Page 27 - The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design

How to Grow Strong, Healthy Engineers

don't know that they will be held to standards of productivity. They are
taught that engineering is like science, sort of. But science need not pro-
vide economic virtue; engineering pursuits must.
So what is the state of engineering for the new grad? Mixed. Hope-
fully, the grad will initially be given procedural tasks that will be suc-
cessful and lead to more independent projects. At worst, as in my
experience, the young engineer will be assigned to projects better left to
seasoned engineers. These projects generally veer off on some strange
trajectory, and those involved suffer. Oddly enough, the young engineer
receives the same raises per year for each possibility. After all, the young
engineer is nothing but "potential" in the company's view.
What, then, is the initial value of a young engineer? The ability to
support ongoing duties in a company? Not usually; sustaining engineer-
ing requires specific training not available in college, and possibly not
transferable between similar companies. Design ability due to new topics
available in academia? Probably not, for two reasons. First, colleges typi-
cally follow rather than lead progress in industry. Second, new grads
can't seem to design their way out of a paper bag, in terms of bringing a
design through a company to successful customer acceptance. Not just
my opinion, it's history.
This is what's wrong with grads, with respect to the electronics industry:

They are not ready to make money for their new employer.
They don't know they're not scientists; that engineers make and sell
things. They don't appreciate the economic foundation we all oper-
ate with.
They don't know just how under-prepared they are. They are sopho-
mores—from the ancient Greek, suggesting "those who think they
know." They try to change that which they don't really understand.
They have hubris, the unearned egotistical satisfaction of the young
and the matriculated.
They see that many of their superiors are jerks, idiots, incompetents,
or lazy. Well, sure. Not in all companies, but too often true enough.
Our grads often proclaim this truth loudly and invite unnecessary
trouble.
They willingly accept tasks they are ill-suited for. They don't know
they'll be slaughtered for their failures. Marketing positions come
to mind.
Not all grads actually like engineering. They might have taken the
career for monetary reward alone. These folks may never be good
at the trade.
So, should we never hire young engineers? Should we declare them
useless and damn them to eternal disgrace? Should we never party with
them? Well, probably not. I can see that at Elantec, a relatively young and
growing company, we need them now and will especially need them when
we old farts get more lethargic. It's simple economics; as companies grow

10