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18 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2020 Feature by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 At this year's IPC APEX EXPO, you're likely to see quite a few high school students moving amongst all the normal show activities thanks to the IPC APEX EXPO STEM Outreach Pro- gram. Launched two years ago at IPC APEX EXPO 2018, the 2020 version of the STEM Out- reach Program will be larger and more immer- sive than ever before. Charlene Gunter du Plessis, director of stra- tegic partnerships and programs at IPC, shares: "The IPC APEX EXPO STEM Outreach Program has grown on an annual basis. This will be the third year hosting high school students at IPC APEX EXPO, and the program has evolved ever since." She adds, "200 high school stu- dents and educators from the San Diego region will join us during an interactive day of hands- on technical activities, career exploration, and industry engagement." The STEM Outreach Program will take place on February 6, 2020. The organized activities will start at 8:00 a.m. and conclude at about 3:00 p.m. After a kickoff breakfast, students will move to the show floor, where they will rotate through four different education tracks throughout the morning. The tracks will pro- vide students with real-world technical skills training in soldering, coding, design, and assembly of PCBs as well as an IPC APEX EXPO show floor tour. After a career panel luncheon, students will complete their day with one more education track before returning to their stag- ing area for closing remarks and dismissal. Engaging STEM Students at IPC APEX EXPO 2020