Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/924542
JANUARY 2018 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 71 commodate when we can, because we under- stand that this is a volunteer effort that their companies are allowing them to do. Goldman: What feeling do the companies have regarding this? Rowe: From my perspective, I don't think we'd have companies coming back and offering the second individual for the three-year program. We do have a company who has said, 'We have someone in their third year, and we'd like to have another person start this year.' We've had interest from companies that have tak- en the program to heart. Nancy and I talked about this just recently. They have embraced the idea of introducing these individuals to this activity. I've had feedback in another conver- sation from one of our mentors saying that the program has really helped the emerging engi- neer in that company to take on a bigger role. It's recognizing within the company that this is something that they've been selected to do and it was a choice, not only by their compa- ny, but by IPC. This is an opportunity to em- brace for their career. This is my perspective from an assembly point of view. Nancy, I know you've had similar conversations with your de- sign groups, correct? Jaster: Yes. Again, the companies are really enthused to have people in this program. Our current emerging engineer, I don't think he's going to have any trouble whatsoever getting a job, because some of our mentor compa - nies have already expressed an interest in him. It's giving him an opportunity to do things that he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do had this pr ogram not been there. He's al- ready getting involved in industry and working on projects because he is an emerging engineer. Goldman: Now, you've almost got a full slate for next year. How do people find out about this? Rowe: Our marketing group has put out flyers on the program at various IPC events. We have posters that we post at our major events. We've also used tabletop tents in our standards com- mittee meetings. We've done some visual in- formation for them. We also have a webpage [1] on the IPC website. Jaster: There's also usually a full page in our show directory as well. Goldman: So if somebody doesn't go to the show or a standards committee meeting they might not find out about it? How does that work for university students? Just curious. Rowe: We have spoken about the emerging en- gineer program at IPC Day and at some of the events on university campuses that we have attended in the past couple years. Jaster: If you see me at any trade show, you know that I'm pretty blunt and ask young- looking people how long they have been in the industry. Then, I explain what the emerg- ing engineer program is. I think some people wish I'd go away, but I'm out there talking all the time. I was at an event at PCB Carolina, at IPC APEX EXPO 2018 PRE-SHOW SPECIAL COVERAGE