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90 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2021 collaborating with other members to work the situation. I was being educated by members who have been at these crossroads before and could provide solid advice. Lastly, I was being inspired by my longtime mentors who were counseling me, while at the same time I was inspiring others around me on how I handled myself and how I was addressing the situation as an industry professional. e best thing about this level of support was having others reach out and put me at ease; I knew I had a safety net through PCEA to rely on. You may be in a similar situation, in one form or another. Some have no idea what to do or which direction to go in; even worse, they might not have anyone to reach out to for advice. But when I think about what I just went through, as well as the early years of my career coming out of the Marine Corps in 1995 with no civilian industry experience and no support network to tap into, I had no choice but to go down the road of "hard knocks." at was a tough and long road indeed, and I know many of you can relate to this. Many of us coming out of the military or college, or who are industry veterans like myself, may be facing similar crossroads in their careers. Knowing what I know now and knowing what PCEA offers as an indus- try association is simply awesome! e three words in our mission statement say it all, and I am very happy PCEA exists today. I wish I had had something like PCEA early on in my career path. I hope that those who have not yet become a PCEA member will join us and tap into this tremendous pro- fessional trade association. For our current members, please take advantage of the PCEA collective, join a chapter for awesome profes- sional development, and gain great profes- sional networking. Refer to our column and the PCEA website to stay up to date on industry events. ere are a lot of free webinars being offered, so take advantage of these opportunities. If you have not yet joined the PCEA collective, please visit pce-a.org for details on becoming a PCEA member. I wish health and safety to you and your fam- ilies. Best of success to all as 2021 continues to unfold. Warmest Regards, Steph ————————————————— Next Month How do you hone your printed circuit engi- neering skills? Are your skills measurable? e PCEA has much in store for our readers regarding career training and certification that you will not want to miss. Upcoming Events Below is a newly seeded list of upcoming events which is sure to get you excited about travelling again. We must each do our best to follow CDC guidelines and take the precau- tionar y measures—including hand-washing, masking and vaccination as possible—to squash the spread of COVID-19 and its vari- ants. We're still in this together! Nepcon China April 21–23, 2021 Shanghai, China (Canceled) SMTConnect 2021 May 4-6, 2021 Nuremberg, Germany (Canceled) IPC High Reliability Forum May 11–13, 2021 Baltimore, MD PCB East 2021 June 15–17, 2021 Marlborough, MA Zuken Innovation World 2021 (Virtual) August 4-5, 2021