Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1212069
REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2020 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE I I-CONNECT007 47 Schultz: Most of my students are in an engineering class at school, and one of the classes that I teach is digital electronics. Through that class, the students have been exposed to a lot of the activities that they're going to be doing here, but I thought it would be good to get it from a professional standpoint. Matties: It is. That's wonderful. Tell me a little bit about the digital class you're teaching. Schultz: The students learn mostly about the basic concepts, such as logic and breadboards. We use a pro- gram called MultiSENSE, which is a circuit program. They can simulate their circuits before they build them. We don't use real PCBs, but we do a little bit of soldering, so it covers the basics of electronics. Matties: And, of course, this is an elective pro- gram that they're choosing to be in. Schultz: Correct. The school has four engi- neering classes that they can take all four years. The digital electronics class is an hon- ors class, so it's like taking an AP or weighted credit for it. Matties: Nice. And when your students are in the class, what do they expect to get out of that? Schultz: It provides a lot of general knowledge. Most of them are interested in attending col- lege or pursuing a career in an engineering field or related STEM field. Matties: It's exciting to have you all here. What advice would you give to a young student who's looking at moving into electronics? Schultz: Be patient. Matties: That's good advice for life. Schultz: Troubleshooting can be a difficult thing for the students, but it teaches them a lesson in perseverance and patience. I think it's a fun field. We have done a couple of outside activi- ties where they can see the types of applica- tions. It's a nice-paying job if that's something that they're interested in. Matties: It's great that you are committed to teaching this type of curriculum at such a young age, too, because it gives students a great advantage in life. When I was going through high school, I took electrical trades. We didn't have the digital age. That let me come out of high school and earn a great wage, and I built my career into the electronics industry from that. I'm so happy to hear that this is going on. That warms my heart. Schultz: Me too. Matties: The world needs more teachers like you. What's your background? Schultz: I was a mechanical engineer before I went into teaching. When I went to school, Kathy Schultz with STEM students from her class.