Page 58 - The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design

Gregory?. A. Kovacs

5. Thoughts on Becoming and Being an

Analog Circuit Designer

Special commentary by Laurel Beth Joyce, Greg's wife

"My favorite programming language is solder."
—Todd K. Whitehurst
Stanford University, 1988
Well, here I am, finally writing this book chapter! Instead of trying to
tell the reader how to design analog circuits (I'll leave it to the folks with
circuits named after them to do that, unless you take my courses), I will
discuss several aspects of becoming and being an analog circuit designer.
I will try to cover a few areas that I think are important, particularly to
someone considering a career in this field. My wife's comments near the
end of this chapter will also be of considerable interest to the significant
other (S.O.) of anyone considering this career choice.

Analog Circuit Designers

What type of person becomes an analog circuit designer? Perhaps the
test way to address that question is to start by describing the types of
people who do not become analog circuit designers! Examples are folks
whose second career choice would have been accounting, people who
say "dude" a lot, people who have time to sit around wondering why
1
their belly-button lint is gray, people who wear Birkenstock sandals and
eat alfalfa, people who are frustrated by devices more complex than a
paper clip, and people who are repeatedly abducted by space aliens.
In other words, analog circuit designers tend to be a creative, practical,
and curious bunch of folks who are rarely abducted by space aliens. The
typical analog designer doesn't worry too much about shaving on week-
ends (especially the female ones), drinks beer and eats pizza, owns an
oscilloscope (see 'Things You Need to Survive as a 'Real' Analog De-
signer" below), thinks modern art consisting of blank white canvases is a
bunch of crap, occasionally uses "swear words," and may be considered a
bit "eccentric" by his or her friends and colleagues. Over the years,
knowing a fair number of analog designers, I have only encountered one
notable exception: Jim Williams. 2

1 - Actually, my friends at the Office of Navel Research in Washington, DC, have studied this issue
extensively. They have found that belly-button lint color is a complex function of clothing color,
belly-button humidity, and the amount of cheese consumed.
2 He doesn't drink beer.
41