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DECEMBER 2018 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 29 region of the U.S. and Mexico. It was one of the most collaborative advanced classes I have been involved in with lots of student engage- ment, which directly relates to the overall suc- cess of the class. What stood out the most to me in this particular class was the fact that all the students continued studying together after hours not only to achieve individual CID+ cer- tification success but for building relationships for future industry knowledge sharing and pro- fessional networking. ____________________________________ PCB Carolina Event Recap by Tony Cosentino RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK (RTP) NORTH CAROLINA CHAPTER PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND QUALITY AT BETTER BOARDS INC. The RTP chapter's goals include bringing the PCB design commu- nity together by holding quar- terly meetings, sharing ideas over meals, discussing chapter busi- ness, reviewing the current health of the job market, and fostering continuing education by holding technical presentations by guest speakers. We also created a local trade show, PCB Carolina, to offer our design community an oppor- tunity to attend a trade show and technical presentations at no cost to them. PCB Carolina 2018 was held on November 7 and was a huge success once again. This pre- mier electronics trade show offers free access for all attendees to the showroom floor, key- note address, all technical sessions, food and drinks, and door prizes. Vendors pay for the privilege of a table and can purchase other pro- motional perks (ad hoc) or via a sponsorship. This event revenue is by far the major contrib- utor to the chapter's annual budget. This year's event was held at North Carolina State University's McKimmon Center for Con- tinuing Education and offered the following: • 75 exhibitors • 987 attendees • Two major, four gold, four silver, and 17 bronze sponsors • One keynote speaker (Rick Hartley) • 16 technical sessions • Hands-on soldering workshops (Angel Deluna, Circuit Technology) • IPC technical education (Susy Webb, IPC) • CID/CID+ training (Dave Seymour and Gary Ferrari, EPTAC Corporation) • Continental breakfast (sponsored by Better Boards) • Buffet lunch • Evening reception (sponsored by Mentor, a Siemens business) • Door prizes including a grand prize 65" Samaung4K UHD TV (sponsored by PalPilot) Figure 3: Stephen Chavez's CID+ class. Figure 4: PCB Carolina yearly growth.