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SEPTEMBER 2020 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 93 became designers and then senior designers. The electronics industry has bypassed that sys- tem of gradual learning. Without understand- ing the complexities of the trade, management now just hires a new engineer and says, "Here is a 32-layer board design that will require HDI. Get 'er done." Our industry has lost the apprenticeship. New EEs today may have taken a couple of day-courses in PCB layout or can find a 40-hour class offered by an organization, but there is nothing that will systematically build our pro- fession like the unions of the trades. Dack: In a sense, all company structures can facilitate an apprentice program in some way if they have the experience existing already within their staff. But if their staff is not expe- rienced, they may suffer from intellectual inbreeding. Is this where the PCEA comes in? Does meeting within a local chapter fill this gap of outside knowledge by bringing it into the chapter via presentations? Hartley: Not only that, but it couples with the mentoring that we discussed earlier. Combat- ting intellectual inbreeding requires getting out of the office and being subject to new ideas and methodologies. Our presentations and mentor- ing are not only about learning a software tool; it can also be about a method or a process. A junior designer could mentor with any of us in the PCEA; besides some colorful language, who knows what they could learn! (laughs) Webb: It is important to continue this type of toring folks in the electronics industries about flex circuit manufacturing and flex design and DFM. Did you start with a mentor? Dunn: I got my start in the electronics industry just out of college, working for a small flexible circuit manufacturer. Working with a small company provided the opportunity to wear many hats and learn the PCB fabrication pro- cess and industry quickly. I was fortunate to work with several mentors helping me under- stand both flex technology and the PCB indus- try in general. Because of the foundation that effort provided me, I feel strongly about men- toring and helping others new to the industry, or new to flexible circuits. Hartley: In addition to what we mentioned ear- lier, there will be a great emphasis on local pre- sentations to our local chapters whose mem- bers have incredible backgrounds and much to share. Dack: Susy, you emphasize the importance of going to these shows to connect and learn. Do you feel a need to facilitate education by get- ting your students out of the classroom and into a PCB fab shop or EMA site for a more tactile learning experience? Webb: Getting our membership out to see the equipment that makes design so important is not to be underestimated. This practice has been implemented in many of our local chap- ters over the years. We have discussed ways of doing this in a virtual fashion recently with COVID-19. But there is nothing like showing up at a PCB shop with boots on the ground. It makes it easy to ask spontaneous questions and get feedback. Without feedback, it's hard to become a good designer. Creeden: Rather than tell stories of mentoring, which people don't fully get, I explain it like serving as an apprentice under the guidance of a tradesman. We all grew up in the com- panies that hired us, and they modeled the designer hierarchy similarly by calling us first junior designers. As we gained knowledge, we Combatting intellectual inbreeding requires getting out of the office and being subject to new ideas and methodologies.