Woodoo, a Paris-based materials company, is on a mission to redefine sustainability by transforming responsibly-harvested hardwoods into a durable, translucent material. The company uses a proprietary nanotechnology process to remove lignin from wood and replace it with a bio-based polymer made from recycled materials. The resulting product is as versatile as plastic, but thinner, stronger, and more translucent. However, in the early years of operation, Woodoo relied on a free PCB design tool that was insufficient for their growing needs. By 2020, it was clear that a more comprehensive solution was needed to meet the company's ambitious goals. The challenge was to find a new PCB software tool that would support the company's progress and clients with ease.

YASA Ltd., a British manufacturer specializing in electric motors, controllers, and powertrain solutions for hybrid and electric automotive applications, faced a significant challenge. The increasing demand for hybrid and electric automobiles, coupled with a renewed interest in greener aviation solutions, necessitated continuous innovation from YASA's engineering team. The company had always invested in remote working tools, but the full value of these investments became apparent during the pandemic. The lockdown posed a significant challenge to their design teams, who needed to continue collaborating seamlessly despite the physical distance and restrictions.

Kinetic Vision, a Cincinnati-based design, engineering, and development firm, is a one-stop-shop for innovators looking to transform their ideas into real products. The company offers a wide range of services, including industrial design, mechanical and electrical design and engineering, hardware and software development, machine learning, visual communication media, prototyping, and sometimes even short-run production. However, finding the right tools for PCB design had been a challenge for them over the years. They needed a solution that could support the production of smart products that incorporate electronics, PCBs, and communications chipsets. The solution needed to be versatile enough to handle all of their projects, from the simplest to the most advanced.

Luminaire Coffee, a Seattle-based startup, was driven by the mission to help baristas and coffee aficionados craft the perfect cup of coffee with efficiency and ease. They identified a gap in the coffee preparation sphere and sought to fill it with innovations such as shot timers, flow measuring scales, and a special heating device. Their efforts led to a partnership with La Marzocco, a renowned manufacturer of espresso machines. The challenge was to create the most intuitive, foolproof machines on the market, integrating Luminaire Coffee’s designs into the core of the Linea LB, La Marzocco’s most technologically advanced espresso machine. Luminaire Coffee needed to create next-generation electronics for the Linea PB, including its shot timer, temperature control functionality, flow pulse counter, and integrated scale. The challenge was to divide up work across the team so that multiple engineers could work on a single project at once, designing to different EMC and manufacturing standards.

Bluefin Robotics, a pioneer in the field of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), faced significant challenges in coordinating electrical and mechanical designs due to the tight design requirements of their AUVs. The existing sequential process of electrical to mechanical design was proving to be inefficient and cumbersome. Engineers were forced to rely on cardboard models, which limited their ability to fully visualize their work and requirements. The AUVs, which are completely autonomous and navigate the seabed to collect data and images, had to be designed to withstand extreme conditions, including pressures of up to 6000 pounds per square inch at depths of 4000 meters. Furthermore, the vehicles had to be neutrally buoyant to reduce propulsion energy requirements and increase efficiency. This meant that for every cubic inch of air added to the vehicle, an equivalent amount of weight had to be added, leading to a delicate balance between performance, buoyancy, and reliability.