Henry Ford once said, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80."

Like many musings by Ford, there's quite a bit of truth to this one. And if you're designing, manufacturing or assembling PCBs, you simply can't afford to stop learning and training. You may find your company in bankruptcy (not always the end of the world, I have learned), or just wind up out of a job.

But you're in luck. More educational opportunities exist than ever before. Many classes are available at conferences and trade shows such as IPC APEX Expo, DesignCon and the PCB Design Conferences. And "gurus" like Eric Bogatin and Lee Ritchey offer workshops at locations around the world.

But with travel budgets still in recovery mode, it may be tough to get your manager to let you fly to a conference in the name of continued education. Plus, you're probably too overloaded with work to take time off, because half of your department was laid off in 2008 and your manager doesn't want to make any new hires until we're out of the economic woods.  

Fortunately, many sources on the Internet provide education and training in our respective fields. You just have to know where to look. It's not quite like attending a live training event. But you can improve your skill set through the Internet, and you can often do so free of charge.  

One big trend I've noticed in the past year is the spread of Webinars. It started years ago with EDA tool companies dipping their toes in the Webinar waters. Now, it seems as if everyone is holding Webinars--fabricators, assembly providers, OEMs and consulting firms.  

These "Web seminars" are usually built around a tool or proprietary process, but if you're a customer, the content should be of some value. And they're usually free--in exchange for your e-mail address, that is. Even the simplest Webinars have come a long way in a decade, with greatly improved GUI. But the Q&A capability, drawing from IM technology, may be the best feature of all. It's almost like being there. View as many Webinars as you can. You can keep working while they play, and if you miss something, so what? They're usually free. If you learn anything, it's a good day.

Often, you don't even need to attend a Webinar (Does one really attend a Webinar?) to learn a thing or two. In the PCB design and design engineering community, some of our leading minds post amazing content on their Web sites.

Some of the leading designers and design engineers don't mind giving away great content. Whenever I can, I visit the sites of Eric Bogatin, Istvan Novak, Colin Warwick, Jack Olson, Doug Smith, Henry Ott, Howard Johnson and Yuriy Shlepnev. They post papers, quizzes, app notes, resource links, technical tips and even humor.