Standard of Excellence: The Human Touch in an Automated World
The Government Circuit: Navigating New Trade Headwinds and New Partnerships
Global Sourcing Spotlight: How to Evaluate Supplier Capabilities Worldwide
SMTA Chapters: A Bold, New Direction
February 5, 2025 | Nolan Johnson, SMT007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Since joining SMTA as director of chapter relations about seven months ago, Alicia Yao has had some immediate and definite impact. Her background includes management in the luxury product retail space which, if one reflects on it, provides philosophical parallels to customer relationship building in electronics assembly. In this interview, she speaks about the menu of technical resources available through SMTA at both the chapter level and at headquarters.
Nolan Johnson: SMTA has a strong chapter-based structure with many local working groups where knowledge and information are seamlessly shared between the corporate office and chapters. What is SMTA’s vision and mission when it comes to technical resources?
Alicia Yao: We approach our offerings differently for users vs. suppliers. For our users, we want to provide the most up-to-date technical resources, including webinars, and in-person events at our expos and conferences. Suppliers want to see the new technology in addition to technical resources and having networking opportunities. It's a good way to stay connected to your community and for our up-and-coming young professionals and students to find mentorship and career opportunities.
Johnson: Chapter meetings will often have a guest speaker. How involved is SMTA in identifying or arranging chapter guest speakers
Yao: The local chapters use their personal connections to find speakers, but we will help them if needed. We have a database of speakers from prior SMTA conferences and meetings. Each time someone speaks at an event, they are added to our database. Speakers can then select topics in their areas of expertise. Our board of directors is great for providing speakers and topics as well.
Johnson: That's a great resource.
Yao: One of our projects this past year was to clean up that database and look for trending topics. We also confirmed with speakers whether they wanted to remain on the database so that it remains an even more effective tool for the chapters.
Johnson: Have you found any additional topics in that review process?
Yao: AI is an upcoming topic trend, including how companies can incorporate AI into their everyday procedures. Reliability in harsh environments remains an ongoing and very popular topic.
To read the entire interview, which originally appeared in the February 2025 SMT007 Magazine, click here.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
SMTA Elects New Board Members
08/27/2025 | SMTAThe SMTA is pleased to announce its election results for the Global Board of Directors for the term beginning October 19, 2025. Elizabeth Benedetto, HP Inc.; Pratish Patel, Electronic Interconnect; and Sutharshan Suppiramaniam, SMT Elite Corporation, have been newly elected to the Board of Directors for the term 2025-2028.
TRI's One-Stop Solutions at SMTA Michigan and Long Island 2025
08/18/2025 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading provider of test and inspection systems for the electronics manufacturing industry, will join SMTA Michigan and SMTA Long Island 2025.
BTU International to Feature Aurora Reflow Technology at SMTA Michigan and Ohio Expos
08/15/2025 | BTU International, Inc.BTU International, Inc., a leading supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment for the electronics manufacturing market, will exhibit at the upcoming SMTA Michigan Expo & Tech Forum on Tuesday, August 19 in Livonia, MI, and the SMTA Ohio Expo & Tech Forum on Thursday, August 21 in Independence, OH.
Transition Automation to Debut Sliding Paste Retainers at SMTA International
08/04/2025 | Transition Automation (TA)Transition Automation, Inc. (TA) will exhibit a new Paste Retainer option in booth 2947 at the SMTA International 2025, taking place from Oct. 21-23, 2025, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.
KYZEN Cleaning Experts to Provide Insights at SMTA High Reliability Cleaning and Coating Conference
07/29/2025 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally responsible cleaning chemistries, announced today that three members of the KYZEN team of cleaning experts will present technical presentations as part of KYZEN’s participation at the 2025 SMTA High Reliability Cleaning and Conformal Coating Conference scheduled to take place Aug. 12-14, 2025 at the Westin DFW Airport.