Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1518649
28 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2024 Feature Interview by Andy Shaughnessy I-CONNECT007 I recently spoke with Carlos Plaza, senior director of education for IPC, about expanding IPC's educational efforts in the PCB design, fabrication, and assembly segments. As Car- los explains, PCB design is a hot topic, but onboarding may be the hottest one of all. Andy Shaughnessy: Carlos, as IPC's senior director of education, I know you've been busy preparing for IPC APEX EXPO. Why don't you give me a brief overview of what that entails? Carlos Plaza: I work with industry experts and IPC learning specialists to help identify and meet the training and certification needs of our members. at's my job in a nutshell. Certification is an essential part of the work- force training equation. Customers should be confident that their boards are being fabricated and assembled by personnel who have demon- strated their ability to adhere to IPC standards, particularly for high precision and reliability applications. However, a few years ago, we discovered that there were many new employees hav- ing a hard time getting certified because they didn't know the terminology, materials, or processes and tools used to build and assem- ble PCBs and wire harnesses. Of course, when you think about it, it doesn't make much sense to teach someone about the criteria that apply to things like turrets, conductors, and annu- lar rings if they don't know what they are and how they're used. IPC Focuses on Education and Onboarding