Where can EEs get "practical" classes to be better custom-ic designers?

[Jim Thompson]

Kevin Aylward wrote: [snip]

Generally, I find those that can't solder are not much use, because
soldering is what bods do, and in my experience, its only the bods that end
up being any good. You need to have done things on your own accord, to be
good at anything, in my view. e.g your ice skaters, violinists, etc. If mum
has to force you, their wasting their time.

Exactamente. If a client asks me to interview a candidate and he or she
can't solder the interview is de facto over.

I told all four of my kids, "Do whatever you want to make a living...
just simply be the best."

...Jim Thompson

 

[Joel Koltner]

We need to hold on to our health as long as possible.

And here I thought you wouldn't have supported Hillary, Jim!

<< ducking to avoid getting slugged... >>

 

[Jim Thompson]

And here I thought you wouldn't have supported Hillary, Jim!

<< ducking to avoid getting slugged... >>

Sno-o-o-o-ort ;-)

My health insurance coverage is presently outstanding... $156
out-of-pocket for the hip replacement.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Joerg]

Sno-o-o-o-ort ;-)

My health insurance coverage is presently outstanding... $156
out-of-pocket for the hip replacement.

Well, yeah, once you reach Medicare you are home. But the health care
"system" for anyone below that age is the pits. When working for the
government you get cradle-to-grave pampering, courtesy of the taxpayer
(us!). When working for a large employer here in California you are ok,
well, mostly. Working for a smaller one or self-employed? Then you pay
through the nose if you don't have any old health record blemishes. If
you do you become a pariah, IOW non-insurable. To top it off one big HMO
has just sent notices to doctors enticing them to rat out patients with
enough potential to rescind their coverage. It hasn't ever gotten that
low before, now you have to be careful what you tell the doc or maybe
self-medicate some stuff. Great. This needs to be fixed, and soon, and I
sure hope all the candidates understand that this is a major concern for
the average American.

 

[Jim Thompson]

Well, yeah, once you reach Medicare you are home. But the health care
"system" for anyone below that age is the pits. When working for the
government you get cradle-to-grave pampering, courtesy of the taxpayer
(us!). When working for a large employer here in California you are ok,
well, mostly. Working for a smaller one or self-employed? Then you pay
through the nose if you don't have any old health record blemishes. If
you do you become a pariah, IOW non-insurable. To top it off one big HMO
has just sent notices to doctors enticing them to rat out patients with
enough potential to rescind their coverage. It hasn't ever gotten that
low before, now you have to be careful what you tell the doc or maybe
self-medicate some stuff. Great. This needs to be fixed, and soon, and I
sure hope all the candidates understand that this is a major concern for
the average American.

I remember it well. IIRC, I was up to around $850/month with a $5K
deductible prior to Medicare.

Now it costs me $289.59/month for essentially zero deductible... the
$156 cost was for lab tests that were repeated in less than a year...
one of the drawbacks to Medicare, strange rules.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Kevin Aylward]

Kevin Aylward wrote:

Nope, it sure ain't. I make a living with it. What is quickly
dwindling is the required talent pool.

Because the jobs *are* dwindling.

Because most students believe
in this extinction myth they gravitate towards chip design, FPGA,
embedded or software. A client had searched a full two years for an
analog guy with discrete design capabilities and finally had to
import one.

I still disagree with this, however, I did say "all but". It is not a myth.

Its a % basis. One off cases are not really relevant. It is a simple fact
that the number of jobs actually available for analogue designers is,
essentially, non existent, despite your note here of how long it took to
find an analogue guy. I truly have a lot experience on this. Shit dude, I
was laid off from TI in 2001. It is the actual facts that matter. Actually
count the number of job advertisements for software, digital design and
analogue design. Then try and estimate how many people actually apply for
each job. In fact, try applying for them. I know as a matter of fact that
typically there will be 20 applicants. Out of say, 100,000 EE jobs in the
UK, I would estimate that that they are may 100 tops open for analogue
positions, and ones close to where one presently lives, maybe 5 max.

I will extend this post to EE' in general. There is no shortage of EEs...Its
another myth perpetrated by self interest groups, to wit, employers and
universities. A shortage, for example, is when there is a line 100 long
outside a shop to buy one of the 5 loves of bread. What the real complaint
is, is that there are no one of Einstein's standard willing to work for 3
bucks an hour. Any one who applies for a job is always, as a matter of fact,
competing with 10-50 other Resumes, therefore, there can not possible be a
shortage.

I have a copy of the latest 2007 ETB (UK Enginerring and Technology Board)
report. It notes several points.

Since 5 years ago, university enrolments for EEs in the UK fell from 5000 to
2800. It notes that only 1/3 of graduating EEs go into EE fields. It notes
that one of the highest graduate unempoyment disiplines is EEs at > 8%,
say compared to law at < 4%. There is a comment, that "the fact that there
is a cliamed shortgage," is a mystery.

Ochams razor gives the simplest reason for the "mystery" of only 1/3 of EEs
go into EE. There are no jobs. Its that simple. If there were, people would
do them. Its a simple fact of market supply and demand.

 

[Joerg]

Because the jobs *are* dwindling.

Maybe, and certainly in Western Europe. But not nearly as fast as the
number of people with analog design skills. Else I would not get
requests for help from over there.

Organizations like VDE constantly lament a talent pool shortage. Now
like you I believe that to be mostly baloney but in the world of
discrete analog they have a point. In the other areas they could very
simply fix it by not considering everyone above 45 to be obsolete. Those
are the guys with the real know-how. But there will come a point where
they retire. And then?

I still disagree with this, however, I did say "all but". It is not a myth.

Its a % basis. One off cases are not really relevant. It is a simple fact
that the number of jobs actually available for analogue designers is,
essentially, non existent, despite your note here of how long it took to
find an analogue guy. ...

That was just one example. I can't count how often I got headhunter
calls where they were literally pleading with me to consider giving up
self-employment because this or that client of theirs was completely up
the creek by now. Mostly because they realized that systems design is
highly analog no matter how integrated it may be. That reality usually
hits hardest when the guys come back from their first EMC test. Long,
sad faces, analyzer plots that look like an overgrown redwood forest.

... I truly have a lot experience on this. Shit dude, I
was laid off from TI in 2001. It is the actual facts that matter. Actually
count the number of job advertisements for software, digital design and
analogue design. Then try and estimate how many people actually apply for
each job. In fact, try applying for them. I know as a matter of fact that
typically there will be 20 applicants. Out of say, 100,000 EE jobs in the
UK, I would estimate that that they are may 100 tops open for analogue
positions, and ones close to where one presently lives, maybe 5 max.

I can't comment on the UK situation because I don't know it. But laying
off doesn't mean the demand ain't there. Case in point: My first
employer decided to shut down the whole subsidiary where I was working,
laying off all engineers. So I started setting up my own office, lining
up clients etc. About six hours and thirty minutes after we were all
gone they had their first "Oh dang!" experience. My phone rang, at 6:30
in the morning. Tried to hire me back. Too late, sorry. And so I had my
next client ...

BTW, it was similar with my father. Huge company, decided to lower the
average age. Reality hit them rather quickly.

I will extend this post to EE' in general. There is no shortage of EEs...Its
another myth perpetrated by self interest groups, to wit, employers and
universities. A shortage, for example, is when there is a line 100 long
outside a shop to buy one of the 5 loves of bread. What the real complaint
is, is that there are no one of Einstein's standard willing to work for 3
bucks an hour. Any one who applies for a job is always, as a matter of fact,
competing with 10-50 other Resumes, therefore, there can not possible be a
shortage.

Yes, I've heard that from other European countries as well. They try to
hire engineers on the cheap. Won't work, you get wjhat you pay for.

I have a copy of the latest 2007 ETB (UK Enginerring and Technology Board)
report. It notes several points.

Since 5 years ago, university enrolments for EEs in the UK fell from 5000 to
2800. It notes that only 1/3 of graduating EEs go into EE fields. It notes
that one of the highest graduate unempoyment disiplines is EEs at > 8%,
say compared to law at < 4%. There is a comment, that "the fact that there
is a cliamed shortgage," is a mystery.

Ochams razor gives the simplest reason for the "mystery" of only 1/3 of EEs
go into EE. There are no jobs. Its that simple. If there were, people would
do them. Its a simple fact of market supply and demand.

Why don't they venture out into other countries? The one huge benefit of
your EC is that you can (AFAIK) easily move to another EC member country
and they cannot deny you the right to work there.

 

[Joel Koltner]

Kevin,

If you're like to move to southern Oregon, U.S., I suspect we'd be happy to
have you and pay you what I imagine you'll find to be a perfectly reasonable
salary.

Be sure to bring your guitar and any plush teletubbies you might have.



Seriously, in some parts of the U.S. it is difficult to find anyone with the
specific talents you're after -- I'm not surprised that Joerg's client had
such difficulties.

Which division of TI laid you off? Where were they located?

What do you think of the IEEE with respect to their role in both influencing
educators to create curriculums that are relevant to industry's needs as well
as simply being aware of industry's technical needs in the first place?

---Joel

 

[Joerg]

Kevin,

If you're like to move to southern Oregon, U.S., I suspect we'd be happy to
have you and pay you what I imagine you'll find to be a perfectly reasonable
salary.

And I might add that it's a pristine area for someone who loves the
outdoors, hiking, working a large property, clean air etc. Probably not
the right kind of living for city folk (the guys who trust air only when
they can see it ...).

Be sure to bring your guitar and any plush teletubbies you might have.



Seriously, in some parts of the U.S. it is difficult to find anyone with the
specific talents you're after -- I'm not surprised that Joerg's client had
such difficulties.

And that was in Los Angeles. Another in the Bay Area. It's even tougher
for companies in the boonies. I'll never understand why people shun
nature and want to live in a big noisy city.

Which division of TI laid you off? Where were they located?

What do you think of the IEEE with respect to their role in both influencing
educators to create curriculums that are relevant to industry's needs as well
as simply being aware of industry's technical needs in the first place?

I think they should quit wasting resources on that dreaded ABET. It's
not relevant to industry. What is relevant are down-to-earth practical
skills. Luckily they abandoned their licensing push. I found it quite
bizarre that an organization advocated increased regulatory hurdles for
their dues paying constintuency instead of less like everyone else.
Also, they should lean a bit more towards industry instead of academia.

Did you guys get the switcher to work as expected?

 

[Kevin Aylward]

Kevin Aylward wrote:


Why don't they venture out into other countries? The one huge benefit
of your EC is that you can (AFAIK) easily move to another EC member
country and they cannot deny you the right to work there.

Well, yes. I myself have had several offers in the EU. However... I simply
don't want to go there. I live here in the England. I have a life here.
Personally, I am fed up moving. 10 years in the US, here in the UK
otherwise. getting old. want to stay put. Its hard keeping a band going if
one keeps on moving.

 

[Joel Koltner]

Hi Joerg,

Did you guys get the switcher to work as expected?

I'm told that the "real" (4 layer PCB) layout was completed late last week,
although I haven't seen a final layout go around for engineering review yet.
They were doing some last minute swaps due to parts availability, apparently.

---Joel

 

[Jim Thompson]

Well, yes. I myself have had several offers in the EU. However... I simply
don't want to go there. I live here in the England. I have a life here.
Personally, I am fed up moving. 10 years in the US, here in the UK
otherwise. getting old. want to stay put. Its hard keeping a band going if
one keeps on moving.

Yep, Bands are always a problem. My father, who will be 90 in
October, doesn't want to move from WV out here to AZ (where it's nice
and warm) because he'd have to leave his hillbilly band ;-)

...Jim Thompson

 

[Joel Koltner]

Did you guys get the switcher to work as expected?

I've posted the first cut we got back from layout over on ABSE. It, uh,
needed a few modifications, in my opinion and that of another engineer!

---Joel