Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/819981
38 The PCB Magazine • May 2017 Pauls: Yes. Rockwell Collins has been a very good manufacturer and a very good employer for me, and they're a long-time IPC mem- ber, so they support everything that we've done. In fact, all of the employers I've been with have ac- tively supported IPC. My associa- tion with IPC began in the fall of 1985. I came to my first meeting with Susan Mansilla, formerly of Robisan Labs and now retired, and Susan was also very active in IPC committees. If you know Susan, she's a ball of fire, and she is a force of na- ture when she gets going. She took me around, and said, "All right, for the stuff that you're do- ing in the materials lab, you need to be on the Solder Mask Committee, and you need to be on this one." And they introduced me to all the leaders of that and said, "Sign up for this." Goldman: Got you going, didn't she? Pauls: Oh yeah, and in those days the IPC meet- ings were Monday through Friday, as you recall. I learned about standard specifications, how the industry worked, and how everything was in- terconnected. It was a tremendous education. Goldman: Tremendous learning experience and education. Pauls: Yes, and then I found, in listening to the discussions about what the specification lev- els should be for a material or a process, I start- ed to get an appreciation of the finer points be- hind what goes into a value that we all have to meet. As a young engineer, just out of school— of course nobody teaches you this stuff in col- lege—it was a tremendous learning experience. I found that as I continued involvement with IPC over the years, I continued to learn more and more, because IPC and the people who come here are very good about sharing their knowledge and sharing their experiences, and it's a wonderful organization. Goldman: Yes, I've found that it's not only at the meetings that they'll share, but once you've met that person, and you have a connection, anytime you have a question or a problem or an issue, you can call that person and get help right over the phone or email these days. It's a very useful network. Pauls: Oh, very useful and effec- tive, and in fact, I think some of the more enjoyable parts are when you get to know all those people, and perhaps you go out for drinks afterwards, you get to hear a lot of the very in- teresting war stories. Some good lessons there. Goldman: Besides a lot of laughs, you learn some good lessons. One of my theories is that people vol- unteer at IPC when they're with a particular com- pany, but regardless of what company they're with, they're still a volunteer. You're sort of living proof of that, as am I, but I'm just curious about your thoughts on that. Pauls: Well, I've been a part of a number of vol- unteer organizations. In addition to IPC, I'm a Boy Scout scoutmaster. You know, that's an all- volunteer thing. I teach confirmation at our lo- cal church, again, all-volunteer type of thing. I think people have a tendency to volunteer for things that are their passion, where they see, "I have a skillset that I can bring to this, I'm good at this, I enjoy what I'm doing." Almost any or - ganization is going to be furthered by the efforts of dedicated volunteers who share their passion, and that's something I've tried to do here. I think back on all of the people who shared their knowledge and shared their information, their wisdom, with me in the early years. All of them had the "pay it forward" type of attitude for this, and so as I've learned a lot as a volunteer for the IPC, I've always tried then to give back—people were generous with me, so I should be generous as well. Goldman: As you learned from people, then you taught other people. Yes, that's a good way to look at it. Pauls: With IPC, like any organization, you get out of it what you put into it, and I think the more you put into it, the more dividends it pays. ROCKWELL COLLINS' DOUG PAULS DISCUSSES VOLUNTEERING, MENTORING AND THEIR ROAD SHOW Doug Pauls