Two UK training companies are collaborating to address the dire shortage of PCB skills that is leaving PCB designers on the endangered list.
Advanced Rework Technology (A.R.T.), the leading independent provider of IPC-certified & bespoke training services for the electronics assembly industry, is working with Colchester-based PCB Design School, the independent provider of hands-on training in PCB design delivered by experienced board designers.
“PCB designers are on the endangered species list – that’s why we have established the only school in the UK teaching PCB design,” said Roger Benfield, founder of the PCB Design School. “20 years ago, the IPC Chairman told me: ‘In 10 years, 50% of today’s PCB designers will have either retired or died’. For more than two decades, the electronics industry has neglected the provision of PCB design training. The average age of a PCB designer today is in their late 50s to early 60s. We can’t afford another lost decade because, if we do, we risk losing their 20, 30 or 40 years of skill and expertise forever.”
A.R.T. has been providing IPC-certified training for companies and individuals working across the whole electronics manufacturing supply chain since 1988, helping them acquire and develop the skills to engineer, produce and rework high quality printed circuit boards.
“A.R.T. has a proud heritage of helping companies including OEMs, EMS providers, PCB manufacturers, and cable and wire harness suppliers to improve the quality of their manufacturing through IPC-certified training. We’re always happy to work with partners who share the same aims – and PCB Design School’s focus on increasing skills among aspiring and experienced PCB designers alike aligns well with our mission,” said Debbie Wade, A.R.T. Managing Director & Master IPC trainer.
The two companies offer a range of complementary skills training for those involved in all aspects of designing and producing PCBs – and have a mutual agreement to promote their respective training offering and introduce prospects to one another.
Benfield began his career as a PCB designer at Marconi and the BBC Design Department and has produced PCBs for major defence and aerospace projects, the nuclear energy industry, Ford Motorsport and Jaguar Racing Cars. The PCB Design School is based at the University of Essex’s Knowledge Gateway Research & Technology Park in Colchester, to train the next generation of PCB designers and tackle the skills shortage in this vital part of the electronics industry.
A.R.T. provides bespoke training which can be customised to meet the requirements of customers and is one of a small number of fully accredited IPC certification centres worldwide that can offer certified IPC training to all programs including Space and Military Addendums, to all IPC standards. A.R.T. also offers consultancy, inspection plans, materials/processes and auditing services for PCB design.