I consider myself to have been a very lucky guy. I fell into something that I loved at a very early age, and made it into a life-long learning experience that also paid the bills. I still represent STEM at middle and high school Career Fairs in NY, and I’m acutely aware of just how rare a continuous straight-line career is in this day and age. Most people have at least one (or often more) major career realignments during their working life.
For me, the catalyst was the 1960’s US Space Program. My folks bought me several science and exploration kits as a young kid (beginning age 5), and the motors and light bulbs of the Electrical Engineer kit totally captured my imagination. The early computers and advanced electrical systems of even early spacecraft ‘took me to the moon’ long before Neil and Buzz made the trip!
I began my Undergraduate work at Potsdam, NY’s Clarkson College of Technology as an undeclared Electrical Engineer. Summer employment working on Air Force AWAC radar and IFF system consoles directed me solidly into Computer Engineering. Then some classes in Solid State Physics and Microchips prompted me to accept part-time employment at Fairchild Semiconductor as a Process Development tech in Ion Implant and Lithography doing yield experiments.
I was hooked. Microchips for life! Despite work on an MBA, I never wanted to manage a department. I was far happier managing teams dedicated to Problem Solving. I channeled my engineering expertise and management training to execute efficient and cost-effective solutions to ‘customer’ problems. Design and layout, yield/product/characterization/defectivity, in and out of the wafer fab, ATE testing & binning, all aspects of packaging, and of course years of lab work (FA, FIB Chip Edit, lab design & construction).
And as a final cap heading into retirement: the EDFAS tool teams and the US Federal CHIPS Act.
It’s been a great ride!