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It's National Engineers Week - Why did you become an Engineer?

D

Don Dingee

Moderator
It's National Engineers Week, and we celebrate with all those who have a thirst for learning about technology and helping create the future. EDA companies are sharing their thoughts on the topic.

First, Aldec asks the question: What Inspired You to Become an Engineer?

For me, it was a deep interest in math and physics, and a TI 59 programmable calculator I saved my hard earned lawn mowing money to buy in 10th grade.

Next, Mentor asks: Are You an Engineer?

Colin Walls goes on to say we should be helping younger folks develop these qualities.

It's a great week to be an engineer, and we'd like to hear your thoughts on these and other discussions on the topic.
 
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For me it was Star Trek. All of the cool electronics they had really got my imagination going. Then I got a hold of a Commodore PET and computer technology got real to me. I remember my family thinking I was crazy when I told them my undergraduate degree would be in "computers" and I could make a living at it. Then I read "Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder and jumped at the chance to work for Data General right out of college (they had a fab in Sunnyvale). I have been living the dream ever since and I have no regrets whatsoever. Three of my five brothers are high tech guys as well.

Surprisingly zero out of my four children became engineers. I told them to pick a career that they absolutely love because they will probably be doing it for 50 years and engineering was not it.
 
I was fascinated by computers and the idea of programming them, I don't really remember exactly why. I learned to program at 14, which sounds old these days but don't forget that back then the only computers were what we would call mainframes so programming at all was pretty unusual. The school and I managed to cajole ICL to give us some computer time, and the local RAF (air-force) base. I then studied computer science at university, then did a PhD in computer science. I decided then to go to silicon valley for a couple of years since it would look good on my resume when I got back to the UK. Somehow the going back bit didn't happen.
 
I think you do not really decide to be an engineer at a certain point in your life, you are just born to be one.
Since I was fascinated by computers, robots and video games, electronics was just a consequence.
 
It's a nice world! During my schooling, I just wished I could be an engineer, didn't know which branch at that time. After my basic graduation, when I completed my entrance examination for post graduation in "Applied Geophysics" in Indian School of Mines, I realized about the world of computing and electronics. After one year of that course, I again took another entrance for Masters in Engineering (Electrical Communications) in Indian Institute of Science. That was the place I was exposed to real computers, main frames and VLSI. I took my specializetion in CAD / VLSI, did some custom designs and was fascinated in the semiconductor world. And I'm there until today :)

Today, if I look back my native place, I am the only person from there in this field. My desire back then was to do something unique, so it feels good to do something like this!
 
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