I had the opportunity to talk with Del Smith of Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota last fall at the American Vacuum Society Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. Del has put together a phenomenal set of accredited classes specifically to teach vacuum technology and thin film technology with the purpose of graduating qualified technicians.

In this video, Del presents the concept of vacuum technology to laypeople and discussed the importance of training qualified technicians. He points out that unlike mechanical, electrical or medical technicians, vacuum technicians are a relatively small group of individuals but are in high demand.

It is well worth watching this video as Del explains the importance that industry is placing on having trained individuals who understand in detail vacuum technology beyond just being able operate the equipment from recipes without understanding.

From the YouTube post:

“Published on Nov 9, 2016 From TVs to potato chip bags, “thin film” is used in myriad ways. Normandale Community College is helping to make it possible for you to use all of your current technology. It is the only community college in the country to offer an associate degree in vacuum and thin-film technology. Every electronic device uses thin film in some way and NCC is focused on the thin-film used in computer chips and computer hard drives. Del Smith is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and has worked for high tech companies in the Twin Cities area his entire career. Del spent thirty years at Honey-well Aerospace, where he was the lead engineer in two different areas; the Thin Film Facility and the Vacuum Laboratory. Del was a member of the team that established the Vacuum and Thin Film program at NCC in the mid 1990s, and taught part time for a few years. The program was started at the request of several local companies who recognized the need for more educated technicians as the equipment they were using became more complex. Today, due to a three year $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Del’s class reaches students not only in Bloomington, but as far away as Ireland through “telepresence” instruction. Join us to learn more about this technology and the ways our lives depend on it.”

I admire Del for the well thought out program and equipment he put together and his desire to to give back to the vacuum industry.