BANNOCKBURN, IL—The trade association IPC has launched its newest workforce development training course, “Electronics Assembly for Engineers” (EAE). Students earn an IPC Certificate of Completion after finishing the 24 hours of course content.

“Quality products start with a well-trained workforce. This simple idea drove IPC to develop this critical program in collaboration with the electronics industry,” says David Hernandez, vice president of IPC’s Education team. “The combination of industry expertise with our innovative educational approach provides meaningful learning opportunities for engineers to actively engage with the content and master the critical knowledge needed to succeed quickly. This fully online, self-paced program removes barriers to efficient, effective, and engaging training.”

With electronics manufacturing growing at record levels across the globe, many companies are hiring new engineers and technical staff into DFM, product, manufacturing, process, and quality engineering roles to support printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) production for both current and new products.  In anticipation of this growing market demand for high reliability electronics, OEMs and EMS companies identified a need for a “fundamentals” training course that could give their new engineering and technical hires a practical understanding of PCBA processes and electronics manufacturing. This led to the course being developed.

EAE starts with an introduction on PCB fabrication and assembly, and then covers the basics of through-hole, surface mount, and wire harness technologies. It concludes with a detailed review of key fundamental topics including component identification, drawings and specifications, hand soldering, conformal coating, and quality assurance.

“The early traction we have seen for this solution across all regions speaks volumes to the urgency of the need," comments Sanjay Huprikar, president of Europe and South Asia operations for IPC, commented. "Numerous directors of engineering are positioning EAE as a critical aspect of the overall onboarding process for their new hires and transitioning staff–with companies providing the vital ‘on the job’ training component paired with IPC’s online content providing important knowledge ‘off the job’ to help them succeed quickly.”