With the rapid changes in technology, engineers and technicians face, keeping up with the latest process methods, packaging changes, business goals, time to market, scheduling, can become a daunting task. Manufacturing personnel, who have an understanding of the manufacturing process as a whole, can help to make a company more successful. This expertise is typically built over time and exposure to many different methodologies and disciplines. Very few colleges and universities provide actual “hands on” electronics manufacturing demonstrations and exercises as part of their curriculum. The inevitable learning curve for new engineers and technicians significantly lengthen the time before they can have a positive impact on the production process. The need for engineers and technicians to quickly develop a thorough understanding of the assembly process is critical to remaining competitive. Manufacturing personnel involved in the assembly process need to be able to hit the ground running, making a positive impact thus reducing the learning curve. The EMPF offers a course specifically designed for manufacturing personnel – Electronics Manufacturing Boot Camp.

Boot Camp is an intense two-week (80-hour) course held at the Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility (EMPF) in Philadelphia, PA. The course is structured to provide continuity between theory and application. Topics are first presented as a structured lecture in a classroom environment, followed immediately by hands-on training in the demonstration factory. Students gain knowledge and experience about electronics manufacturing through a balance of theory, lecture, and hands-on training.

The Boot Camp curriculum combines statistics, physics, metallurgy, electronics design, and materials science to provide a comprehensive understanding of the processes used to manufacture electronic devices. Participants learn how design choices may influence yields at the manufacturing level; how material and process input variables affect process outputs and interact with subsequent manufacturing processes; and how to design and monitor manufacturing processes. Not only will participants gain a thorough understanding of the science of the process involved, they will also have the opportunity to perform and “fine tune” the process, using our state-of-theart demonstration factory. The ability to use the manufacturing equipment provides a unique opportunity to marry the theoretical with hands on application.

Participants perform each phase of electronics production under the supervision and guidance of our experienced instructors. All of our instructors encourage discussion and interaction to maximize the learning experience.

The modules included are:

Students will participate in the building of electronic assemblies. This will entail dispensing solder paste, printing, and using component placement equipment, along with thermal profiling, reflow, and wave soldering machines.

Who Should Attend?
BOOT CAMP is beneficial to many in the workforce. Design engineers, new hires, technical sales representatives, process engineers, and technicians can benefit greatly from the lessons taught. BOOT CAMP is designed to provide electronics manufacturing personnel with two weeks of intense, hands-on training in every aspect of electronics manufacturing. Upon successful completion, students are able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the electronics manufacturing process.