INDUSTRY NEWS

BREAKOUT

New program to use team-based approach for solving labor shortage

An electronics technician training program designed to help alleviate the shortage of microelectronics-savvy technicians will use a team learning approach, says the head of the institute sponsoring the inaugural program. Jay Pinson of the Pinson Institute says the five-member teams will be evaluated on technical knowledge, written presen-tations, oral presentations, ability to share ideas, and willingness to help teammates, as well as individual accomplishments. Each team must also set up an Internet chat room for problem solving.

"Completion of the courses and the program will depend on team performance, [course] hours, and days spent in the classroom," says Pinson, a former dean of engineering at San Jose State University. "I'm an old educator, and I believe that students learn as much from one another as they do from an instructor. [The concept] is no different from when you and I went to school and worked together to do our homework." The whole team must pass the course in order to graduate.

The Accelerated Electronic Technician Program Fall 1997 begins this month and will cover the technical content of a typical two-year program in one year. Teams may "test out" of the courses in under a year if they are capable of it, Pinson says. Semiconductor manufacturing topics include courses on gases and chemical distribution, contamination control, and EHS issues; manufacturing process technology; metrology; microcontamination and particle control; and productivity and yield management. Students will take general education and selected outside courses at community colleges. Graduates will receive an associate degree transferable to a four-year university. Student loans are available and evening courses will be offered for students who work during the day.

Confronting a shortage of 40,000 technicians over the next five years, the semiconductor industry has welcomed the training program, which was de-veloped to respond to the paucity of technicians. "The increase in technical complexity and in [electronics design and manufacturing] requires ever-increasing skills for the workforce," notes Dick Levy, executive vice president of Varian Associates and vice chair of the American Electronics Association. The association formed an advisory group to publicize the training program in high schools, particularly in the Silicon Valley area.

Because the inaugural program is a prototype, it will be offered this year at the institute in San Jose only. The September class will have an enrollment of 120 students. Pinson hopes to expand enrollment to 1000 for fall 1998, and he wants to develop the program for locations throughout the United States. Information: 408/559-3100, fax, 408/558-8092.

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