We’re all in something like our fourth month of sitting and watching the slow motion drama of Broadcom’s attempted acquisition of Qualcomm. It seems everyone has an opinion on whether the merger would be a good thing or bad thing, and debate rages on as the fluid situation repeatedly escalates and then cools. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess whether … Read More → "Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Call of (Fiduciary) Duty"
OK, I’ve got to say something. Within the past week, I’ve seen numerous examples of companies trying to profiteer from the panic surrounding Spectre and Meltdown – and generating even more panic in the process. In my view, this is unethical and irresponsible. As engineers, this kind of corporate behavior damages public trust in our profession, in our work, and in us personally. We have to do all … Read More → "Profiteering from Spectre and Meltdown"
There is no question we are in the era of massively collaborative engineering. The world-changing electronic system technologies being developed today – IoT, autonomous cars, AI, robots – are all the products of thousands or tens of thousands of engineers working together, developing new components, subsystems, software, and techniques. The hive-mind approach permeates just about every type of engineering project, and with large multi-disciplined teams attacking each major task, the level … Read More → "Be a Great Engineer"
“It’s a whole new world every time you start.” – Jennifer Hale
It will come as no surprise to anyone who’s visited Disneyland (excuse me, the “Disneyland Resort Theme Park”) that having fun is big business. The price of admission starts at $97.00 for the “value” ticket (midweek, rainy season), and climbs rapidly from there.
It’s just as expensive to sit at … Read More → "Playing the Game; Gaming the Play"
Technology companies work with academic institutions for a range of reasons. The HR department wants to attract the brightest and best from the university students (and perhaps also from the academic staff). The Research and Development team wants to benefit from the advanced research. The product teams want to learn from the experience of the research people in using the product. The sales people want to get students hooked … Read More → "A Decade of Partnership"
We hear a lot these days about ageism in tech careers. Clearly, there is ample evidence that employers stack the deck in favor of younger (and also male-er) talent. Also clearly, there is ample evidence that there are complex cultural issues affecting the demographic mix in engineering. But there are other, more subtle factors at play that have a major impact on who ends … Read More → "Attacking Ageism in Engineering"
