My Experience as an IPC Student Chapter Leader

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Editor’s note: Palash Vyas is a recent doctoral graduate from Auburn University, and a past president of the IPC Student Chapter at Auburn. This is the second installment of a three-part series. Read part 1 here.

IPC has played a major role in my student life. In 2019, the IPC Education Foundation established its first student chapter at Auburn University, and I have been associated with this chapter since 2020 when I joined the electronics reliability research group at Auburn University as a PhD student under Dr. Sa’d Hamasha. As I became more involved in the field of electronics reliability, joining IPC chapter was an obvious choice. Initially, I joined as a chapter member, and I quickly realized the organization’s relevance and connection with my area of research. Thereby I contested in the elections and was voted as president of the chapter in January 2021. As president of a fledgling organization, I wanted to initiate a culture of learning and enhance skills among the students and build connections with the industry.

As the president, I had several responsibilities that required working with chapter members, IPC headquarters team, professors, members of the industry, and other internal and external stakeholders. I oversaw the weekly meetings, either in-person or remotely. In our meetings, we would discuss topics like prospective events we could host, taking part in activities hosted by other chapters, and promoting the organization on campus. I was responsible for allocating responsibilities to the chapter officers. Three events were hosted were:

• “Get Hired in Electronics Industry”
• A webinar, “Flexible electronics and the future of devices”
• IPC AU Chapter General meeting

It takes time to organize and host an event, but it’s a lot of fun too. Some things I had to do included deciding who to invite, collaborating with the guest speakers, setting a time and location for the event, preparing interview questions for them, figuring out and ordering the food, and more.

Apart from this, each event involved extensive marketing. We sent out mass emails to all the students of the relevant department. We also designed flyers to pin on bulletin boards across campus, and we put them on electronic displays as well. We even gave out prizes: Bose headphones, which we had arranged from IPCEF, were given to a lucky participant after each event. All our events were a great success, and the presenters and attendees expressed their pleasure at how well all three events were run. Our efforts were recognized, and our chapter received gold status from IPCEF. None of this would have been possible without my incredible team of chapter officers. All my duties as president have required teamwork and interpersonal skills, and I firmly believe that with these abilities, both personally and as an organization, we can achieve any goal.

My leadership philosophy centers around servant and transformational leadership. I believe it's important to make decisions that will transform the organization when it comes to making strategic decisions. For instance, at one webinar called "Flexible electronics and the future of devices" drew people from all around the world. An event of this size had never been held before.

We held a membership drive to coincide with our IPC AU Chapter General meeting, after which we saw an increase in the number of chapter members. I adopt a servant leadership style when interacting with chapter officers, professors, and other stakeholders, taking into account everyone's opinions before weighing my alternatives and coming up with the best solution. Every member of the team of chapter officers typically participates in the decision-making process.

To maintain the involvement of the chapter officials and foster a positive workplace culture, I think servant leadership is crucial. I want to develop my leadership abilities even more in the future so that I can manage larger teams and make decisions quickly. I believe that my experience at IPC as a chapter president will greatly benefit me in the future in the industry, as I would be given a responsibility to lead a team as an engineer.

Last year I was fortunate to be selected as an IPC Emerging Engineer and represent our Auburn Student Chapter. Being an Emerging Engineer at IPC APEX EXPO 2023 allowed me an opportunity to attend standard development meetings, technical conference sessions, and professional development courses. I also networked with some of the industry leaders there. I believe that this program is very unique and special as it gives an opportunity for the student to bring in a fresh perspective into the industry, which will be valuable to the committee and also helps the student grow their network and skills.

At IPC APEX EXPO 2022, I was fortunate to win the Best Paper Award for a paper I co-authored on solder joint reliability during thermal cycling. At IPC APEX EXPO 2024, I received Best Student Poster for my research on drop shock test of PCBs at elevated temperature.

Reflecting on my time, my journey with IPC has been nothing less than amazing. I have grown a lot academically, professionally, and personally. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities IPC has given me.

Find Palash Vyas on LinkedIn.