Training Technicians at PCC

As part of SVP Portland, the Encore Fellows Program provides a source of expertise for nonprofit organizations, helps individuals (Fellows) transition from their careers into social-purpose work, and gives corporations a new way to positively impact their communities. Encore Fellows who have retired from a career are matched with host nonprofit organizations based on their passions, skills, and experience.

Martha Jones shares her experience as an Encore Fellow at Portland Community College:

What is your background and how did that contribute to your interest in an Encore Fellowship?

I am an engineer who retired from Intel in June 2022 after 25 years. My background is chemical engineering, but I didn't specifically use that training as an integration engineer or in the bulk of my quality and reliability engineering roles. However, I used ultra-high vacuum systems during my graduate program, which is where I learned to tighten flanges, and found that I have a favorite wrench!

I also enjoyed participating in, and leading the last few years, a “Lean In” circle for our Oregon Quality & Reliability engineers that discussed topics around career development. I have always gravitated towards teaching, so I wanted a Fellowship where I could teach or mentor and help others get excited about technical subjects.

What was your Fellowship project?

I did my Encore Fellowship at Portland Community College (PCC), re-developing and delivering an intensive two-week “Quick Start to Semiconductor Technician Training” (see page 6 of PCC’s Communities magazine). This project was a collaboration between the City of Hillsboro and Intel. It was initiated as a pilot to duplicate a program developed by Intel’s Arizona facility, and was designed to engage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities, including people of color, women, low-income and rural communities, people with disabilities, and veterans.

The course consists of 40 hours of instruction and hands-on labs – not including their homework! At the end of the program, students who successfully complete the two-week training can interview with Intel for a position if they wish to be considered.  

My project was to learn the materials, modify labs to be performed on available PCC equipment, and teach six of the classes. I had six weeks before the first class to get it done, which was a whirlwind of learning and revisions – but I made it! My co-instructors and I continued refining and improving the material and its delivery over the next several classes. The last phase of the project was creating a package of curriculum and training materials so the class can be replicated in other locations and make it easier to onboard new instructors.

Why did you choose to do your Fellowship as a “Quick Start to Semiconductor Technician Training” instructor?

I hoped to have a placement that allowed me to further explore teaching in the real world, and build a network outside of Intel.

A few months before I retired, I'd seen an article about Intel sponsoring a PCC program to provide training to be a semiconductor technician, with a focus on encouraging a diverse pipeline of people to consider becoming a technician as a career path.

My Intel network connected SVP’s Encore Fellow Program Coordinator with both the Intel and PCC program owners, and my background and availability was a good fit for their open instructor position. Just in time, too, as hiring an instructor was one of the last things needed for the program to really begin. They already had a student waitlist and only six weeks until the first class! 

From my perspective, this PCC program was an excellent fit for my skill set. It used my cleanroom, manufacturing, people-management, and vacuum experience, so I was confident I was bringing a useful background to the class. At the same time, it provided me an opportunity to co-teach with fabulously-experienced PCC instructors, while building a PCC network. I could share my interest and enthusiasm for hands-on learning and encourage people from many backgrounds to explore different career options. 

What did you learn from your Fellowship?

I learned new technical skills, about PCC programs, and more about working in a nonprofit environment.

To develop labs and teach modules in the class, I learned more about fasteners (bolts), torque wrenches, pneumatics, hydraulics, and even how to use a breadboard – which, as a chemical engineer, I'd studiously avoided for decades. 

I feel I grew as an instructor, developing how to better engage the students and reinforce the learning through videos, practice, repetition, and application in the labs. I learned how to use an online learning system to set up and deliver a class (D2L).

I also learned about PCC’s incredible manufacturing resources. They have equipment and training I could have only dreamed about in graduate school, so the hands-on opportunities are fabulous. The faculty for Microelectronics Technology were wonderfully supportive, both with experience, equipment, and knowing how to get things done at PCC (essential when you have less than six weeks to put all the lab modifications together and don't have a corporate credit card!). 

I experienced some notable differences between corporate culture and a nonprofit, and what stands out the most is that while a nonprofit may not pay a big salary, they know how to express sincere appreciation and gratitude in a standout way! Corporate culture could learn a thing or two. I also learned that educating others on the work you’re doing (the public relations component) is key for future grants and programs – so collect the right data to help you demonstrate a successful track record.

Finally, I learned how skills from my career could be effectively used in a non-engineering environment, from project management (creating dashboards, tracking readiness, defining clear success criteria), prioritization for work (“is it the cake, the icing on the cake, or the sprinkles on the icing on the cake?”), problem solving (isolating root cause on broken equipment), and most importantly, being reminded how teamwork and diversity of experience makes the work better!

What was your overall Encore Fellow experience?

My overall experience was 10/10, highly recommended! The support was fabulous from both PCC and Intel, and everybody was creative and flexible in helping us reach our goals for the class. As a huge added bonus, the availability of the Encore Fellowship freed up more grant money to deliver additional classes. To date, 61 trainees have been hired out of 10 classes delivered, and PCC is developing the instructor pool for next year now!