Tuesday, July 7, 2015

A 3D print shop for circuit boards

Ideas are being made into tangible realities at the 3D Print Centre, located in Engineering 5.

The Circuit Board Manufacturing section, located in the 3D Print Centre, contains machines that can help students, faculty and staff take a digital prototype of their circuit board and turn it into a completely drilled, milled, and masked physical circuit board.

This opportunity is available to all members of the University community.

There are three machines in total that are used:

• The Protomat, which does the work for drilling and milling the board;
• The Mini Contac RS, which has 4 chemical baths that provide the boards to be through-hole plated (this allows for conductivity through both sides of the board); and
• The Multipress S, which can produce multi-layered boards from single- to 8-layer products.

The Circuit Board Manufacturing section also provides customers with services including solder masking, which allows for easy soldering jobs, silk-screening for making labels on the board, and will rub out extra copper from areas as needed.

The process is straightforward. First, create your circuit board using CAD software and export it in GerberX format with the drill file exported as Excellon (or, if you are using EAGLE, give the PCB centre the .brd file). Next, visit Engineering 5 room 2002 with your board files or send them via email to engsdcpcb@gmail.com. The operator will help you select the best options for your board including copper thickness. Then, you can pay for your board at the DC Media.doc location, using the quote provided by the operator. Once you’ve taken care of business, the operator can begin the manufacturing process. Finally, 2 to 4 days later, you can pick up your parts in E5-2002 after you’ve received an email from the operator.

Pricing information is available on the 3D Print Centre’s website.

Beware of fake resume attachments bearing malware

A recent phishing attempt claims to be sending resumes to clients via email. The resume displays as a zip file attached to the email message and may contain one of several forms of malicious software.

Under no circumstances should you open or extract unexpected zip files or run any files contained within the attachment.

If you receive such an email, please forward it to soc@uwaterloo.ca and include email headers. Information about email headers is available on IST's website.

Anyone with questions or concerns should contact the IST Service Desk via email at helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca or by calling ext. 44357.

Remember to check the IST Notice Board to stay up-to-date on IT related issues and maintenance.  

Survey seeks participants, committee seeks nominations

Waterloo's Department of Management Sciences is looking to add one dollar to your WatCard in exchange for five minutes of your time.

Participants are needed for research on making requests. Management Sciences is looking for volunteers to take part in an online study about helping behaviour.

"Your participation would involve answering an online questionnaire, which takes 5 minutes," says the note from Mohammad Mahdi Roghanizad, the survey creator. "You will receive detailed instructions at the time of study. In appreciation for your time, you will receive $1 on your WatCard.

To volunteer in the study visit the study's web site.

For more information about this study contact Mohammad Mahdi Roghanizad at 519-888-4567 ext. 33675 or by email at mmroghan@uwaterloo.ca.

This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee.

University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) members are being reminded that the UWSA is looking for staff to serve on its Nominating Committee.

The purpose of the committee is to nominate and/or appoint regular full and part-time UWSA members as representatives to University or UWSA standing committees or University or UWSA ad hoc committees that require staff representatives. 

There are three positions available for a two-year term that begins August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2017.

The Nominating Committee's terms of reference as well as information on the role of UWSA members on committees is available on the UWSA website.

Meetings of the Committee will be held whenever there is a call for nominations, typically no more than once per month for an approximate duration of one hour.

The Arts Undergraduate Office in PAS 2439 will be closed from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7 for a staff meeting. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," says a note from the AUO. "Please go to the Arts Undergraduate Office webpage for our regular office hours." In addition, the AUO will be closed from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 9 for a staff meeting.