Hi Matthew, The textbook would have to be CAD platform independent. There are far too many variations in CAD programs out there to address each one's unique method of operation. (Actually there is a CAD specific committee that is investigating CAD certification for specifically requested CAD programs that want a IPC certification for their operators... I think it is still in review as a potential area we can help designers with. I'm not sure what the progress is on that activity at this time... but you are correct in suggesting the CAD system part of a designer's training should not affect the content of this book.) Any good textbook that could be used in a classroom setting should have reasonable chapter content and exercises and a chapter test at the end of each section. I have put together a list of chapters that could be broken out into subsections and perhaps we could get some assistance with content and review as we go along. This is no small project, but it will be greatly appreciated and useful for many years to come. I don't think we have all agreed to take this project on yet as a group, but it is on the table for discussion. I am afraid of actually how much information there is out there and finding a reasonable focus for each subject that doesn't overwhelm the reader but hits the main important points of the topic in sufficient breadth to give the student good command of the subject... that seems to be the real challenge. Our IPC DC study guides for CID and CID+ are helpful in getting a framework for content, however the format of the 3 day workshop doesn't lend itself to the semester based classroom situation. I was thinking the best way to approach this is to break it into separate progressive headings and give them to different individuals or teams of individuals to work on and then assemble them and refine them into the final text. What do you think? Best regards, Bill Brooks PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I. Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 http://pcbwizards.com -----Original Message----- From: Matthew Lamkin [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 1:33 AM To: '(Designers Council Forum)'; 'Brooks,Bill' Subject: RE: [DC] "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay...." It should even appeal to more than just schools esp given the lack of good books on the subject. I'd hope that its available to the UK too & that its not specific to using particular programs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil. To temporarily stop/(restart) delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL/(MAIL) Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------