Page 98 - Analog Circuit Design Art, Science, and Personalities

Jim Roberge

10. Propagation of the Race

(of Analog Circuit Designers)
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This book presents the wisdom, tricks, and philosophies of an impresshe collection
of analog circuit designers. While I consider myself an engineer, I spend about half
my professional time teaching. ("He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches'-
George Bernard Shaw.) M.I.T. has given me the opportunity to think about teaching
design and to try various approaches on generations of bright, receptive, and moti-
vated students.
Obvious questions surface. How does the race of circuit designers propagate'?
What characteristics separate the good from the average designers? Can the neces-
sary characteristics be taught in any environment? Can the teaching be effectively
accomplished at a university?
While these questions are hard to answer in general, certain patterns emerge.
Many designers mention one or two mentors with whom they interned intensively
and who had il major impact on their careers. Designers often are more receptive
than. their aiialylically inclined colleagues to accept physically plausible arguments
without proof. Pragmatism, combined with at least occasional unstructured
thinking, facilitates, and possibly enables. the design process.
The abilities required for effective design. while hard to quantify, are common
to all disciplines. I believe that a good analog circuit designer could also become a
good designer of airplane wings or steam turbines after a relatively short internship
in :he new ficld. (It may be fortunate for frequent flyers that this hypothesis is infre-
quently tested.)
These observations suggest some of the difficulties that are encountered teaching
design in an academic setting. The usual mode of teaching is via relatively large
ciasscs that preclude much one-to-one interaction. Evcn in the case of research or
thesis supervision, interaction is usually limited to a few hours a week at most, thus
prccluding the type of mentor relationship [hat can evolvc in other en\ 'ironrnents. '
Classroom education often involves presentations more structured and analvtic
than those requircd for design. Many faculty prefer to write a fundamental relation-
ship on the upper-left-hand corner of the blackboard at the start of the hour: and
conclude a precise and mathematically dctailed development as the end of the hour
and blackboard are reached simultaneously.
Also, he art. of design, regardless oL' contcxt, never seems to appear on the cvcr
changing iist of acadcmically "hot?' topics. Consequently, junior Faculty members
who practicc and leach good design arc frequently bypassed whcn promotion and
tenure decisions are made. This reality certainly influences the choice of rcsearch
arm for rriany potential faculty members.
In spite of these difficultics; a significant fraction of the graduates of many engi-
neering programs become good design engineers. The rcrnaindcr of this chapter
fccuses on a few of the ways this educational process is aided at M.1.I'.