Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1062752
30 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2018 The event has grown over the years in both the exhibitors and the attendees. From 66 exhibitors and 800 registered attendees just two years ago, we reached 75 vendors with 987 registered attendees this year. Figure 4 demonstrates the event's yearly growth since 2012. Our goal for next year is to break 1,000 attendees (Figure 5). Our chapter maintains open communica- tions with area engineering and technical schools, including NC State University, Wake Technical Community College, and Coastal Carolina Community College. Since we hold PCB Carolina at NC State, we occasionally invite their professors to speak at the trade show. We often get volunteer support from local community colleges for the trade show to help set up, fulfill duties during the event, and some stay to help tear down. Getting the local community colleges involved gives them access to the experience of the show, indus - try vendors, job scouting, technical training, and the ability to network with people they might never have access to meet. They love the experience, and we keep getting volun- teers year after year. The local community is fortunate to have access to such a fulfilling trade show with a wide selection of training opportunities. The local trade show would not be possible with- out endless hours donated by the RTP chap- ter of the IPC Designers Council. Our chapter has 200+ members on email distribution, and meetings can have up to 40 attendees depend- ing on the time of year and topic being dis- cussed. 2019 Planning In addition to our recent chapter activity with PCB Carolina 2018, we've started plan- ning for 2019: • January 2019 chapter meeting – Protolabs in Morrisville, North Carolina – Discuss rapid prototyping including injection molding, CNC machining, and 3D printing – The meeting will include a site tour of their facility • March 2019 chapter meeting – CertifiGroup in Cary, North Carolina – Discuss environmental testing including HALT, HASS, product quality, and product durability – The meeting will include a site tour of their facility • June 2019 chapter meeting – Not scheduled yet, but hope to cover the topic of antenna design • August 2019 chapter summer break • September or October 2019 chapter meeting – Not scheduled yet • PCB Carolina 2019 – November 13 at North Carolina State University's McKimmon Center for Continuing Education Contact Tony Cosentino with any questions. Recent Activities • Two-day hands-on power integrity workshop: Steve Sandler – Occurred December 3–4 in Santa Clara, California • IPC CID+ certification class: Cherie Litson, MIT, CID+ – Occurred December 4–7 at Lake Washington Institute of Technologies Figure 5: PCB Carolina 2018 show floor.