Electronics Technicians Association

The Electronics Technicians Association, International (dba ETA International) is a US-based not-for-profit 501(c) 6 professional association founded in 1978. The association provides certifications in industries such as basic electronics, fiber optics and data cabling, renewable energy, information technology, photonics and precision optics, customer service, biomedical, avionics, wireless communications, radar, and smart home. ETA is also one of the 13 COLEMs (Commercial Operator License Examination Manager) for U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) testing. ETA works with technicians, educators, and military personnel. ETA also partners with companies such as Motorola Solutions to provide certification to their employees.

In 1965 the U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Apprenticeship & Training (BAT) instigated a jobs program in cooperation with NEA (National Electronics Association). Local school systems, local TV association members and USDL worked together on an 8,000 hour apprenticeship program aimed at solving the labor shortage problem while finding new vocations for those put out of work by modern technology. This new program would reward trainees, but would not cover experienced technicians. Because of this, the Certified Electronics Technician (CET) program was created.

In 1970 a group of technicians decided to form an organization to promote the CET program and the electronics industry as a whole. This organization would be called the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians (ISCET). It became a subdivision of NEA.

In the mid-1970s NEA and NATESA merged to form the National Electronic Service Dealers Association (NESDA) with ISCET remaining as a subdivision. Due to a power struggle within the organization, ETA was formed in 1978 by a group of former NESDA members and officers. Among those were Richard "Dick" Glass and Ron Crow, two of the original founders of the CET program and only administrators at that time. This made it easy to continue the CET program with the new organization.

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