41–50 of 62 posts
I would be interested to know what you are doing now, that you don't like, and why you find the "chip industry" attractive?
Relative to the software industry, the chip industry has a vast number of highly-obfuscated dependencies, nearly-infinite supply chains, and zero margin for error. Robust profitability, let alone innovation, is very difficult to achieve without monstrous scale. The majority of recent semiconductor industry gains have come only through consolidation, giving chip suppliers more bargaining power while letting them cut s…
I was a firmware/software engineer at a semiconductor company. Sadly the most common thing the EE design coworkers were asking me on the side was how they can move into the software industry. And these were brilliant engineers and technical leads. Now I see many years later that some have made that transition.
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Funny that probably a lot of SWE would be glad to teach some HW folks to get some knowledge of EE in return. I would for PCB design.
I'll take that deal! Also I offer the PCB design stuff for free :-D (but really, I could use work on my SW) https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny that probably a lot of SWE would be glad to teach some HW folks to get some knowledge of EE in return. I would for PCB design.
I'll take that deal! Also I offer the PCB design stuff for free :-D (but really, I could use work on my SW) https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/shine-on-you-crazy... https://contextualelectronics.com/courses/getting-to-blinky-...
I work in this field The pay is poor compared to SaaS/AIML/etc Hardware folks (and firmware) are always asking how to retrain and move into mainstream SWE. Its not worth it.
how much is pay in SaaS/AIML? HW can pay 150K+ range with RSUs with PhD EE <5 years YOE. Graduated in "low tech" school. Job security is pretty good because barrier is high, literally you can't get a high school grad to do our job. AI maybe is higher paying but I also see on linked hundreds of people getting laid off during the pandemic becausue they were the first to get cut.
Here in Barcelona, Msc in ER, 10y experience, I’m considered lucky by a lot of my collegues for getting at 50k.
Friends of mine with 3 to 4 years in SaaS are making 60-70k in fintech with way better work conditions.
Nothing compares with software in terms of scale
This is like asking, "How do I get into the medical industry?" It's overly broad. There are lots of different jobs in the chip industry. 1. Device engineer - want to build transistors? Grab a physics/chemistry masters and /or PHD. Go to work at a foundry house like TSMC, Samsung, Intel, SMIC or Global Foundries. 2. Analog circuit design - grab a masters in EE (w/ circuit design specialty). 3. Layout - the person who…
I definitely don’t think it was your intention to send a “this is a male’s job” message, but some readers might interpret it that way (even subconsciously) if we use language like “software guys” instead of software developers. There are definitely women working in all of these areas, and hopefully many more in the future!
"guys [plural] (informal) a group of people of either sex e.g 'Come on, you guys, let's get going!'"
-- https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/americ...
This is also my (local) experience of the word usage: that it's used for groups of any sex.
EE Master here, this is a wide topic but usually from my experience (friends around who work in chip industry, ie TSMC, MediaTek). Generally, you have the hardware design (Layout designer, R&D, Process engineer ) this typically need a Master and mostly PhD in EE or related fields. From what I heard in Taiwan, TSMC only accepts Master/PhD for these position and internship. Then you have the interface side which writes…
Idk how one gets in at all seeming as how the few jobs I've seen in this sort of function want a decade of experience writing firmware for the same class of device as whatever the company is doing.
This is like asking, "How do I get into the medical industry?" It's overly broad. There are lots of different jobs in the chip industry. 1. Device engineer - want to build transistors? Grab a physics/chemistry masters and /or PHD. Go to work at a foundry house like TSMC, Samsung, Intel, SMIC or Global Foundries. 2. Analog circuit design - grab a masters in EE (w/ circuit design specialty). 3. Layout - the person who…
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It’s funny how dropping “guys” is such low hanging D&I fruit but also so hard to do. I try to use “folks” and honestly have started saying y’all a lot.
As someone raised in the north US, living the last ~8 years between Florida and Texas has helped break the “you guys” habit. However, I admit that I still feel like an imposter whenever I use “y’all”.
If your idea of a chip industry is that part of the industry that physically makes chips... then most likely you don't.
Very likely more than half of people who venture into this career, and successfully graduate will never see any work in the field.
Just like in the medical field, a tiny amount of people end up being practicing doctors, and more than half end up in "near med" fields, from pharmacists, to nurses, and .. to an analogy of quack doctors despite high salary potential for the most lucky.
Let's begin:
1. First, be born Taiwanese
2. Second, finish EE PhD at around 15-20 years ago, at maximum
3. Third, get through the glut of other young engineers who ventured into the field at the crest of the dotcom boom wave
4. Fourth, be lucky to selected for hire upon completing a long unpaid internship
5. Fifth, spend your first 3-5 years in a role of office coffee porter, and such
6. Sixth A, be lucky to be finally selected by somebody for actual RnD work
6. Sixth B, go and work as a fab tech at $2000 USD a month