] design issues
2. Explain why each is a problem
3. Suggest a fix for each issue

Bonus (optional):
Rank the issues from “most likely to cause catastrophic failure” to “just poor practice.”

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Instructions:

Submit your answer in an email to jenn@eetech.com

Details:

The first, most correct answer will be selected as the winner. This challenge was made live on February 24th 10am MT. This content is only open to current ambassadors in the 2025-2026 program year.