Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1313710
DECEMBER 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 21 us at night and train on our equipment during the late afternoon and evening hours so that we're using the equipment all day and all night long for training purposes. It's a fully functional production line. Some companies have asked to use it for prototypes, but we recommend the production be done at our company supporters. We don't want to be in competition with them. We're not set up with quality inventory liabilities. We want to train their workforce. Johnson: What's it like interfacing with the companies themselves? Tenhover: They're all very enthusiastic. In Johnny's advisory committee meetings, there's high attendance, participation, and feedback. They usually go overtime because everyone is so excited to share their feedback and talk with Johnny. A lot of the employers want to hear about the degree and what students are learning. They're very eager to send us their job openings and to interview students. For example, an employer recently shared some of their openings, a student was interested, and they interviewed later that same afternoon. They make room to interview our students as quickly as they can. A lot of their excitement also comes from the way Johnny interacts with them. He constantly seeks feedback and adjusts the program. If Johnny learns that many employers are trying to have one particular skill, he changes his plan for the day, takes all the students in the lab, and teaches them that skill. It's not a stagnant degree; it's always developing to what employers need. If a student comes in from their intern- ship and doesn't know something they need to do on the job, Johnny and our lab instructors teach them so that they go back to work and have the increased scale that they need. Johnson: I have talked with a handful of other programs, and they're not all having the same results that you are. Tenhover: That sounds about right in some places. Even with COVID-19, we haven't seen a decrease. There's still that need for students. Vanderford: The need for a trained workforce seems to have become a lot more important lately. At the same time, colleges are experi- encing a low rate of incoming students enroll- ing. For the last four years, we have had every seat in our program maxed out at the very beginning, while touring interested students throughout the year. One of our areas that we'll be growing in will be hiring additional instructors. As a public community college, we require people with a particular degree to teach. Typically speaking, if you want to teach for an associate's degree, you have to have a bachelor's degree, and if you want to teach for a bachelor's degree, you have to have a master's degree, etc.; however, we're not just going to hire someone with a Ph.D. who hasn't worked for the industry. We need instructors who've gotten their feet wet! After college, I worked for a solar cell com- pany, which was a private company that man- ufactured a vertical multi-junction photovol- taic solar array that used an amplified mirror to increase the light. We had investors that came in, and if they didn't invest in the company, we didn't have a paycheck. These companies Vanderford talks soldering details with MEMS students.