As electronics apprentice, soldering is one of the many skills that is required not only for design and construction but also for the repair of circuits and equipment.

Soldering is the method of bonding two or more items together; mainly for the bonding of electronic components to a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). Soldering may look easy but it’s not as simple as it looks. Anyone can solder but doing it correctly and producing a suitable joint is the difficult bit.

To produce a good solder joint you have to have your soldering iron set at the correct temperature, use a suitable sized tip that has been well looked after and have a clean surface that hasn’t been oxidised. You then have to heat the pin and pad up correctly before applying the correct amount of solder, which is available in many different sizes.

Not using the correct techniques or holding the required skills can result in what is known as a bad joint. There are many different types of bad soldered joints, from cold joints (where the solder hasn’t melted fully before the heat was removed) and insufficient wetting joints (Where the pad of the PCB or the pin of the component hasn’t been heated and the solder hasn’t been given time to flow) to overheated joints. There can also be bad joints due to too much solder or not enough, solder bridges (shorts), pads can also be lifted and even solder splatters can cause problems. Whether it is now or ten years down the line, all these things will result in failure.

To make things more difficult, components aren’t just through-hole (Pushed through a hole and soldered on the other side), they are now also available surface mount. This means you also have to place components correctly over a pad and solder to the pad or use solder paste.

At the university most PCB’s are populated using through-hole components. But the University is starting to incorporate a lot more surface mount components into the many PCB’s that are designed and constructed. As well as this, most equipment that we repair contains surface mount components. This requires electronic technicians to be able to solder and de-solder through-hole components as well as surface mount.

As an apprentice I haven’t had much experience when it comes to surface mount components. But being able to solder them and produce a good joint is an essential skill which is needed. For this reason I attended an introduction course and an advanced course in soldering surface mount components.

The course was in Leeds, and ran for 3 days. Moving from conventional through-hole soldering to working with surface mount components was daunting. Soldering surface mount was completely different and new techniques were required and new skills had to be mastered.

I went from soldering basic Surface mount Chips incorrectly to being able to solder 160 pin Quad flat packs to  class 1, 2 and 3 standards.

I learnt how to not only solder the components using different methods, but also how to remove them, re-align them and prepare/clean the PCB for reworking; a necessary skill for prototype circuit building and repair. I gained techniques in the diagnosis of faults as well and the implications of ESD during handling, storage and packaging of components.

The Surface Mount Soldering Course has aided me immensely giving me skills and knowledge and more importantly confidence to complete surface mount jobs given.

Being part of the Apprenticeship scheme gives you many opportunities to improve on skills and knowledge which is essential to your chosen career path, opportunities which aren’t as available outside of the University environment. I am always grateful for opportunities offered to me, especially when they aid me in my career and allow my passion and enthusiasm to grow.

As an apprentice with The University of Manchester you are given many opportunities to enhance your future and discover more about your chosen career path. For me one of these opportunities i was presented with was an opportunity to go to the world’s leading Trade Fair for Electronic Components. This trade fair is called Electronica; it happens every 2 years and is based in Munich, Germany.

Since January this year I have been part of the Chemistry (now Chemistry and Physics) Electronics workshop. From day 1 I have been treated as a vital member of the electronics team and have been given so much support from everyone allowing my enthusiasm and passion for electronics to grow even further. When Steve, the workshop manager, found out I was to be located here for the remainder of my apprenticeship he quickly invited me to go along to the trade show with them.

After getting the go ahead from Colin, the hotel was booked, the flights were booked, everything had been paid for. So, on Tuesday 8^th November I got up at 4am to catch a 7am flight to Munich. I couldn’t believe I had been given an opportunity like this, it started to sink in just how lucky I was to be in this position and made me feel like all my hard work and effort was paying off.

But believe me, this was no holiday!

Electronica was 143,000 Square meters; it consisted of 13 halls and lasted for 4 days. From PCB’s, Semi-conductors, Sensors, connectors, displays and even a hall full off boxes, Electronica had everything you could think off. It’s the place to go to find out about all the latest developments, meet companies, and create contacts…it’s like an entire world of electronics.  It had 73,000 visitors from over 80 countries.

Electronica was huge, I was overwhelmed at just how big the trade fair was and how advanced technology was becoming. The amount of knowledge available in just one place was amazing; it was like walking into a book and not knowing where to start.  Apart from coming back with numerous bags and pens, and blisters on my feet, I also came back with knowledge on where electronics is heading, the latest software’s being developed, ideas for my HNC project, even ideas on how to complete certain jobs I have been given.  I met managing directors, I met sales people, I met designers…I even met a few people who had studied at The University of Manchester or had family here. I saw devices for picking up tiny surface mount components, devices for testing boards, devices for making PCB’s, I saw the one of the fastest electric super-bikes, I even got a free (much needed after a long day walking) pint from the Farnell Stand.

My favourite hall was the Test and Measurement hall; it contained all the latest equipment from oscilloscopes and function generators, to thermal imaging cameras and high-tech medical equipment. I saw so much that was useful and that I would love to have on my work bench that I need to start saving.

I am grateful to have had this opportunity, it has really opened my eyes to how much is out there and how electronics really is the future. It’s given me a real boost in pushing myself even further to achieve. Fingers crossed for the opportunity to go in 2018. 

For anyone who has ever started a new job you will know how nerve racking and how sick you feel on your first day, meeting new people,  doing new things, trying to make a good impression. Well for me, sat on the coach on the way to the team building trip to Patterdale felt exactly the same.

Being part of the university and the apprentiship scheme is amazing, you meet so many people but you never actually get to know them. With the other apprentices we only ever meet when we are at meetings, courses or sometimes in just passing. This is probably the reason for our team building trip to Patterdale – So we can get to know each other.

Patterdale is a small village in the Lake District; basically it’s IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.  Whilst there we were to stay at Patterdale Hall, which is a Victorian building, and we were to undergo lots of different activities to help us work effectivity as a team.

At the moment of being sat on the coach I was nervous, I had never been away on a team building week before and I didn’t really know anyone, I couldn’t even remember everyone’s names.  Then we arrived…

No sooner had we put our bags down that we were thrown straight into an activity. The activity being raft building. We had logs, barrels and string. The aim was to get everyone over to the other side of the water and keep the raft in one piece.  Because the group was so big we were split into 2 groups, this therefore meant that not only did we have to work as a team, get everyone across with our raft still intact, but we also had to beat the other team.

This was our first activity and you could tell that we didn’t really know each other; it took time to get into the swing of who was doing what and what your part was within the team.  Before we knew it there were 2 rafts built. All that was left was to get across the water in one piece.

We carried our raft into the water, not really having a strategy on how to actually get across.  The first time we got on it we were actually stuck on the lake bed. So after a bit of a sluggish start we eventually seemed to be getting somewhere. In the end the team that I was on lost the race between the 2 rafts but we all made it across in one piece.

More activities like this followed throughout the week from rock climbing to canoeing. All the activities were focused on us being a team with every activity having a different team leader.

For me, my favourite activity was the canoeing, I think this was because it was something where we all had to work as a team and also because the group I was in was in front of the other. We canoed the whole length of the lake and even used tents as sails.  I was one of the two in my canoe that was in charge of steering, we had to make sure that the canoe was facing the right direction and that when the sails were up they were in the wind.

For everyone there was a challenge somewhere in the week, whether it be being in water or being at height. For me personally everything was a challenge. I’m unfit and I knew I wouldn’t have the stamina or the physical abilities like the others. Out of all the activities the walking expedition was the hardest.  This activity required us to walk to a place where we were to camp for the night. This meant we had rucksacks of essential things we would need on our backs, from sleeping bags to cooking stoves. From the start I knew in my head I wouldn’t be making it to camp, it was a long way and I could only just carry my own weight let alone the weight of a full bag. I said I wanted to make it half way and I managed just over that before having to go back.  I felt as if I’d let my team down, but after thinking about it and discussing it with one of the others I came to the conclusion that id challenged myself and that me having to come back would allow the rest of my team to be challenged.

By the end of the week we were all knackered and ready for home. The week in Patterdale was great, and I feel that I have really gotten to know the other apprentices. I feel that team building activities like the ones carried out at Patterdale Hall were really beneficial, not only to enable us to work as a team but as a good way for us to get to know each other and more importantly make friends.

As soon as I got offered a place on the University’s apprenticeship programme I knew it was going to be an amazing and rewarding experience. Now 4 months after starting at the university I know that applying for an EPS technician was the best decision I have made in my life so far.

Since being here I have started at college on a Level 3 BTEC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, which I attend once a week, as well as also doing an NVQ Level 3. Having previously come from a mechanical engineering background, I can safely say I don’t know much about this subject. Whilst being here I’ve been taught so much, not only from Trafford College but also from the University itself. I’ve built circuits, I’ve tested circuits and I’ve done plenty of soldering!

Since day one I was soldering components and building circuit boards for students. On one of my first days I got to see one of the other technicians blowing up a capacitor; he was experimenting with different types of capacitors to see which one would go with the best ‘BANG’ in order to show the students the importance of putting components the correct way round. Every day is different and some of the things I get to see are really inspiring. For instance, someone came in and they had designed and built an electronic bike, I’ve been shown the process of how circuit boards are designed and manufactured, I’ve met and spoken to people who are in research and spoken to and found out the background of people who are retired but still work here voluntarily.

I have already been on a Solidworks course. This course was undergone with a few of the other apprentices and it introduced us into solidworks and how to create engineering drawings and 3D models using the computer software. We are also soon to attend an IOSH course which will allow us to gain knowledge in working safely, as well as a team building trip to Patterdale Hall in May.

Working at the University is so different compared to working in industry. I feel like people have time and patience to help and explain things to you here. Being in the university environment also gives me confidence to achieve and to work to the best of my abilities. These past 4 months have been interesting and rewarding. The staff at the University have made me feel welcome and already I feel like part of their team. I’m looking forward to the next few years and the challenges and rewards that I will face. As well as there hopefully being more electronic apprentices joining me!