Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1532278
and curricula to help train PCB designers as part of their electronics programs. EMA Design Automation has developed a curriculum to take the Arduino module from schematic to PCB layout/DFM. EMA will give that curriculum and OrCAD licenses to the schools to help them implement this, and then we have a pipeline to hire designers who are new to the industry. Does Garmin teach this class? We don't; the tech schools are teaching these classes. ey already have electronics techni- cian programs. If the school already has a pro- gram, this is just a semester or a module of that program. en we can hire from that program. That's great. Design instruction is much needed right now. I agree, and we have tech school partners in most locations of our PCB Design teams. How do you get students into these programs in the first place? Garmin has recruiting events where we talk to high school juniors and seniors to get them jazzed about non-traditional careers in tech, whether that's troubleshooting for custom- ers and doing customer support on one of our many products, PCB design, or engineering technician bench work. ere are different jobs available, so when I talk to these high school- ers, I ask, "Do you like sitting in a dark room and rocking out to music and playing puzzle- solving video games? Because that's a job, and it's called PCB design." I wish somebody had told us about PCB design when I was in school. I'd never heard of it. It's great when I get candidates through the door who say, "I heard you talk at my high school and I did the program you told me to do, but you didn't have any openings yet. So, I was an engi- neering technician for Garmin until I could join your team." Right now, we have a lot of open- ings, and we are hiring. I would love to see resumés right now for any of our locations. Do you have to be an electrical engineer for these design positions at Garmin? Not necessarily. We have some designers with Laura Beth (LB) Yates 44 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2025