FIVEFOLD OR BETTER IN FIVE YEARS
Geoff Lees, general manager of the microcontroller product line at Philips Semiconductor, disagrees with Stienecker's prediction. "We've increased productivity between fivefold and tenfold over what it was just five years ago. We've done it by creating a more flexible work environment within which groups form and reform rapidly," he notes.
"As recently as five years ago," he says, "groups consisting of as many as 30 people, with skills ranging from circuit design to physical layout, would work on one product at a time, and development could take a year or two. Today, we no longer have that luxury, so we've compressed to work on parallel projects, each slightly different, but based on the same IP (intellectual property). With an increase in overhead of just 20%, we've been able to create three similar looking products as opposed to one."
What makes the productivity increase possible, according to Lees, is a combination of myriad methodology improvements and the use of development wafers that can accommodate three or four different designs. "Five years ago, we'd have a dedicated mask for each design, with endless reworking before a product could be released to production," he explains. "Now, with multiple designs on the same wafer, it's survival of the fittest. The first product for which we can generate volume orders will be the first to get a dedicated mask."
Lees says engineers who reach the front end of one project move immediately to the front end of another. "Engineers no longer stay with a single project from concept through production. But nearly all engineers want to be associated with successful products, and with this method of organization, they can be," he says.
YOUNGSTERS DON'T KNOW THE BASICS
Since what seems like the dawn of time, the older generation has been concerned that those following in its footsteps are "not like we were." And engineers are no exception. The shortcoming that experienced engineers focus upon, for better or worse, is a lack of understanding of the "basics" of the profession and, as a result, an over-reliance on tools.
"They can't 'breadboard'," charges Armatron's Abel Raynus, a self-described "old-school" engineer, about his up-and-coming colleagues. Younger engineers typically turn to technicians for help whenever a soldering iron is required. "They work perfectly well with computers, but when you breadboard something, you really see how it works."
There is, of course, a danger in generalizing about a generation. As Alpha Digital's Alastair Roxburgh points out, "You can always find someone who goes completely against the stereotype. If there weren't exceptions, there wouldn't be enough continuity in many companies to keep things going."
And some younger engineers, at least, are willing to listen. Andrea Jackson, a recent graduate who has been working as an engineer at Ball Aerospace for less than a year, says she notices a tremendous difference between younger and older workers.
"Since the younger workers are so inexperienced, we are open to suggestions and are eager to learn from anyone who is willing to teach," she says. "The older workers have the experience and know that everyone has an opinion, and some of those opinions are not always in your best interest."
Jackson has also noticed that some of the older workers are not always open to the new technology that is being developed. "I have heard from more than one person that 'If the way we are doing business has worked for us this long, why should we change now?'" she says.
Sure, today's tools allow an engineer to do more, "but the education to use those tools is not there," counters Francis Bartley, engineering manager, R&D, at Liebherr Mining Equipment Co., "and younger workers don't have any idea how to do a drawing."
Arizant's Ziaimehr concedes that younger engineers have the advantage of familiarity with the latest CAD packages. "It may be difficult to teach older engineers to use the newer CAD packages, but the older engineers are more familiar with rules of thumb, and they know the underlying techniques and technologies," he says.
Ziaimehr says older workers often start with math and physics, rather than a particular program. "Younger workers place more emphasis on computer-based tools and don't worry as much about the underlying information," he says. "They just simulate, and if it works, it works. When you have the underlying knowledge, though, you can do original work. And if you come across something that the tools aren't equipped to handle, you have other resources. A younger worker might say that if something can't be simulated, it can't be done."
MR. WIZARD
"I had 'Mr. Wizard,' but (younger engineers) had 'Bill Nye the Science Guy,' or less," says Northrop Grumman's Andrew Kostic. "Younger engineers are just as bright, but they're not as focused and intent. Perhaps that will come with experience. Attention spans have been trained for sound bites, and the academic competition in the schools [that] most of them attended is much more relaxed."
Optivus' Abbasi agrees. "Younger engineers don't know the fundamentals. They come out of college knowing the latest IC design tools, and you don't find many senior engineers who are so up-to-date. But it's the senior engineers who understand the fundamentals, the very basic stuff that any engineer needs to know," he says.
Abbasi observes that younger engineers tend to be more enthusiastic, compared with their senior counterparts. "They want to get a job done right away, no matter how far they have to go, or what it takes. They move faster. They want results now," he says.
"It's speed versus quality," he continues. "Senior workers move things along a little more slowly. They want to take their time and do it right." Abbasi adds, "Of course there are some very senior workers that just want to retire."
Engineering quality manager Al Sather says that in the face of ongoing pressure to reduce costs, his firm gave its employees an opportunity to retire, and a few too many took the offer. "The unintended consequence was a severe lack of experience in some key areas," he says. "If you have a lot of engineers in a particular area, it's possible to bring someone in right out of college and assign a mentor. With everybody lean, and budgets so tight, that's more difficult now."
HOW ABOUT THE FUTURE?
In the electronics industry, we've always been able to look forward and predict a better future. But with the sea of change washing over the global business nowadays, the future isn't as predictable and not necessarily brighter, especially here in America. The only certainty these days is that nothing stays the same.