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82 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 Transfer Methodology" standard. I will be writ- ing about these committees and their achieve- ments more extensively in future columns. Considering the world in which we find our- selves, and after a couple of months' worth of hard work, the question arises: Why is there such a high level of engagement? We have ob- served a few reasons. First, in a time when many professionals in the electronics industry are surrounded by un- certainty, any opportunity for them to focus on something that is well-understood and produc- tive is welcome. The next reason is a logistic one: Now that many people are working from home, they are using the hours they spent com- muting to now help out with industry standards. And finally, we have noticed that folks, for lack of a better term, are bored without their usual outlets and hobbies so they are giving standards development their full attention. I would like to take a moment and thank all our industry volunteers. Truly, we at IPC are grateful for your efforts in the past few months. We would not be able to produce any of our published work without you. But look- ing elsewhere, I do not believe that this kind of engagement should stop at standards develop- ment. Last month, I wrote about the importance of competition for improving the technical skills of printed board design professionals and how competition can be an avenue for technical networking among industry veterans and new professionals alike. (Shameless plug: I am still recruiting design professionals to donate their time to plan and execute the IPC Design Com- petition.) This was intentionally forward-look- ing, and it envisioned a future when social dis- tancing rules had relaxed a bit. Hopefully, that future is near. But right now, the situation is still fluid. Some areas of the world have done well to flat- ten their curves, yet others are continuing their efforts to turn the tides of infection. While sci- entists and policymakers are working hard to resolve the myriad economic and sociological issues that come with COVID-19, one fact is true for most areas of the globe: Having large- group gatherings—especially of more than 10 people—might be a long way off. I hope you will not mind if I backtrack from the future to the present and discuss how de- sign professionals can become and stay in- volved with one another from the comfort of their own lockdown, and as the world slow- ly learns what the "new normal" looks like. I firmly believe in the power of the human spir- it; I have been comforted to watch as humans from around the world work through their iso- lation by connecting more than ever before. In a world of closed doors, we have turned to Windows (or MacOS, or any number of Linux flavors). This returns us to my introduction. While the world stands still, IPC's technical standards committees are teeming with activity. Howev- er, there are plenty of other ways that printed board professionals can donate their time to- ward building a stronger community and forg- ing new avenues for their careers. Out of an abundance of caution and respect for the gravity of the rapidly developing situa- tion, we decided to temporarily delay the cre- ation of new chapters after the debut of IPC De- sign at IPC APEX EXPO 2020. However, based on the level of engagement we have seen in our technical standards committees, we now feel comfortable in pursuing these openings. We have started to organize design engineers in Italy, Israel, Salt Lake City, Asia, New Eng- land, Texas. Every day, more design engineers are coming together to take part in IPC Design. Above all, we want to empower folks to con- tinue to practice distancing hygiene while still enabling them to exercise their creative, social, Now that many people are working from home, they are using the hours they spent commuting to now help out with industry standards.