Page 61 - The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design

Thoughts on Becoming and Being an Analog Circuit Designer

That sort of thing helps weed out the sick, the feeble-minded, and the
history majors. Then we begin analog "basic training," which involves
learning the following song for drill practice and considerable healthful
marching and shouting.
Analog Boot Camp Drill Routine

by G. Kovacs
(The words are first barked out by the professor, then shouted back by
students marching in formation.)
Analog circuits sure are fine,
Just can't get 'em off my mind.

Digital circuits ain't my kind,
Zeros and ones for simple minds.

I guess NAND gates aren't all that bad,
'Cause I need them for circuit CAD.

One, two, three, four,
Gain and bandwidth, we want more.

Five, six, seven, eight,
We don't want to oscillate.

Widlar, Wilson, Brokaw too,
They've got circuits, how 'bout you?

(repeat)

I also ask a few random questions and have been known to order a few
push-ups here and there if, for example, a student cannot correctly distin-
guish between the Miller and Budweiser Effects. Now the students are
ready for their plunge into the world of analog ...
At this point, they are taught theory in one class and hands-on aspects
in another. Essentially, the idea is to progress from the basic idea of an
operational amplifier (op amp) through the necessary circuit building
blocks that are required to design one. Finally, we reach the point where
the students know enough to do that, and then we get into feedback and
stability. Meanwhile, in the laboratory part of the class, the students are
learning how to destroy most of the circuits covered in lecture. It is in the
lab that we teach them the all-important "smoke principle" of solid-state
devices. This is the formerly very closely guarded industrial secret that
each discrete or integrated circuit is manufactured with a certain amount

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