January 16, 2020 — IPC Design will serve as the pre-eminent international professional network of board designers. At its core will be IPC Design Chapters, localized groups of professionals with board design responsibilities. Members of IPC Design Chapters will be organized around three key goals:

• Advancement of printed board design
• Connection with other designers
• Continuing education and training

Patrick Crawford, manager, design standards and related industry programs at IPC stated, “The core of the new program is to empower and benefit more PCB designers. We want to bring more of IPC’s resources to bear on the design community in the sense that we have a global member network and a modern digital infrastructure that can support committees, create groups, facilitate collaboration and allow them to disseminate knowledge online.”

IPC Design is advised by the Design Community Leadership, an international community of designers. Leading this group is Karen McConnell, CID, Northrop Grumman Corporation, who will lead the first meeting at IPC APEX EXPO 2020. The Design Community Leadership will work with designers and engineers throughout the industry to bring exceptional design service, education, training, and support to aspiring professionals. There is a concerted effort to bring IPC Design Chapters to all countries active in the design segment.

Existing IPC Designer Council Chapters will be transitioned into IPC Design, building a stronger presence of design in local communities and design centers.

Teresa Rowe, senior director, assembly and standards technology, who has been leading the growth of the emerging engineers program at IPC said, “As we embrace the younger design community and recognize that design is no longer confined to just designers, we want to bring the industry together with designers to build electronics better.”

For more information on IPC Design, visit www.ipc.org.