Fellow Designers: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for making the IPC Designers Council the success that it is today. Much has happened this past year; I will use this letter to update you. The most visible and talked-about program has been designer certification. There have been recent articles and editorials in magazines concerning the difficulty of the examination and its applicability to designers. Some of these comments come from those who have no experience with the published exam and its content. Perhaps their confusion stems from the lengthy beta test that was used to screen questions for the exam. The published exam, with a little more than 30% of the original beta questions removed, barely resembles the beta test. (Much appreciation goes out to the beta testers. These individuals were exposed to a huge database of questions; some good, some bad, some too easy and some too difficult). The certification program was intentionally developed to expand the limits of the PWB design profession and define what a well- rounded designer should know. Certification will also give recognition to the profession's value within the product development cycle. There are some who claim that we are attempting to verify the creativity of a designer. I will be the first to agree that testing for creativity is an impossible task. What we can and are doing is verifying that a designer has the knowledge base to create a good design and avoid mistakes, just as the driver's license exam verifies that a driver has knowledge of the rules of the road and how to avoid accidents (not how to start the car or how creatively they can get to where they are going). A good PWB design is defined as one that will produce a cost-effective, manufacturable product. Designers realize that the sale of products provides us with the means of income. Designing something that cannot be manufactured and sold is counterproductive, if not self-destructive. It was a mistake to publish the first exam without having a study guide available. This, I fear, has contributed to a generally poor performance of designers on the examination. When the CPA exam began in the early part of this century, there was also concern about the relatively small proportion of candidates who passed (out of 820 candidates for CPA certificates, only 110 passed - a little over 13 percent). The CPA society listened to and overcame their critics to establish a well-recognized certificate. The IPC Designers Council will do the same. Some history on the evolution of the certification program: Since the beginning, a certification committee of designers was formed to define the body of knowledge required to transform a schematic into a reliable PWB design which is easily manufactured, assembled and tested. This body of knowledge was established based on the input from a cross-section of designers with experience ranging from very little to over 30 years. As the knowledge base unfolded, the program evolved and includes educational development, resource materials, testing and certification. For the testing portion, Sylvan Prometric was brought in to help us develop a test with principles consistent with those used by educational institutions as well as private organizations with testing programs. Using the committee's body of knowledge, Sylvan guided us through the process of developing objectives for each of the ten subject areas: layout requirements electrical considerations material properties component requirements assembly technology board fabrication physical board requirements documentation techniques testing technology reliability issues These objectives further aided us in the development of questions, or items, to be used in verifying a designer's grasp of the knowledge base. The certification committee is reviewing a study guide for the first exam. Also, we are currently reviewing the questions on the first exam and are modifying the entire program based on inputs from the design community. I must personally thank all those designers who have spent their weekends and holidays developing a program for their profession. They have left a legacy from which all designers will benefit. Contrary to what you may have heard or read, this project has the backing of many designers who have and continue to contribute to the program. The committee has learned a lot from these beginning efforts. The designer certification program will continue to evolve and improve under the guidance of the Certification Officers from our chapters. In other news of the IPC Designers Council's activities, I am extremely pleased with the widespread interest in the council. The IPC E-mail forums have brought information to and from designers, all over the world. Local chapters have used the forum to announce chapter meetings or to inquire about interest in forming a new chapter. The cross matrix of the IPC forums has enabled designers to discuss, with industry experts and peers, issues concerning CAD systems, board fabrication, assembly and test, to name a few. New chapters continue to form as you read this letter. Chapters in Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, New York, and Arizona are either already registered or in the registration phase. Designers interested in the council but with no local chapter representation have taken membership in distant chapters in order to be counted and keep abreast of council activities. The foremost attraction is the programs being sponsored by the local chapters. If you have read any of the chapter reports listed in the "New Horizons" column of PC Design, you saw how aggressive and active the chapters are. They have held sessions on ball grid array design, EMI considerations, high speed design, SMT and fine pitch design, and many other design related sessions. In addition to sessions, they have arranged for tours through board fabrication and assembly facilities, as well as related testing laboratories. At a number of meetings, that I attended, designers were busy exchanging techniques on CAD operation and management. In all, the local programming seems to be the most effective contribution for the continued growth of the council. A number of projects besides certification were also undertaken by the Council. The Council was responsible for designing a surface mount test board. This board enables a user to evaluate land patterns, pick and place equipment, soldering and cleaning processes. This board has been widely used by exhibitors at the annual Surface Mount International Conference. In addition, many assemblers and OEMs have used the board for various evaluations. Another project that has not been given much publicity is our involvement in activities involving total electronic data transfer, through the entire product development cycle. The effort is currently known as DTS '96 (Data Transfer Solutions). This effort includes not only Council representation but also a number of CAD and CAM vendors, assemblers, board fabrication shops, OEMs, and lastly, standards bodies from all over the world! You will be kept abreast as this program continues to unwind. I would like to thank the IPC Board of Directors for their vision to create the opportunity for the design community to form the IPC Designers Council. It enables designers from all over the world to unite for mutual development. In conclusion, the IPC Designers Council is strong, its programs are strong, and most of all, it is being developed "by Designers, for Designers." Sincerely, Gary Ferrari Chairman - IPC Designers Council