Jun 15, 2020 
KYZEN announces Executive Vice President Tom Forsythe is running for President of the Board of Directors of the Surface Mount Technology Association.
“My decision to run is based on my passion for the industry and a personal desire to give back to the organization that has been so good to me professionally and personally over the past 25 years,” commented Mr. Forsythe. “Countless chapter meetings, expositions, tabletops, technical sessions and SMTA events over the years have helped me and thousands of my industry colleagues around the world not only learn the technology of the day, but also learn to be a good colleague and team member in a wonderful organization”
“My time on the Board of Directors a few years ago began when the new, SMTA owned and operated SMTAI was launched-a wonderful example of the power of teamwork SMTAI has developed our premier event to where it is today.”
Tom Forsythe’s electronics industry career began in the early 80's as a Navy helicopter pilot and, of course, a daily operator of sophisticated avionics. This operational experience followed his graduation from the United States Naval Academy with bachelor’s degrees in both Applied Mathematics and Engineering. Later on Tom earned his MBA from Boston University. In the early 90’s, Tom joined KYZEN Corporation during its start-up phase. In the nearly 30 years since, Tom has been a member of the leadership team that grew KYZEN from a great idea to a multinational company with staff and operations throughout the world. His hands-on responsibilities in Sales, Marketing, Finance and Strategy on a global basis. A globally recognized subject matter expert in electronics cleaning, Tom shares his expertise and is a frequent speaker at technical forums in North America, the EU, and East Asia - notably China – during his routine travels around the world. Tom is an active member as well as a past SMTA Board of Directors Member. Tom and his wife Mary Forsythe live near Nashville, TN where they both are involved in a variety of volunteer community organizations.
“Since 1985, the SMTA has remained true to its mission of providing a forum for members to share practical experience and develop technical solutions for the ever-evolving world of electronics assembly,” he continued. “No small task, these achievements were only possible due to the selfless contributions of both staff and volunteers over the past 35 years. In our current era of accelerating technology development and an ever-expanding global production footprint, SMTA efforts and successes are more critical than ever to our members. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is in full bloom around the world. Our industry, our companies and SMTA not only have our “day job” of creating tomorrow’s inventions today, but we have to expand our range to include devices helpful to thwart the pandemic and do so while living through the pandemic. This reality caused me to reexamine and double down on my commitment to use my energy and experience to serve SMTA as together we meet the challenges facing our association and industry in the next two years.”
If elected, Tom will work to work to establish new chapters of the SMTA globally, grow the SMTA technical programs, and rally the entire SMTA member base in a post-pandemic world, through innovation and teamwork.
The voting is open to all SMTA members. To cast your vote for Tom Forsythe to the Board of Directors of the SMTA, please visit: https://www.smta.org/bod_elections/bod_info.cfm. Voting closes July 1, 2020.
In the meantime, you’ll find KYZEN at the corner of Precision Cleaning Science and Care – the exact place the company has been since it opened its doors 30 years ago.
For more information about KYZEN, visit www.kyzen.com.
KYZEN is a global leader in providing environmentally responsible, RoHS compliant precision cleaning chemistries for industries ranging from electronics and advanced packaging to metal finishing and aerospace applications. Since its founding in 1990, KYZEN’s innovative cleaning technologies, scientific expertise and customer support have been repeatedly recognized with the industry’s most prestigious awards. For more information, visit www.kyzen.com.
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