IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 79 SPRING 2025 By Michelle Te, Managing Editor, IPC Community Thejas K successfully completed the IPC EAO course and now works as a quality engineer It's not often that a child wants to follow in the footsteps of their parents' career. But Thejas K, a 22-year-old from Mysuru, India, whose mother Padmavathi was an EMS operator for nearly 20 years, is now an associate engineer in the quality department at Cyient DLM where PCB assemblies are manufactured for aerospace and defense. He's building strong relation- ships with his colleagues and leaders, and looking to take on leadership roles where he can drive innovation and growth. "I'd love to be responsible for larger projects on teams, helping to shape the overall strategy of the company," Thejas says. With the encouragement of his parents and a government-driven system for higher education, Thejas had two options in his area when he was looking to attend college: VVIET and Vidya Vardhaka College. He had heard from a cousin that VVIET had a strong program in electronics and communication, so he chose to attend that school. He's now graduated and work- ing in his chosen field, and credits VVIET and a special IPC Electronics Assembly Operator course for help- ing him reach his career goals. The- jas was recommended by the head of his department to enroll in the IPC course, where he would learn the basic requirements in electron- ics and industrial activities to qual- ify him to work for an EMS provider. "The course was informative and entertaining," Thejas says. "We learned about the day-to-day activities to be an IPC-qualified assembly operator, and the training helped me feel and imagine the concepts of electronics." While he thought the computer portions were easy, the hands-on experiences of the course proved to be more difficult because it was his first time handling a PCBA or hand-soldering SMT components. Yet he persevered and found him- self with more complex knowledge of assembly and inspection of PCBAs. With his degree and knowl- edge from the EAO course, Thejas started applying for jobs in the EMS and PCB industries. He says he "never failed an interview," and ultimately decided to join the team at Cyient DLM. "They asked me similar ques- tions during the interviews that were part of what I learned in the EAO course," Thejas says. "In any organization, there will be a basic structure when it comes to hiring