Hardware Podcasts

353: Red for the Ones That Might Blow Up

Embedded.fm · 26 Nov 2020 · 1h 15m · Episode 353

What this episode covers

Seth Hillbrand, lead developer for KiCAD and founder of KiCAD Services Corporation, discusses the evolution of the open-source EDA tool from a physics experiment necessity to a professional-grade design suite. He details how commercial licensing restrictions at Zuken and SolidWorks forced his team to adopt KiCAD for the EBEX balloon experiment, leading to his contributions and eventual leadership role. Hillbrand explains how KiCAD Services provides paid support to professional engineers, creating a sustainable funding model that allows the core team to focus on development while maintaining a welcoming, inclusive community culture that actively moderates against toxic behavior.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Zuken, CERN, Autodesk
Products
EBEX
Tools
KiCAD, CADSTAR, Eagle, SolidWorks, LTspice
Also
Linux

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