Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1498238
14 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 learned about us via the news media, word- of-mouth from previous students, or from a state program, such as MY TURN, which part- ners students with academic and state agencies in career development. We have had students fresh out of high school as well as students in their 50s looking to make a change in their careers. All economic, social, and education levels have gone through our boot camp, and it's one of the things about this program that keeps me excited to continue teaching. e program begins with introducing the student to the terminology, tools, devices, and techniques. ey sit at a microscope and manip- ulate microelectronic com- ponents on the first day and progress to more challeng- ing manipulations through this first week. By the sec- ond week, they begin prac- ticing wire and ribbon bond- ing, working with epoxy (die attach), and being intro- duced to skills they will need in the coming weeks. By the third week, students receive a project due by the end of the week. In addition, they practice the skills for a proj- ect in the fourth week. Each week the challenges become greater and the access to tools and equipment grows. Project 1 is die attach, proj- ect 2 is bonding, and project 3 is rework. Every- thing is performed on a flat wafer of gold-plated ceramic. Starting with project 4, the students work inside an enclosure (module) that bet- ter reflects what they will see in the industry. By this time, they have been exposed to a wide range of tools (bonders, bond pull machines, electronic fluid dispenser, and more). ese later projects serve to expose the students to more challenges and devices, including pedes- tals, MMICs, air coils, diodes, thin film resis- tors, and beam leads. By graduation time, they should be ver y comfortable in the lab/ manufacturing environment and with their new skills. Here's where you get to brag a little, Jim. Share a success story from this program. How many people have completed the program and how many are involved right now? What do you hear back from your students' new employers? e feedback we get is generally very good. We have had some employers hire students from our program who had less than stellar work ethics and, unfortunately, the program oen takes negative feedback for something we have no control over. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Companies continue to hire our grad- uates. In our last cohort, some students were getting job offers as early as the sec- ond week of the program; by the sixth week, everyone in the class had offers and many had already accepted them. With regard to stand-out successes, we have had sev- eral. We have had several students who went from living in their cars to now having fulfilling careers and financial security. One of my past students signed papers on her very first house, and she's just 19 years old. I recall one student in tears who showed up late for class three days in a row due to car troubles, during a week of heavy interviewing. She was concerned that the condition of her car might prevent her from maintaining employment. I explained that she simply needed to call a tow truck and an Uber to get to work. She looked at me incredulously and stated "I can't afford that!" I responded, "Not now, but you will be in a different place financially quite soon." Her facial expression indicated she had not looked that far ahead. ree years later, she is still With regard to stand out successes, we have had several. We have had several students who went from living in their cars to now having fulfilling careers and financial security.