Your team keeps failing EMC tests. The reason is conceptual.
It's not a layout problem. It's not a component problem. It's a mental model problem — and until your team replaces "grounding and shielding" with "return paths and field containment," you'll keep losing weeks to the chamber.
Read post →Why Smart Engineers Fail EMC Tests (It's Not What You Think)
The failure isn't technical knowledge — it's the mismatch between how engineers model electromagnetic behaviour and how physics actually works.
Read post →Optimizing PCB Stackup Design: Power and Return Path Considerations
The layer sequence you choose in the first 20 minutes of a new board determines most of your EMC outcome. Here's how to get it right.
Read post →EMC Filter Topologies: EMI Control Strategies in Electronics Design
Five filter configurations, their insertion loss behaviour, and exactly where each belongs — as a function of the impedance environment, not folklore.
Read post →Managing EMI: Low and High-Speed Signal Return Currents
Return current doesn't follow ground. It follows the path of least impedance — and at high frequency, that's nothing like what you drew in the schematic.
Read post →How to Conduct an EMI Design Review for Your PCB
A structured walkthrough of a full EMI design review — from stackup to connector placement. What to look for, in what order, and why.
Read post →The Concept of Electromagnetic Fields in a PCB
PCBs don't conduct electrons — they guide electromagnetic fields. Understanding what that means changes how you lay out every trace.
Read post →Understanding 90-Degree Bends in PCB Design
Settled by impedance discontinuity analysis and the frequencies you're actually running — not by folklore or outdated rules of thumb.
Read post →Redefining Current and Charge: A Field-Based Perspective
Current is a boundary condition on a changing electromagnetic field. This reframe has practical consequences for every circuit you design.
Read post →How to Conduct an EMI Design Review for Your PCB
A structured walkthrough of a full EMI design review — stackup, schematics, layout, filter placement. What to look for, in what order, and why.
Read post →Redefining Current and Charge: A Field-Based Perspective
Current is a boundary condition on a changing electromagnetic field. This reframe has direct practical consequences for every circuit you design.
Read post →A Field-Centric View of Energy Transfer in Classical Electromagnetism
Where does electrical energy actually flow? Not through the wire. The Poynting vector and Gauss's law inverted — with practical consequences for PCB design.
Read post →Common-Mode Filters: Why Most Engineers Install Them In The Wrong Place
Placement is a physics constraint, not a preference. A filter in the wrong location can make emissions worse.
The Pre-Compliance Mindset: Run Your Own EMC Scan Before the Chamber
Build the diagnostic reflex that connects every bump in the scan to a physical structure in your design.
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Dario Fresu is a fourth-generation electrical professional, IPC Certified Interconnect Designer, and former ETH Zurich lead hardware engineer. He has trained thousands of engineers worldwide and built one of the largest independent EMC education platforms in the industry.