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30 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2024 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE electronics, we did the training and used the standards that existed at the time. We used technical information, documentation, and publications—everything we could find, in- cluding, quite often, OEM specifications. We used the military standards, too. When IPC started to appear in Europe, IPC standards had become more important within European companies. When it comes to standards, there are regular editions, fol- low-ups, and updates. When you look closely at IPC activities, they are completely complementary to IFTEC activities. That's how we started working to- gether. We became IPC members in 2008— relatively late—but we started our involve- ment with IPC through our clients using the standards. Then, in 2011, IPC was looking for a training center in France and had appointed one of my friends, Bernard Bismuth (whom I always thank), to find someone in France. Since we knew each other, he asked me, and right away, I said yes. For us, it was in the order of things. In 2011, IPC contacted us to become an IPC Training Center and IPC Authorized Distributor. That's it, and there you go. In 2011, we started to do transla- tions. We translated mainly those standards used for certifications, including IPC-A-610, IPC/WHMA- A-620, IPC-A-600, IPC-J-STD-001, IPC-7711/21, IPC-6012, T-50, IPC- 22221 and 2222. We also translated the study guides for CID and CID+. At the same time, we started to participate in the development of standards in the committees. For roughly the past 10 years, IFTEC has participated in 30 committees for the development of standards and in the IPC training development committees. We have also been involved with the IPC hand- soldering competition (HSC) since its start in France. It is held in different countries throughout the world and was most recently held at productronica in Munich. In 2016, along with Thomas Romont, we created the IPC Design Council Chapter France, which was another important mile- stone. It is a group working on design, which has led to the recently published IPC-DR- DES document. I received the IPC President's Award that same year from John Mitchell during IPC APEX EXPO in Las Vegas. What does this Hall of Fame Award mean for your company and for France? I am proud of my country. France is not only about tourism, gastronomy, and wine. It also has an important industrial base in the elec- tronics field with many designers, OEMs, and EMS companies that are extremely skilled in