Empowering the next generation of innovators with Altium’s cutting-edge tools

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Australia’s space ambitions are set to reach greater heights with projects like the Melbourne Space Program (MSP), where some of the nation’s brightest students are not just dreaming about space—they’re exploring it. Through the ACRUX-2 project, MSP students are gaining hands-on experience by designing, building, and launching an Earth-imaging satellite. Altium supports these future innovators with free licences for Altium Designer and Altium 365, integrating the industry-leading tools into their education to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Altium’s commitment to education extends beyond space. Across universities globally, Altium is a partner in enhancing the engineering and technical skills necessary for students to meet real-world challenges. This support is pivotal in developing the practical skills students need, ensuring they are industry-ready upon graduation. 

Altium supports the electronics design community by helping to nurture the engineers and PCB designers of tomorrow. Other educators enjoying design advancements with Altium include Baja ÉTS student team (single-seater all-terrain vehicle (ATV), University of British Columbia team for competitive robots, and the renowned award-winning solar car Sunswift Racing.

Educators are also able to draw on all the benefits of the Altium Educator Program to help launch students’ careers early on. It includes complimentary Altium Designer Pro licences so they can train their students on the leading professional PCB design tool in the market. In addition, Altium offers training, learning modules and certification to fully equip teachers to teach ECAD. A key component of this educator program is A365 Classroom which enables better collaboration with real-time feedback. It streamlines learning, grading and access from anytime anywhere.

Supporting cutting edge startups

Outreach Robotics, a company that emerged from the University of Sherbrooke is now revolutionising biodiversity efforts with their Mamba robotic arm. Designed to collect rare plant samples from inaccessible locations, Mamba exemplifies how startups can leverage Altium tools to bring innovative products to market efficiently.

Altium’s Launchpad is a cornerstone of this program, offering startups like Outreach Robotics access to professional tools at a reduced price, with 24/7 support and comprehensive training options. This initiative not only enables wide access to high-quality development tools but also fosters the vibrant startup ecosystem in Australia. The country is ranked ninth globally for its dynamic entrepreneurial environment.

Another leading Launchpad user is a medical startup Metyos. The company has developed a biowearable device that provides easy monitoring of kidney health. It enables personalised data collection without the need for invasive procedures like blood draws. To maximise efficiency, Metyos adopted several solutions from Altium that streamlined their design process to save engineering time. With Altium, Metyos found it easy to design boards with no errors and send them to a manufacturer with simple communication and no errors.

Why Altium? 

• Altium’s User Forum – a vibrant and vocal PCB designer community is the world’s largest. Members are very active and provide critical feedback that helps continuously enhance Altium’s products making the company the world’s number one cloud ECAD provider.
• Altium continues to innovate. Altium’s latest release,  Altium Designer 24, enhances the design process with seamless integration with Ansys for advanced simulation, harness and cabling, MCAD/ECAD CoDesign, Keysight power simulation and many more. 
• Free trial of Altium Designer is available, contact [email protected] for a free demo.