(WACO, Texas) – Students in Texas State Technical College’s Avionics program now have an opportunity to earn an industry-backed soldering certification while earning a certificate of completion or associate degree.
“The space industry and the public side of building and launching the rockets has caused us to chase the certification,” said Darrell Boyd, a TSTC Avionics instructor.
Offering the certification, backed by the Global Electronics Association (formerly known as the Institute of Printed Circuits), was also driven by the program’s industry partners. Boyd said the avionics field is moving toward technicians being certified — on par with the level of certifications that aviation maintenance technicians already achieve.
Soldering is used when light wires get broken off at attach points, and while working with circuit card attach points, coaxial pins and transponder strapping cards, said Kevin Hitchcock, avionics supervisor at King Aerospace Commercial Corp. in Ardmore, Oklahoma. King Aerospace has representation on the Avionics program’s industry advisory committee.
Hitchcock said it is a challenge to find qualified people to do the high-level work. He said at one time, installers ran wire, terminated connectors and assembled wire harnesses while technicians troubleshooted and interpreted schematics.
“Now, they are all lumped into one category, so you really don’t know what you are getting until they get here,” Hitchcock said.
James Isenhour works in information technology, sales and marketing at JAG Aviation Inc. in McGregor. He said avionics technicians perform soldering directly on aircraft in mission-critical systems.
“These tasks typically involve repairing or installing wiring and components where reliability is essential for safe operation,” Isenhour said.
Isenhour said common mistakes avionics technicians make are creating cold solder joints and using the wrong filler material.
“These issues can result in brittle connections that are prone to corrosion and may fail in a short period of time,” he said.
Students are exposed to soldering starting in their first semester. Students undergo the certification process in the Industry Certifications class.
Students painstakingly did surface-mount soldering capacitors, diodes and resistors onto small boards during a recent lab. Some tools that students use are tweezers, tip cleaners, soldering irons and wicks. Students also use large telescopes to zoom in on the work they are doing.
“Make sure you put parts in the right spot and make sure you don’t burn the project,” said Joseph Whitaker, of Eddy, who recently finished his fourth semester in the program.
Daniel Murphy, of Round Rock, is scheduled to graduate on Thursday, May 7, from the Avionics program. He said the skills he is learning should carry over into his dream job as a Formula 1 race mechanic.
Murphy said he has learned to start working on the hardest part of a soldering board first.
“It (soldering) has definitely made me more patient,” he said.
Registration continues for the summer and fall semesters at TSTC. For more information, go to tstc.edu.