The surge of the ADE

Circuit World

ISSN: 0305-6120

Article publication date: 1 September 1999

26

Keywords

Citation

Coultard, F. (1999), "The surge of the ADE", Circuit World, Vol. 25 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.1999.21725cab.003

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited


The surge of the ADE

PCIF

The surge of the ADE

Keyword ADE

The launch of the ADE has unlocked a formidable fountain of interest from the printed circuit board design engineers throughout the country as their value to the industry is at last being acknowledged.

The complementary chapter meetings in November 1998 in the four regions have given way to a new round with different themes; these include "Hi speed design", "BGA" and "Laser drilling and packaging". The chapters have been enthusiastically attended by design engineers and generously sponsored by individuals, companies and organisations in our industry.

An article in Electronics Weekly on 6 January sparked a great deal of interest from individual engineers, some from as far afield as Germany. This is soon to be followed by a full feature article in EW. Another article has appeared in What's New in Electronics to promote the cause. Enquiries by e-mail and telephone have been flooding in, asking for more information and advice on how to join this new association.

The next chapter meetings were held in March, to be followed by another round in May as a springboard to the PCB Design Conference June (7-9) being held at Sandown in Surrey.

One of the main aims of the ADE is to produce a skill definition for the designers, a ladder of learning with training and a national accreditation scheme. This process is being aided by the IPC in the USA which already has an established service in place; a visitor from the IPC is due in the UK shortly. To date there are admirable training courses available at INPAQ, a branch of Newbury College in Berkshire, and a new series is being discussed with Napier University in Scotland. These courses are mobile and generic in nature and are complementary to the accreditation process.

The ADE has tapped a nerve in the industry and has released a lot of frustrated and pent-up enthusiasm. It is important to channel this energy in the right direction and to maintain the momentum.

Frank CoultardPCIF Director

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