When asked about current hiring trends, Motorola CTO's Backof said the jobs he's filling now tend to be "up the stack." That is, they're away from the hardware and associated with the applications, networking, and human interface. Web programming is dramatically affecting all networked devices, including cell phones and public safety radios. Java and its variants are becoming a popular programming environment for a wide range of applications. Motorola can find people with these skills inside and outside the U.S. Unfortunately, at present, there are more qualified people than jobs.
What jobs may not be around for so long? Says Backof, "Generally, hardware-oriented jobs are decreasing. The march of Moore's law has commoditized much of the middle ground between silicon design and solution design, so the only places where differentiation is happening are in leading edge semiconductors, and in systems design."
According to Dr. Waguih Ishak, director of Photonics & Electronics Research Labs, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, Calif., Agilent hires all disciplines of engineering, and specifically EE, computer engineering, IE, and ME. More recently, bio-engineering became an important discipline because of the growth in research and development in life sciences. Agilent, a 1999 spinoff of Hewlett-Packard, has several ongoing award programs for engineers who contribute innovative solutions to problems that result in products with significant revenues. Examples include the prestigious Barney Oliver Award, named after the first director of Agilent Central Research Labs, along with monetary awards, promotion awards, and patent awards for patentable inventions.
RECRUITING FOR THE FUTURE
Mark Finger, vice president of Human Resources at NI, Austin, Texas, is keenly aware of potential shortages of engineers. "Once the baby boomers are through the system, it will be the first time where the next generation is actually smaller than the retiring generation. We've got to find ways to get people into engineering, to enjoy it, and have it as a true career path," he says.
The college co-op and intern programs discussed earlier have revolutionized hiring practices across the industry. NI, for example, has about 135 co-op or intern college students this summer, as well as co-ops year round. Its goal is to fill 25% of its engineering openings from these programs drawn from about 25 schools. Students gain valuable work experience as they check out NI and participate in its culture. From NI's perspective, the internship is a 12- to 24-week job interview. By the end of the program, NI knows these kids very well. It has been hiring interns for 23 years and, according to Finger, "success leads to success."
At General Electric, Fairfield, Conn., 65% of entry-level hires come from the pool of interns and co-op students. These programs create a "getting to know you" situation that allows management to identify a good fit between the student and the company in terms of retention and quality. According to Steve Canale, manager of Recruiting & Staffing Services, the objective for both co-ops and interns is essentially the same—to identify long-term, potential full-time hires.
And where might some of these new hires work? Biotechnology is one of the new engineering disciplines that GE is staffing along with nanotechnology, which finds its home at the Global Research Center in Schenectady, N.Y. And the core disciplines remain in demand: mechanical, electrical, industrial, and a distant fourth, chemical engineering.
Extreme Blue, IBM's intern program, combines talent and cutting-edge technology to foster innovation. Says Jane Harper, IBM director, University Talent Programs, "Since 2002, college interns in this program have filed over 170 patent disclosures, created solutions for key clients, and have helped bring to market the next generation of IBM products."
Unlike other intern programs that relegate a student to work on outdated technology, Extreme Blue allows interns to work on leading technology that helps grow their skills and makes them more attractive candidates in the technology field. Interns in this high-performance environment get to work with hot technology like Linux, grid computing, autonomic computing, and Web services. The Extreme Blue teams are like mini-businesses that create a solution for a client while being mentored by IBM engineers. More than 4500 students vied for the 175 summer internships this year. Through this program and other intern programs, IBM will have almost 2000 interns in the U.S. this year.
CHARTING A COURSE TO THE FUTURE
According to Richard Boring, director of systems development at Borett Automation Technologies, Torrance, Calif., "While the future for engineering is very exciting, it now almost requires a master's degree. I would recommend that all engineering students take four years of physics and two years in a particular engineering master's degree curriculum. The future is full of exciting, thinking, seeing, hearing, moving machines of all sizes. Fusion or its equivalent is coming for unprecedented worldwide availability of energy. All the engineering disciplines are combining into an exciting micromachine technology that will address biotech concerns as well as myriad numbers of safety, military, transportation, and maintenance tasks. Engineering design is going to be more fun than ever with all the design implementation tools the future has to offer."
But Boring predicts trouble for many companies that don't understand the paradigm shift in the electronics industry influenced by the global economy and engineering design discipline. The majority of the industry upper management does not understand "engineering economics" (PV, PMT, FV, AMORT) and the importance of an up-front product design cycle that doesn't belong to any one department. Too many companies, large and small, are using complex software tools rather than a design methodology that involves management, interdepartmental, and peer design reviews.
Rather than being a victim of a company's poor management, engineers may need to take the freelance (1099) route. Says Boring, "I think 1099 work is the new paradigm for future engineers. My recommendation that colleges place an emphasis on 'engineering economy' is partially based on that assumption. I also think the new 1099 paradigm calls for dynamic networks of independent engineering disciplines forming into integrated product development entities with each engineering network node partaking in a percentage of the new product profitability according to a predefined/negotiated profit sharing structure."
If self-employment seems daunting, David Winter, electronic engineering manager, Henny Penny Corp., Eaton, Ohio, has some tips for choosing an employer. He recommends that job seekers look for a smaller niche company with a good track record of product innovation and market expansion. They should also consider specializing in a field like analog or high frequency design to avoid being merely a commodity EE in a big company. This is probably good advice for any profession or field, as making yourself valuable to your employer is becoming increasingly important.
INNOVATION IN THE U.S.
"I worry about the funding for basic research," says Richard Mustakos. "Things like the Apollo program were exciting, not just from a national pride and achievement point of view, but because of the output of basic research required to support it. Basic research is an expensive, risky, and unpopular thing. Most companies don't really do it unless they are in special areas (e.g., semiconductors) or are government funded, in which case some of their funding is earmarked for R&D."
However, research conducted by a small company can really pay off. Says Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, N.J.) hardware engineering manager Roger Membreno, "A small company that puts 10% to 20% of its revenue into R&D has a better chance of working on a new product that might make it 'big.' Take Ascend. I started working there in 1994. The company had gone public with a video-conference product. They had captured 99% of the global market, but it had little if any growth. One of the company founders saw that the Internet was the next big thing and pushed (and kicked) all of R&D to work on a remote-access server. It went from 60 employees in 1994 to over 2000 employees in 1999. Revenues got as high as $2.3 billion. (That's over $1 million per employee. Not even Cisco does this!)"
Peter Hausman, principal systems engineer at Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nev., sees engineering as a rewarding field but cautions that it's definitely not for everyone. Over the years, he's met people who chose engineering as a good job but didn't have the analytical mind to do the work well. He's known engineers who graduated as A students but couldn't solve a real problem if they tripped over the solution. To Hausman, these people were generally lost and confused about where their career was going.
SUMMING UP
The future of engineering is not just in statistics, grades, and job descriptions. Colleges must continue to develop programs that provide real-world engineering connections. Courses in the freshman year must include engineering experiences or find a way to incorporate engineering practicality in the traditional freshman courses. Internships and co-op programs are essential to prepare students for immediate placement. Professors should have real-world experience and research connections. Colleges and universities, as well as elementary and secondary schools, must develop programs in cooperation with industry.
With all of the new technologies coming on board, the future of engineering will be challenging, rewarding, and global in scope. We are no longer isolated. Engineers from around the world both compete against each other for jobs and work together on projects in a way never before possible. And as engineers of all disciplines address problems in any one part of the world, their solutions will affect us all. For example, with the fast-growing automobile industry in China, the need to produce energy-efficient cars to minimize the impact on world oil supplies will create a ripple effect through the global automobile marketplace. Whether it's environment, energy, transportation, communication, lifestyle, or our health, engineers—especially electrical engineers—have a role to play in our future.