It all started when..

Intro

As this is my first entry into this blog, I thought I'd give some of my background and how I became a “signal integrity enthusiast”, and how for me it changed from this somewhat obscure term to what it is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting and challenging disciplines and electrical / electronics engineer has to deal with now and many years to come.

So it all started when..

.. I destroyed my cousin's doll because I wanted to know how, when you pushed the back of it, the doll would say some words or start crying. OK, maybe it was too because the cries were extremely annoying. Yes, she was not amused, and yes, I did apologize.

Fast forward to highschool. All students were required to take a shop class and for me the most intriguing was electronics. I built my own variable voltage power source, a sound amplifier, made my own PCB, among other cool stuff. Unlike most of my classmates, by my junior year I knew I wanted to be an engineer. I had become a nerd!

After 5 years in college, it was getting close to graduation and like most of my classmates, it was time for job search. Like most of my classmates, Cal Poly Pomona's School of Engineering provided me with a broad set of skills which would make me ready for all of the possible paths this profession can lead you to; and like most of them, I had no good idea what I really wanted to do with my degree.

The more time one spends on a particular field, the more difficult becomes to change to a different one. My fear was that I would start working on one field which I might not enjoy doing for a long time, and then go through job hunting and take a pay cut for changing into a new field. But there was also the pressure to get a job because I didn't know if I was going to get any offers soon. I figure I could try something for about a year and if I didn't like it, the change would not be that bad.

Two Choices

I was able to line up 2 offers, and it was decision time.

Job Choice #1

Small company, working on digital design for computer hardware, a very common (or popular) type of job (at least in most Cal Poly student's minds).
 The interviews went well with standard questions on digital design. Flip-flops, counters, programming PLDs, microcontrollers, etc. Can't say I remember much detail about it.

Job Choice #2
Berg Electronics, manufactured cable assemblies for computers and telecomm equipment. The job required performing cable testing, some circuit design and assist manufacturing.
It was in that interview when I first heard of "signal integrity". I remember well that the engineering manager had asked me if I heard of it, and I said "No". Then he asked me if I knew what an "Eye Pattern" was, that one I knew because for some reason it made an impression on me in my digital communications class though it was mentioned as a side note without much detailed explanation. He said I was the only candidate that new that one.

Although the money was a factor in my decision, I also thought about the opportunity to try something different from what most of my classmates were doing, plus it was "just for a year".

My first year in that company was one of the most exciting times as I learned so much beyond electrical engineering. My boss put me in charge of a small cable assembly line for a new product and had to hit the ground running. I never imagined how much work and detailed design goes into a "simple" computer cable.

Then came the time to learn about signal integrity. I went to a class sponsored by the University of Milwaukee that was taught by one of the foremost authorities in the field: Mr Eric Bogatin. The class was an "eye opener" and I was hooked.

So it has been way more than just a year.