What does a 25-year career in electronic device failure analysis actually look like, from soldering wires onto sockets as a new PhD to leading system fault isolation at one of the world's most influential semiconductor companies?In this EDFAS (Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society) webinar, Dr. Joy Lao, Senior Manager of System Fault Isolation at NVIDIA, shares her career journey from Silicon Systems and Texas Instruments to pioneering the DFT-EFA (Design for Test Electronic Failure Analysis) methodology at NVIDIA. Topics include:
- - Early career fundamentals: complete FA case ownership, technical writing, mechanical probing, and photon emission microscopy at TI
- - How Dr. Lao inherited NVIDIA's laser scanning microscope and used dynamic laser stimulation (DLS) to localize failing transistors — recovering millions of dollars per month in shipments
- - The development of laser voltage imaging (LVI) from late-night AT docking sessions to a CFO signing a PO after seeing what looked like "a bloody crime scene photo"
- - How the DFT-EFA workflow was transferred to TSMC's FA lab, enabling foundry-level volume fault isolation upstream
- - Pattern emission microscopy as a bring-up checklist tool for validating DFT test patterns
- - Evolution from silicon IC fault isolation to full system-level fault isolation covering boards, systems, and everything in between
- - NVIDIA's growth from ~1,000 to 36,000 employees — and how a small FA team scaled to meet demand through expertise, triage, and collaboration
- - Emerging challenges: backside power delivery, workforce development, and university-industry FA programs
- - Career advice: managing projects before managing people, stepping outside your comfort zone, and the difference between a boss and a leader