Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: Bring on the Kids!

Click Here to hear Dan read this column.

The next generation is not only interested in joining our ranks; these kids are eager! Yes, the time is right. The youngsters are finally interested in being part of this old industry of ours. For the first time in years, I am seeing interest and curiosity about our industry from people under 30. Now, I have to admit that these youngsters really have a much broader interest than just the circuit board industry; they are interested in just about anything that has to do with building things.

They want to know how things work; they want to know how things are built; they are fascinated with the inner workings of things. And that’s a good thing…no, that’s a great thing.

Just look around and you’ll start to get the picture. The Maker Movement is growing like wildfire, with conventions and expos showing up all over the country. People, especially young people, are waking up to the fact that anything is possible and that if you put your mind to it, you can build just about anything, and build it quickly. Crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter are simplifying the funding process: If you have a great idea you can get a crowd of people to back your efforts.

The Internet has provided us with a global village so small, tight, and connected that if someone in North Dakota can come post a great idea on Kickstarter, he can get funding from people all over the world, from Tokyo to Shanghai, from New York City to York, South Carolina, while building a ready and willing clientele in the process.

Gone are the barriers. A book can be published and distributed without bowing to the New York gods of publishing. Companies can be started without the trek up Sand Hill Road to beg VCs for a few million dollars. Products can be developed and brought to market by individuals working out of basements, garages, and garden sheds in a matter of days, not years.

People have the freedom and the ability to go from concept to reality in the wink of an eye, the click of a few keys, and the support of open forum communities. Young people, particularly, are seeing the opportunities viable to them, and they want to take advantage of them. They want to do things for themselves; they want to find out how things work. They don’t look at a job in a board shop or any other manufacturing facility as a dead end, but rather as a beginning and as a means to an end, an opportunity to learn. To this new generation of makers, working on a plating line or in a drill room or a solder mask department is a chance to learn more about an industry, to learn more about how to do something. To them this is an opportunity to be actually paid for an education.

More and more young people are asking me about opportunities in our industry. They not only want to know about the products we build, but they also want to know about the industry itself and where we fit into the greater scheme of things, they even want to know about our history. They are curious and ready to learn, and I love that.

So let’s start promoting this. Let’s head to the graduate schools and start talking to classes about our industry. I promise that if you go to a grad school in your area and offer to teach grad students about printed circuit boards, you will be welcome. In fact, a friend of mine, a professor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, is teaching a course on printed circuits this semester. He is focusing not only on how to build PCBs, but also how to interact with the industry today, thus preparing his students to be able to enter and then function in this industry. I am pleased to announce that he is also working with our publishing company writing a Graduate School Edition of our PCB 101 Handbook, which will come out later this year if all goes according to plan.

Companies like Bay Area Circuits in Fremont, California are already offering courses and training to students from local universities, thus educating their future customers. They call their program “Pizza, Pepsi and PCBs.” What a great idea!

Good things are happening right now. For the first time in 20 years, we young people are about to enter our industry. These young people have new ideas, new perspectives, new approaches and new ways of doing things, all of which bodes well for our industry today and into the future. So please join me in welcoming them. Join me and companies like Bay Area Circuits in doing whatever we can to promote our industry and get even more young people to enter our ranks.

It’s not just a good thing; it’s also only common sense.