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Why would they? Pay is just much lower, despite the fact that there's way more responsability. I personally know more people who switch from hardware to software than viceversa.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> is really just because hardware design is a niche field Which doesn't pay as well as jobs in software do, unfortunately.
Really? In my experience in the UK it pays ~20% better. We're talking about silicon hardware design. Not PCBs.
The problem, I think, is that there are many competent hardware design engineers available abroad and since hardware is usually designed with very rigorous specs, tests, etc. it's easy to outsource. You can test if the hardware design engineer(s) came up with an adequate design and, if not, refuse payment or demand reimbursement, depending on how the contract is written. It's all very clear-cut and measurable.
Software is still the "Wild West", even with LLMs. It's nebulous, fast-moving, and requires a lot of communication to get close to reaching the maintenance stage.
I understand that it makes sense for a blog called Semiconductor Engineering to be focused on semiconductor engineering, but I was caught off guard because I have been working on the reasonable assumption that "hardware designer" could be someone who... designs hardware, as in devices containing PCBs.
In the same way that not all software developers want to build libraries and/or compilers, surely not all hardware designers want to get hired at [big chip company] to design chips.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? In my experience in the UK it pays ~20% better. We're talking about silicon hardware design. Not PCBs.
At least in the US, yes. Check out general1465's reply to me. The problem, I think, is that there are many competent hardware design engineers available abroad and since hardware is usually designed with very rigorous specs, tests, etc. it's easy to outsource. You can test if the hardware design engineer(s) came up with an adequate design and, if not, refuse payment or demand reimbursement, depending on how the contr…
The article was about chip design.
Not trying to stop you debating the merits and shortcomings of PCB Design roles, just pointing out you may be discussing very very different jobs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least in the US, yes. Check out general1465's reply to me. The problem, I think, is that there are many competent hardware design engineers available abroad and since hardware is usually designed with very rigorous specs, tests, etc. it's easy to outsource. You can test if the hardware design engineer(s) came up with an adequate design and, if not, refuse payment or demand reimbursement, depending on how the contr…
PCB Design != Chip Design. The article was about chip design. Not trying to stop you debating the merits and shortcomings of PCB Design roles, just pointing out you may be discussing very very different jobs.
Very specifications-driven and easily tested. Very easy to outsource if you have a domestic engineer write the spec and test suite.
Mind you, I am not talking about IP-sensitive chip design or anything novel. I am talking about iterative improvements to well-known and solved problems e.g., a next generation ADC with slightly less output ripple.
Not all hardware is digital. RF design, radars, etc... are more an art than a science, in many aspects. I would expect a Physics-trained student to be more adaptable to that type of EE work than a CS student...
* The fact that there are comments misunderstanding the article, that are talking about PCB Design rather than (Silicon) Chip Design, speaks to the problem facing the chip industry. Total lack of wider awareness and many misunderstandings. * Chip design pays better than software in many cases and many places (US and UK included; but excluding comparisons to Finance/FinTech software, unless you happen to be in hardwar…
I had written a whole big thing that could be summarized as "yes, of course" but then I read the article and realized that it is very specifically about designing silicon, not devices. I understand that it makes sense for a blog called Semiconductor Engineering to be focused on semiconductor engineering, but I was caught off guard because I have been working on the reasonable assumption that "hardware designer" could…
Also there's computer architects being like "So, are we hardware design? Interface design? Software? Something else?"...
Meanwhile, all the mechanical engineers are looking from the outside saying "The slightest scratch and your 'hard'ware is dead. Not so 'hard' really, eh?" ;) ;)
Every sector has its nomenclature and sometimes sectors bump into each other. SemiEngineering is very much in the chip design space.
I think there are two separate areas of concern here, hardware, and computation. I strongly believe that a Computer Science program that only includes variants of the Von Neumann model of computation is severely lacking. While it's interesting to think about Turing Machines and Church numbers, etc... the practical use of FPGAs and other non-CPU based logic should definitely be part of the modern CS education. The vag…
they even made us use them in practical labs, and connect them up to an ARM chip