IPC is dedicated to helping you design better boards - but are you the best designer?
Registration is now closed! Thank you to all who registered. If you are a competitor and have any questions, please email design@ipc.org.
Show the electronics manufacturing industry what you're capable of.
Every year, thousands of printed board design engineers spend countless hours completing and perfecting their designs. IPC is inviting these designers to put their skills to the test and compete to become the IPC Design Champion of 2022!
Expand the sections below to learn more.
The Virtual Heat consists of a full board buildup, starting with a component BOM, schematic, and use-case brief. Competitors will be responsible for completing the board and exporting a documentation package via Gerber, ODB++, or IPC-2581. Competitors can use their own preferred tools.
Competitors have 30 days to complete their design and are judged on their implementation of design rules and layout per IPC standards as well as general implementation of DFX principles.
Three finalists will be invited to IPC APEX EXPO 2022 for an in-person layout showdown`!
The only thing standing between these competitors and the glory of victory (and some pretty cool prizes that will be announced shortly!) are 4 hours of layout mayhem! Can you route the best board and take home the prize?
These times are subject to change.
Registration Begins |
17 September 2021 |
Registration Ends |
30 October 2021 |
Preliminaries Begin |
1 November 2021 |
Preliminaries End |
1 December 2021 |
Finalists Announced |
17 December 2021 |
Finals - IPC APEX EXPO 2022 |
25 January 2022 |
Participation is FREE and there is no obligation to travel to IPC APEX EXPO. All competition details are subject to change.
If selected as a finalist, you will be invited to compete in the finals round at IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego, California, USA. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, finalists who are unable to travel in January 2022 are eligible for participation at IPC APEX EXPO 2023. If necessary, runners-up will be invited to IPC APEX EXPO 2022 until three competitors are able to compete.
IPC will provide an explanatory/justification letter to aide finalists seeking travel approval from their companies or for use in obtaining visas. Please note that IPC will NOT be reimbursing finalists for travel expenses. Additional information or correspondence for competitor's company or management is available upon request.