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62 SMT Magazine • January 2016 team needs when working on the manufacturing floor. Instead of having mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, manufacturing engineers, or finance and procurement people, what the school will do is train the individuals to be multi-func- tional. You'll have a very small group of multi- trained people that do every facet of the product assembly operation – from procurement to final functional test, which is a big difference from the organizational hierarchy that we currently see. And that leadership group actually is an en- abling group working FOR the project team. Re- ally, that's the essence. It's a very ambitious goal, but having studied this for a while you really come to the conclusion that there's no simple an- swer to this. On the other hand, there's no reason why we can't compete in a high labor rate market against low labor rates. I've tried to demonstrate there is a lot involved and a lot of paradigms that have to be broken. It's a big ship to turn. So we do it a little at a time. We've got great support from a lot of people. A lot of these companies want the students to learn on their equipment, so they are willing to donate equip- ment to the school. I learned early on that I'm most successful at things that result in win-win situations. This is a win-win-win-win project. Goldman: And will students get paid for their work? Borkes: They get paid for working on the manu- facturing floor. Plus, they get a real world, state- of-the-art education. Here's something very in- teresting: The more you look at this, the more synergy you see emerging. The OPD (Original Product Designer) companies that the students, as part of the JEM Center, will be building prod- ucts for as part of their education, will be pro- spective employers. In fact, there will be an op- tion of a formal contract between the student and the company that will guarantee the stu- dent a job upon graduation. The companies are in great need of qualified employees, and who is better qualified than someone who has been building your products for you. The students win and the EMS client wins. Goldman: exactly, and the students are making a real product. Borkes: As I say, what better training could a company have for their future manufacturing engineers than to have those engineers-in- training as students building their products? Goldman: Who's paying the students? Borkes: The students are paid by the Jefferson Electronic Manufacturing (JEM) Center and are educated by the Jefferson Institute of Technol- ogy. There's this very positive linking up of in- terests. You have the equipment manufacturers' interest being served by students actually learn- ing on their equipment, industry's interest ac- commodated by having their future employees educated in a relevant environment, and the students' interest addressed by receiving a valu- able education that is a balance of "learning for learning AND learning for earning." One of the first papers I wrote concerning this subject was more than 20 years ago. This was after my first trip to China in 1981, before the government began to practice state capitalism.. They weren't doing any sizable manufacturing at the time, but it became clear when they did it was going to put a tremendous amount of pres- sure on our manufacturing because the govern- ment had control of their industries, and their labor rates were so much less than ours. This was the genesis of the strategy I called "Con- currrent Education." SMT Editor's Note: Part 2 of this interview will be pub- lished in the February 2016 issue of SMT Magazine. " i've tried to demonstrate there is a lot involved and a lot of paradigms that have to be broken. it's a big ship to turn. " FEATurE inTErViEw THE JEFFErSOn PrOJECT