IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 30 WINTER 2024 Debbie Wade, Advanced Rework Technology, has a unique role as vice- chair. "I've worked with IPC for over 20 years and have in-depth knowledge of the many aspects of standardiza- tion," Debbie says. "There is always so much you can learn from the many knowledgeable, diverse, and experienced individuals. It's important to understand the TAEC is a collective where all input is listened to and discussed. This makes the role chal- lenging but equally rewarding." The TAEC is important to standards devel- opment, she says, because it "allows all chairs and vice-chairs of IPC general committees to review questions and issues related to IPC Technical Programs. This allows members with massive technical and IPC experi- ence to deal with some very difficult problems while building new and revision changes to IPC standards." After serving five years on the general TAEC committee, leaders become lifetime members of the TAEC. "We want to keep the history of what has happened," Karen says. "It gives us a wealth of knowledge." TAEC members also keep an eye on up-and-coming committee members who show clear leadership skills and recommend them to be general committee chairs and serve on the TAEC. "Many of us were mentors for emerging engineers and you can see who is good," Karen says. "It would not surprise me in the least to see a former emerging engineer as the chair of the TAEC within a few years. Leadership gets stale, and committees need new blood to keep everything going." David Caputa, Lockheed Martin, is "new blood" for the TAEC. "Serving on the TAEC is different than being a com- mittee chair because TAEC members get the privilege of helping to steer all IPC com- mittees, and help organize exciting, new industry develop- ments," he says. "TAEC members are then given an opportunity to vote to advance the PIN. It's a true honor to be on the TAEC." He enjoys his new role because "serving on the TAEC allows me to be involved on a much broader scale and to be informed of all the efforts outside of the committees I typically support. Additionally, serving on the TAEC has been an incredible networking opportu- nity as I meet and collaborate with other top leadership at IPC." Jason Keeping, Celestica, says his TAEC membership differs from his com- mittee chair role. "As a committee chair, you have a deep yet narrow sector of industry experts that can solve any project within their area of the industry," he explains. "As a TAEC member, you have a broad perspective of industry. You are in a position to see which proj- ects are similar and can support one another along with projects that may need more sup- port to move the industry forward." He likes comparing the farmer of the field with the leader of an ant colony. Both are leaders in their own right, but one has a much broader view than the other and the other is much deeper in the trench on the day-to-day operations to move actions forward. "As a member of the TAEC, I have the oppor- tunity to work with other industry-leading subject matter experts and leaders that I would not otherwise work with as their focus is on different sectors of the industry," Jason says. "This opportunity is a great avenue to