IPC Offers Opportunities for Online Learning

IPC offers many opportunities for online learning, providing relevant education to meet the needs of the industry, from operators to engineers and executives. Events Connection (EC) editorial staff talked to Carlos Plaza, IPC director of education development, about how IPC chooses which courses will benefit the industry, and what options are available for students this summer. EC: How do you decide what online courses to create? CP: We work closely with the industry to identify skill gaps and learning opportunities. We learn directly from subject matter experts in the electronics industry about what their employees need to know to do their jobs efficiently. We develop courses with subject matter experts in the electronics industry, but we also include instructional designers on our team to ensure we are using best practices in our instruction. Students get the best of both worlds, industry experts and education experts. EC: How do instructional designers contribute to course creation? CP: The education team develops the scope and sequence of the course, interactive activities, and assessments. Essentially, they build the learning modules with excellent input from industry experts, internal IPC experts, and our technical team. EC: How is online learning at IPC unique? CP: We have very skilled instructors. They provide students not only with the broad concepts of a subject, but how to utilize those skills in a way that is applicable to their job immediately. They are experts in the field, and they provide invaluable instruction helping our students transfer what they learn online into real life situations. EC: What’s happening in IPC Education this summer? CP: IPC is offering several online, instructor-led courses this summer for a wide variety of job functions and skill levels. Contracting with the Customer is what every EMS executive should know about contracts when dealing with OEMs and other EMS companies. This course is a huge value that is taught by two attorneys working in the electronics manufacturing sector. We have another section of PCB Defect Analysis and Troubleshooting that started on June 2. This course is led by industry veteran, Mike Carano, a bona fide expert on troubleshooting PCBs. For some quick insight into Mr. Carano’s expertise check out his recent article in PCB007. We offer a really in-depth series of courses in PCB Design starting June 16 – The upcoming course, Design 1 focuses on the schematic capture of the design with in-depth explorations of PCB design software. PCB Design 2 focuses more on PCB layout. Plus we’re launching our next PCB Design course that will focus on Advanced packaging (Rigid Boards). More courses are in development like Design for Manufacturability (DFM). We hope to make these available in the third quarter. In July there’s an opportunity to earn an IPC Certification in Electronics Program Management. Do you have managers that need to boost their business knowledge? This certification leverages real-world examples specific to the electronics industry to help teach program managers to make the right business decisions in concert with the right technical decisions.