Ferrari, Hartley, Nakahara and Webb Named PCEA Lifetime Achievement Winners

SANTA CLARA, CA – PCEA named Rick Hartley, Susy Webb, Gary Ferrari and Hayao Nakahara recipients of the PCEA Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award is presented in recognition and with great appreciation for their years of loyalty and dedicated service to the printed circuit industry, advancing technology through shared knowledge, leadership, and collective excellence.

The announcement was made at the PCEA annual meeting in conjunction with the PCB West conference and exhibition.

Hartley was one of the cofounders of PCEA in 2020 and was the first chair of its Conferences Task Group. He also reviewed much of the reference material in the Education section of PCEA’s website. In his 50 years in the electronics design industry, Hartley has become a go-to for training on signal integrity, noise control and EMI. He is the most popular speaker in the history of the PCB West conference and coauthored the Certified Printed Circuit Engineer curriculum.

“Rick Hartley’s name is synonymous not only with design engineering but, even more importantly, with sharing what you know with your industry peers and colleagues,” said Mike Buetow, president, PCEA, in announcing the awards. “He is a bright example of the power of determination and positivity, and he embodies the best in what PCEA offers its members and the industry.”

A senior PCB designer with 40 years of experience, Webb is synonymous with PCB East and PCB West, where she has taught for nearly 20 years. She is a former writer and columnist for PCD&F, a chapter author for Clyde Coombs’ Printed Circuits Handbook, and a judge for the annual Siemens TLA competition.

For PCEA, Webb is vice chairman of the Executive Board and a member of the Education Committee and Conferences Task Group. She has been one of the most popular presenters in the history of the PCB East and PCB West technical conferences and a significant contributor to the PCEA Training Design Certification curriculum.

“For going on four decades, Susy Webb has epitomized what giving back to the industry is all about,” Buetow said. “Name the job in the printed circuit industry, and Susy has done it. Her utmost professionalism, her willingness to help anyone at any time, and her ability to always think in terms of both the short and long term have been invaluable, and she is a strong leadership voice and mentor across the organization.”

Ferrari is also one of the founding members of PCEA. His experience promoting the design profession dates to the early 1990s and the formation of the Designers Council, of which he was executive director for more than a decade. He later charted the path that became PCEA and was key in developing the organization’s charter and mission.

“Gary Ferrari is perhaps the person most responsible for PCEA’s early credibility, and he was a strong voice that PCEA be open to working with anyone,” Buetow said. “For two generations, Gary was the go-to for designers worldwide, and his energy and passion for the industry will likely never be matched.”

Nakahara is the leading authority on the printed circuit marketplace, visiting scores of board shops across four continents each year. For more than 30 years, he has produced the NTI-100 list of the largest board fabricators, along with reams of additional data on the market. His annual report is one of the most-read publications in PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY each year.

“Hayao Nakahara’s market research has been an invaluable service to business leaders and marketers for planning and strategy,” Buetow said.End of article content 

Dodd, Leary and Burns Receive 2026 PCEA Leadership, Membership Awards

SANTA CLARA, CA – The Printed Circuit Engineering Association in September announced Edward Dodd and Matthew Leary as recipients of the annual PCEA Leadership Award for their development of the PCB design roadmap for the US government.

PCEA also named Michael Burns the recipient of the fifth annual PCEA Membership Award for his dedication toward growing the PCEA membership.

The announcement was made at the PCEA annual meeting in conjunction with the PCB West conference and exhibition.

Dodd and Leary led the development of the PCB Design Roadmap, a document prepared for the PCB Executive Agent to the Undersecretary of the Navy. The document details the current and projected status of design technology and workforce over the next 10 years, identifying gaps, needs, and recommendations.

“Ed Dodd and Matt Leary have given the PCB design community a voice it has long been missing,” said Mike Buetow, president, PCEA, in announcing the award. “For too long, printed circuit design has been invisible in Washington. The roadmap puts the discipline in front of the people who set national priorities for electronics, and gives lawmakers a clear picture of what it takes to keep design talent and capability in the US. That is leadership in the truest sense.”

Burns is leader of the PCEA Richmond (VA) chapter. He launched the chapter in 2025 and has spearheaded regular meetups for hardware engineers and designers.

“Michael Burns has been a great ambassador for PCEA. Growing a professional community takes persistence, one conversation and one meeting at a time, and Michael has put in that work. It gives me great pleasure to recognize him with the PCEA Membership Award,” Buetow said.End of article content