IPC APEX EXPO 2025 Learning Lounge: Education on the Show Floor

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The conference portion of IPC APEX EXPO has been providing educational opportunities for attendees since the first show. But recently, show managers decided to expand education onto the show floor.

So, for the 25th IPC APEX EXPO, IPC launched a new idea: the Learning Lounge, a two-day series of educational presentations on the show floor. The Learning Lounge drew a good crowd of attendees and exhibitors alike. Topics focused primarily on industry training, education, and workforce challenges and solutions.

I attended the first presentation, “Designing Effective Training for the Electronics Manufacturing Industry,”  which was led by Carlos Plaza, senior director of education at IPC, on the morning of March 18. Carlos started off by walking us through how our brains grasp new information, and which styles of teaching are the most effective at conveying this info.

One point that jumped out at me: Data shows that a one-time data dump of information, also known as “drinking out of a firehose,” isn’t as effective as we think. After a data dump, our brains struggle to synthesize this new information, trying to link it up with our prior knowledge of that topic. As I learned years ago when I was a substitute teacher, it’s tough to teach a student without prior knowledge, but even if we have some knowledge of the subject, the data dump isn’t the best teaching format. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to education.

Other Learning Lounge presentations included “Building Regional Workforce Ecosystems in Electronics Manufacturing: Integrating Education, Industry, and Workforce Development”; “Maximizing Returns: The ROI of Training in Electronics Manufacturing”; and “Implementing and Funding Regional Workforce Ecosystems in Electronics Manufacturing.”

With so many young technologists entering the profession as the “cottontops” retire, there’s a premium on training and education. Learning Lounge offers a great chance to get a little education on the fly, on your way to your next exhibitor appointment.