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INTERVIEW
love solving problems, so becoming
an engineer was the right fit. Most
people just don’t start by wanting to
drive a train.
As for electrical engineering,
that’s much clearer. Mechanical
engineering made sense
because bridges could withstand
earthquakes. Chemical
engineering made sense because
material science helped me see that
durable paints could be developed
for cars. Electrical engineering
spanned a wide array of topics, but
I was fascinated by one: how did
radio waves travel through the air?
I wanted to understand what magic
was sending signals around and
through me. It seemed that whoever
controlled those would have
disproportionate amounts of power
to affect people for entertainment,
for medical diagnosis and even
for dangerous exposure. I wanted
answers and access to this amazing
field. Besides, it made “Sparky”
proud.
What are your favorite
hardware tools that you use?
I’m going to assume you mean in the
lab. My favorite tool is the spectrum
analyzer. It breaks apart a signal
into its frequency components
and grants me insights that can be
hidden in the time domain.
What are your favorite
software tools that you use?
I really like Matlab. And, of course, I
have to mention SPICE. The ability
to simulate circuits and systems
is incredible—and improving
constantly. Since I’m in an optical
sensors group now, I’m finding a
great appreciation for SolidWorks
and FRED.
What is your favorite
debugging tool?
The human body. Think of all of
the tools that you have for free. Skin
is a temperature sensor. Eyes and
ears are bandpass filters. Noses
are fantastic over-current detection
devices. Tongues are decent battery
testers, but I don’t recommend that
unless you are stranded on an
Follow your dreams.
I know it sounds
corny, but find
something you love to
do. Jobs these days
stretch way beyond
40 or 50 hours.
There are times
when my driving
time, my evenings
and my dreams are
still churning away
on a problem.
island or something. Fingers are
crude capacitances; touching a
node can add 100pF or so which
might help you quickly figure out a
compensation problem. These are
the kind of observations and tools
engineers don’t usually record in
their lab notebooks.
What is the hardest/trickiest
bug you have ever fixed?
Whichever one I’m working on
right now. Bugs aren’t usually so
complicated that it takes a team
of geniuses to find them. It’s like
finding Waldo. If he’s half an inch
tall, he’s easy to spot on a baseball
card. However, if he’s half an inch
tall and he’s somewhere on a wall
mural, it’s probably going to take a
lot longer.
The tricky part is finding the bug.
Too many people guess without
a plan. The best thing to do is to
“draw a box around the problem”,
to quote one of my colleagues,
Ken Dyer. Then you know the
bug is somewhere in the box.
Methodically go through the system
and verify whether each block is
working properly. Eventually, you
will be able to shrink the box around
the problem area and focus your
efforts more efficiently.
The exception to this method is
the case where you have loads of
experience. Experience can inform
you of the most likely places to look.
In those cases, I’d start there.
What is on your bookshelf?
Some old databooks that I haven’t
recycled yet, a copy of my PhD
thesis on RF CMOS low phase noise
oscillators, the Art of Electronics,
the ARRL Handbook, a picture of
me pretending to pitch to a full-size
statue of Babe Ruth at the Baseball
Hall of Fame, various textbooks, a
roaring Godzilla doll and a photo of
my 3 dogs.
Do you have any tricks up
your sleeve?
It’s all about the basics. Start
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