GENEVA -- CERN has released its complete KiCad component library under an open source license, making more than 17,000 electronic component symbols and footprints available to PCB designers worldwide.

The library, maintained by CERN’s Design Office, supports KiCad, the free and open source PCB design software suite first released in 1992. The move expands access to the same component resources used internally by CERN hardware designers for schematic capture and PCB layout development.

CERN said the release aligns with its broader open science and open hardware initiatives, including the CERN Open Hardware Licence and contributions to the KiCad ecosystem. The organization has previously contributed software improvements to KiCad and promotes open-source tools to improve collaboration and accessibility in electronics design.

By publishing the library publiclyGENEVAz, CERN said engineers and developers outside the organization can now access, modify, and redistribute the component data while benefiting from a large, production-used library integrated into an open PCB design workflow.

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