Sep 26, 2014 STI Electronics, Inc. announces that after their 57-year careers in the electronics industry, two of its founders, Jim and Ellen Raby, have retired. STI employees, business associates, and friends and family of the Raby’s came together on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 to honor Jim and Ellen Raby with a retirement reception to commemorate their impact on STI and the electronics industry as whole. STI presented Jim and Ellen with the first flag flown over STI as well as a “Through the Years” photo album of their accomplishments and history of their careers.
STI Electronics was founded in 1982 as a small family business with Jim, Ellen and David Raby. Over the past 32 years, STI has grown to employ a staff of more than 70 and expanded its focus from consulting and technical seminars to become a full-service organization providing training services, analytical and failure analysis, prototyping, and small- to medium-volume PCB assembly.
“Jim and Ellen’s contributions to our industry are well documented,” says David Raby, President/CEO. “Jim’s vision and Ellen’s steadiness also have helped shape STI Electronics into the kind of company it is today – a company based on strong values and ensuring our employees, customers and suppliers are all treated as they should be. I wish them the very best in their well-earned retirement and I commit to growing STI without changing those values. It has been a special privilege to be able to work as a family for the last 32 years.”
Jim is well-known through the industry for his work with soldering and high-reliability printed circuit assemblies. He spent his entire career in electronics manufacturing, starting with the Saturn/Apollo rocket program. Jim is credited for developing the NASA and Navy (the famous China Lake) soldering schools, and was instrumental in developing the IPC soldering certification curriculum, used by the vast majority of the industry today. He initiated the Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility (now known as the American Competitiveness Institute). During his career, he has trained tens of thousands of engineers and operators.
For more than 30 years, Jim has worked on industry standards, including DOD-STD-2000, MIL-STD-2000, J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610. He also helped write and implement standards for wire harnesses. He has been involved in the research for lead-free solder processes and materials. His seminal paper, “Standardization of Military Specifications,” was the roadmap for reducing some 219 specifications into a single four-document set known as MIL-STD-2000, the precursor to J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610. He has worked on more than a dozen standards and training programs, and chaired or vice-chaired committees on soldering, rework and repair, component mounting and product assurance. Jim was instrumental in the writing of the curriculum and beta testing for J-STD-001, IPC-A-610D, IPC/WHMA-A-620 and IPC-7711/7721A, and received the IPC Presidents Award in 1984.
For more information about STI Electronics, Inc., visit www.stielectronicsinc.com.
Since 1982, STI Electronics, Inc. (STI) has been the premier full service organization for training, consulting, laboratory analysis, prototyping, and small- to medium-volume PCB assembly in the electronics industry. STI also produces a complete line of solder training kits and training support products. For more information, visit www.stielectronicsinc.com.
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