Brandy Tharp: A Passion For Helping Others

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Eleven-year-old girls hold many interests, from sports and playing games, to learning how to make more complex decisions and finding commonalties with friends and loved ones.

While Brandy Tharp may have been doing all those things at that age, she was also learning a new skill that most of her friends probably weren’t—how to solder. It lit a fire in this young girl who enjoyed math, helping others, and finding ways to harness her energy.

“My mom taught me how to solder on rechargeable battery units that she built,” says Brandy, director of education at IPC. “It was something I grew up with. Everybody kind of fell into some facet of the field.”

When she started college, Brandy also worked for a telecommunications equipment manufacturer doing hand insertion manual assembly, then learning how to run a wave solder machine because she could work a weekend shift.

“But I’m not the kind of person who can sit still,” she says. “I like to know a little bit about everything.” Because the company was short on operators, Brandy learned how to program and run more lines and equipment, working her way through each department. That led to a position in the training department and launched a career in training and certification.

Instead of becoming the high school math teacher she had originally planned, Brandy has spent her career either training others or developing training programs in the electronics industry. For one job, she became a master IPC trainer and did quite a bit of traveling. “I loved that job,” she says. “I loved training and seeing all the different facilities. We would go all over the country, meet new people, and learn different processes, whether it was cable wire harness manufacturing, PCB fab, or military classes.”

To read finish this article about Brandy, which appeared in the fall issue of IPC Community, click here.