Lukas Buske, CEO, Plasmatreat GmbH

Workforce development and training are taking center stage among the discussions and priorities in electronics manufacturing and – at long last – in academic settings as well.

While colleges and industry have long pointed fingers over whose responsibility it is to prepare the next generation for job readiness, the two environments are finally showing some signs of coalescing. There is widespread recognition at all levels of industry, academia, and government that the skills gap is legitimate crisis hindering commercial growth.

We see this firsthand, whether it be at the industry management sessions we sponsor at our PCB West and PCB East trade shows, or on college campuses we visit while promoting our PCEA Training programs. In both cases, industry executives and undergraduate students share a common concern – and goal – over the workforce gaining the proper combination of knowledge and skills to succeed at the professional level.

To that end, the Printed Circuit Engineering Association has a growing number of adoptees of our Certified Printed Circuit Designer training program among universities and third parties. These training programs that bridge the academic-industry divide are no longer nice-to-haves – they're essential infrastructure. If we want the next generation of engineers to choose electronics, we need to actively recruit them where they live, learn, and play.

In addition, we see convergence – and growth – in other areas. This year, PCEA is teaming with the leading producer of FPGA conferences to broaden our reach into this complementary area. Major semiconductor companies such as AMD, Lattice Semiconductor, Microchip and Samtec are joining our traditional group of leading software developers and manufacturers as we build on our industry-leading events for electronics design and manufacturing. And because the supply chain doesn’t stop at the bare board, we are adding circuit assembly to our educational mix, completing the proverbial circuit.

It's all part of our mission to help printed circuit engineers and professionals engage with their careers and with each other, while ensuring the pipeline of talent our industry desperately needs doesn't run dry.