Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1058015
DECEMBER 2018 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 41 and raise awareness of the opportunities that exist in the electronics industry. What we need to understand is what gaps currently exist in high school electronics curricula. How can IPC as an industry trade association supplement and enhance the content teachers are using so that when students graduate, they can hit the ground running? If they're able to take an additional course or series of courses, that might get them a cer- tificate or certification sooner, making them more marketable. They will have the skills that the industry is looking for. Given IPC's inter- face with the electronics industry and the fact that we have 4,800 global member sites, we are uniquely positioned to lead the way. For example, David Hernandez, IPC's senior direc- tor of learning and professional development, is heading up an initiative called the Jobs Task Analysis (JTA)—a volunteer effort by IPC industry members to document the core knowledge, skills, and abilities required to suc- ceed in key roles in our industry. The outcome of this project will be to shape IPC's future cer- tification and education programs for years to come. Matties: When they come to this program, it's a great introduction to the industry. It sounds like you're putting together a nurturing path to carry this forward beyond high school. How many of the 2018 participants are on that path? Buscemi: We just concluded a market study with a third-party research firm to identify the gaps and needs in current electronics CTE programs at the high school level. From this analysis, our plan is to develop resources and content to supplement what the students are learning, which will also include badging, cer- tificates, and certifications. We plan to begin piloting this new offering in Q3 of 2019 by making it available to high school students and districts who are interested in partnering with IPC to integrate those programs into CTE course pathways. Matties: When they come, what sort of feed- back do you get from them about this industry or what they've learned throughout day? Buscemi: We received feedback from one of the CTE instructors whose digital electronics stu- dents spent the day with us last year. He said the class was "wowed with IPC" at IPC APEX EXPO 2018 because they saw first-hand how the manufacturing process works in the real world with state-of-the-art equipment in PCB design and fabrication. We will be seeking feedback after IPC APEX EXPO 2019 to help us under - stand how we can make that experience better. Matties: Is there a next step already in place that they sign up for? Buscemi: We have two demographics—the high school student population and post-secondary students attending technical or community colleges or four-year degree programs at uni- versities. For our college or post-secondary stu- dents, we have some exciting announcements that we're going to be making at IPC APEX EXPO 2019 related to IPC student chapters. For our high school students, we're looking at curriculum integration and enhancement, as I mentioned previously. We believe we can have the most impact at the high school level through that curriculum. We are very interest- ed in engaging these students and their instruc- tors, but the first step is to understand what they don't know and what they need to know. The follow-up from IPC APEX EXPO from a programmatic standpoint is going to be build- ing on the market research that we receive at the end of this year, and then starting to think about the curriculum that we're going to devel- op to enhance and support that. It's an exciting time for us. Many of these initiatives are very new, so your point about surveying and getting feedback is going to be a critical part of what we take into IPC APEX EXPO 2019. Matties: What's the cost for the student to take part in this program?