Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1509257
14 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2023 good fab houses here in the San Diego area, "What percentage of your PCB designer cus- tomers have ever toured your facility?" eir answer: About 10%. It illustrates how impor- tant it is to get standards into designers' hands by any means possible. Matties: Maybe a designer who attends a session at IPC APEX EXPO gets a free standard? at would be great. e second issue is let- ting the industry know about the importance of IPC and their standards. IPC is not just a standards organization; they're a teaching organization with their own design and m a n u f a c - turing cer- t i f i c a t i o n s . We need more people to volunteer to work with a committee; I guarantee you'll learn a lot. Matties: How do we get the industry to participate more in driving the use of standards, especially for new hires? at's a tough question. You have to volunteer to participate in this industry, and that gets down to your motivation. Why do we do this? What do we like about this job and this indus- try? As a professor, I want to get the standards into my students' hands; every student should have a standard. Maybe for $40 a student could get three standards? at would be a good start. As a professor, I'm trying to develop a chapter of IPC Design sponsored by the college. With 20 students, the college would cover the chap- ter fee, and we could put three standards into their hands. Matties: Who are your typical students? Are they all brand-new designers? It's mostly brand-new, first-time designers, with some coming from other industries who want a career change. Matties: That's interesting. Why do they find your class so appealing? I've been spreading the word through mar- keting, messaging on LinkedIn, and several national podcasts. But, honestly, a lot of the interest comes from the support from I-Con- nect007 for me and my classes. Matties: Beyond the programs, what's the appeal for a young person to want to be a circuit designer today? I find that they often w a n t a c a r e e r change to some- t h i n g t h a t w i l l make them more money. That's a real attraction. I have conver- s a t i o n s with stu- d e n t s t h e f i r s t w e e k about what they should expect when they leave this class, including income. But they also see it as an exciting career; they get to solve a puzzle and they like the intrigue of design. Shaughnessy: Do you have any final thoughts on this topic? Don't dismiss the importance of these stan- dards. Without standards, you're trying to cross the ocean without a boat. Take advan- tage of the experience inside the standards, and don't try to reinvent the wheel. It's all there. Matties: This has been really good, John. Thanks so much. ank you. Always a pleasure to speak with you all. DESIGN007 We need more people to volunteer to work with a committee; I guarantee you'll learn a lot.