Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/921680
78 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2018 there's such an initiative for STEM now that we really need to start reaching out to people at the high school level before they even enter college so they can consider this industry as a career choice. David Bergman, our vice president of stan- dards and training is doing a cool presentation, "How to Make a Circuit Board out of Peanut Butter," for the students and then we'll take them on the show floor. Hopefully, after they see the peanut butter presentation, they'll see the equip- ment and the technology that makes the circuit boards and it will all come together for a better understanding of the industry. Then we have a lunch scheduled with a panel discussion with some industry leaders so they can ask questions about our industry. We hope that it will be well- received by the students and that we'll be able to recruit the next generation for this industry. Shaughnessy: That's one of the things we constantly see: People are retiring. For some reason, especially in PCB design, there was a big flood of designers joining the industry in the '70s and '80s. We're seeing a few young people coming in, though. Balonek: And that's good but we need to do more and that's where STEM comes in. STEM educa- tion is so important and it's nice to see schools offering these types of pr ograms. My daughter is in middle school now and they refer to her program as STEAM in her school, she's involved in the program and goes to classes three times a week. They have afterschool workshops too, so it's a really good to start at even a younger level to start tapping into where our future engineers are coming from. Goldman: Is your daughter finding the program interesting and intriguing? Balonek: Oh, she absolutely loves it, and espe- cially the part that includes making slime. I don't know if you guys have young kids, but they're making it all the time. I cannot tell you how many gallons of Elmer's Glue I have in my house right now. But even with these small experiments, they're exposing them - selves to science which is beneficial for kids. But back to the STEM program at APEX EXPO, we're able to provide this program through sponsorships and I'd like to take a minute to recognize, ASM Assembly Systems, Mycronic Inc., Nordson and Panasonic Factory Solu - tions Company of America for sponsorships. In exchange, they'll be invited to the panel discussion and the students will be visiting their booths during a special tour of the show floor. We'll also be making a donation in their names to the STEM program for the participat - ing schools. Goldman: That sounds like a fantastic program. I guess the important thing is to make sure it's not a one-time thing, right? Balonek: Right. It's a pilot program this year and we hope to be able to offer it again next year and maybe even doing things in different cities. I know a lot of our members have production plants within their facilities so we could do something in their cities if they don't have the time to coordinate a program them - selves. Goldman: We recently had our newest team members visit a PCB facility—they are editors, not really PCB people. They were absolutely astounded at what was involved in making the circuit boards, and of course they related it to IPC APEX EXPO 2018 PRE-SHOW SPECIAL COVERAGE