Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1183414
52 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2019 Teta: And depending on what area you're in, you can be involved from the design and in- novation aspect all the way through assembly. Some people I work with deal with packaging hardware and software, so you can learn about every aspect of it if that's what you want to do. There are so many different things. If you decide you wanted to get involved in the man- ufacturing side, there are a million different processes, so it's not limited to one area. As soon as you get in the door and learn from some key people, you can do almost whatever you like. Even the marketing side of this seg- ment is completely different from typical mar- keting, so you should never get bored. Shaughnessy: When you were in college, did you imagine you'd be working with circuit boards? Teta: I did not. I was convinced I was going to do something with chemistry, which I did in a roundabout way for a little while. I became in- volved with Insulectro and materials as well as manufacturing processes. But, as I mentioned earlier, I've been focusing on the design side and completed the CID and the CID+ course to make sure I understood exactly where the designers were coming from and what infor- mation they need to know so that I can talk with them more easily. Also, we recently started working with Mike Creeden, who is a master trainer for the CID and the CID+ courses for EPTAC. We're work- ing with him and their team to do training ses- sions on materials at the front or back end of his classes. That's very exciting and goes along with our education portion to make sure that young designers, and even people who have been in the industry for a while, understand the basics of the materials. Shaughnessy: It seems like we see more wom- en now in this industry, and a lot of the speak- ers in PCB design are women. Teta: Yes. As an industry, we're doing a good job trying to get more women involved. Women in Electronics is a new organization that start- ed less than a year ago. They conduct profes- sional training for women in electronics, mak- ing sure that they have access to professional development, which has been awesome. They have several branches across the U.S. There's a Boston branch that I'm going to get involved in and several on the West Coast as well. Several customers have a lot of women that are in lead engineering positions and doing a lot of differ- ent things, such as NPI, so we're getting there. It's still a male-dominated industry, but we're slowly infiltrating. And more people are look- ing at me as an equal. Occasionally, I'm still asked if I'm in marketing, but more and more, they assume that I'm a technical resource. Peo- ple reach out to me that wouldn't have a cou- ple of years ago. I've proven myself now with- in the industry. Shaughnessy: Do you ever speak to young women who are surprised to see that you're doing this? Teta: Yes, and it can be kind of funny. I was at a Jets game this weekend with my whole fam- ily, and I always enjoy talking to some of my female cousins; they think it's neat that I'm involved in electronics in general. It's always going to seem like a more technical field; it doesn't have to be, but there's definitely some excitement. Another cool thing is that engineering toys are coming just for little girls, which are fo- cused on chemistry, etc. One toy is called GoldieBlox. Further, I see more T-shirts with science references on them in the girl's section of Target, etc. We're getting past the idea that women need to be secretaries, etc., and men get to do all of the technical stuff; there are technical options available for women, which is awesome. Shaughnessy: What's your favorite part about the industry? Teta: I've enjoyed getting involved in every as- pect, from design and front-end engineering through the manufacturing process, including troubleshooting there and after all the man-