Focus on David Schneider
David N. Schneider is the personable and highly respected manager of the 3M Interconnect Solutions business. Under his leadership there has been a resurgence of innovation at 3M for interconnect derived from the roots of the mass-termination IDC technology (celebrating its 50-year anniversary in May 2011) into today’s high-speed cabling and board-to-board solutions. Dave has assembled an experienced team who shares his customer-centric vision to provide the best in quality, value, performance, and service to the electronics marketplace.

David Schneider
General Manager, 3M Interconnect Solutions
3M, Austin, Texas
Previous industry positions: 19 years at 3M Corporation, printed circuit board automation engineer, optical components engineering manager, optical cable plant management, optical component business management, Six Sigma Master Black Belt
Accomplishments you’re proud of: Co-founder of a family of three spunky girls and proudly married to the CEO
First job: My first paying job was working at the local golf course doing grounds maintenance. Of course I spent evenings and weekends golfing. My first professional job was with 3M as a PCB automation engineer.
Favorite website: No real favorite website, however, my favorite search engine is Google. I can find almost everything I need via Google.
The last book I read: No Second Chance by Harlan Coben
Why did you choose this industry for your profession? In reality, I first chose where I wanted to live, fell into the industry, and have enjoyed the ever-changing technology, fast pace, and continued globalization.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have: Learned Mandarin as a second language.
The best advice anyone ever gave me was: Keep the customer as your first priority. Don't let internal corporate issues consume your time.
What trend in the industry is affecting your job and what would you like to do about it? The continued rise in prices for precious metals is causing pain for many suppliers and customers. My personal longer-term goal is to find a way to eliminate the need for precious metals within traditional copper interconnects.

Also, the explosion in demand for increased bandwidth within the network that is driven by smartphones and cloud computing is pushing the limits of traditional interconnect technology. This trend will continue for years to come. We intend to provide new technology and solutions to the industry to eliminate connectors and cable from being the bandwidth bottleneck.