GARBSEN, GERMANY -- The Institute of Technical Education in Singapore, Hakko and LPKF Laser & Electronics have signed an agreement to collaborate on training printed circuit board manufacturers.

Under terms of the agreement, the respective companies will work together to formulate special training courses for prototyping PCBs. LPFK furnished ITE with a complete series of systems and processes for non-chemical circuit board prototyping. Over the next five years ITE employees will participate in specifically conceived "train-the-trainer" courses at LPKF.

"The working atmosphere at the ITE impressed me. Students receive industry- and research-related project tasks and develop them until they are ready for the market. They have fun, but it is also a very serious commitment," said Britta Schulz, Rapid PCB Prototyping division manager at LPKF.

Hakko manufactures hand soldering systems and is a distributor for LPKF. Hakko and the ITE have collaborated on training programs since 2010.