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What design careers are there?

What are some promising careers for an IC design PhD graduate?

  • I am getting a PhD in analog IC design from a good school and I have no problem securing an IC design job for maybe another 10 years. However, with the industry focusing on software and internet, semiconductor positions are turning into dull corporate jobs with dooming prospects and limited opportunities. I do enjoy technical system design but I feel like I need to consider a career adjustment right out of school. What are some related careers with more promising opportunities down the road?

  • Answer:

    Let's put things into perspective. Like it or not, the world has lots of phenomena, behavior, or signals that are in the continuous-time domain. So, if you were to acquire data of such phenomena, behavior, or signals for processing on a computer/electronic system, you would need analog and mixed-signal (AMS) circuits. Yes, software-defined radio (or cognitive radio) can make it seem like we don't really need AMS circuit designers. But, can you digitize everything? Can digital circuits adequately handle information streaming from sensors acquire information in the continuous-time domain with a high signal-to-noise-and-interference/distortion ratio? Biomedical devices and equipment, such as neural prosthesis, need AMS circuits that operate at thousands of Hertz, which is very different from RF AMS circuit design. So, there is a need for AMS circuit designers in this field. Likewise, optical interconnects and RF interconnects would require some AMS circuits to help connect these interconnects with digital circuits and systems. Also, the emerging "Internet of Things" mean that we are gonna live in a world of cyber-physical systems (CPS) that will need AMS circuits to interface with the physical world. You can move into developing or doing research on electronic design automation (EDA) tools for AMS circuits. EDA tools for AMS circuits trail behind those for digital ICs by a lot. So, there are huge opportunities there. Furthermore, heterogeneous electronic/embedded systems that include digital and AMS circuits can be treated as hybrid systems. Work with AMS EDA tools can lead to better design automation tools for embedded systems, particularly those involving lucrative CPS - automotive and aerospace industries, smart grid, building automation, and medical applications.

Pasquale Ferrara at Quora Visit the source

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I guess the question is why did you go into analog IC design as far as a PhD?  Hopefully because you enjoyed it.  If not then, yes, that could be an issue. Any job can become or be made into a "dull corporate job" - it's mostly how you approach the situation. The sexiest, most prestigious job can become a living hell.  The "dullest" job can be very fulfilling and exciting.   It's not the degree you get (though that can change the number of options to choose from).  It's not what you know.  It's not how big or how small the company is.  It's always YOU.  And it is always YOUR career and no one else's. So you can't wait for someone else to assure your job is exciting.  No one is going to care about that more than you. Certainly no employer. Other areas of knowledge are NOT mutually exclusive. You are not "locked in" unless you decide to be. That's especially true with a PhD.  You can choose your role and job to a far greater extent that you may realize, as long as you don't just "sit there waiting to be asked to the dance" or act all "prima donna" about anything outside your formal education.  In engineering most of your learning and education happens after you finish academic training. I've never let my original degree and focus be a limitation on what I might learn or try to do.  Though my degree says something about what I was formally trained to do, I can (and have) done far more than the degree would suggest. The obvious areas for extending an analog IC design background are to get enough digital and mixed signal exposure to push into those when necessary. That might be classes or it might be having some personal projects to exercise and extend you undergrad digital courses.  It can be many things. Also process design issues are never far from the analog designer bailiwick. As are simulation parameter modeling.  There's plenty of flexibility possible. Given that you are going to have your PhD in soon anyway, I'd give analog a try for a few years and see how it fits you.  You can always branch out if it doesn't feel right.

Jeff Gruszynski

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