News Item #5: DRAM's inventor, 76, still going strong at IBM

I came across an article from Computerworld.com, which is an IT magazine that provides information to technology managers. Although the topic of innovation was discussed two weeks ago, the title of this article struck me as being very interesting. It was written by By Eric Lai on June 18, 2009.

IBM researcher Robert H. Dennard is a 76 year old scientist known for two significant contributions. The first contribution occurred in 1960 when he invented Dynamic Random Access Memory, or DRAM, the memory used in virtually all computers today. The second contribution was a paper written in the mid 1970s describing how to keep shrinking transistors to build smaller, faster and less expensive chips.

Following the week this article was written, Mr. Dennard celebrated his 51st year as an IBM employee and received a Medal of Honor from the Institute of Electrical Engineers for the achievements mentioned above.

So what does this mean to me as a future HR professional? For one thing, it makes me really interested in the HR practices at IBM and wonder what role, if any, did they play to retain Mr. Dennard. My other thought is how did management and HR support Mr. Dennard in his innovations efforts. Perhaps Mr. Dennard remain longer in the organization because he is from an older organization. I wonder what are some ways that I can help retain an innovator in my future organization and how I can support that individual. In this case, I think management and HR have to work together and embrace an innovative culture company-wide. In other words, adapt a culture that is not afraid to take risks and be willing to increase the percentage amount in the creator category. Hopefully such practices will bring about future Dennards in the world,bring revenue to shareholders, and help the overall economy.

To access the article, please visit: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9134568

For an interesting video regarding the life of Mr. Dennard, please visit:

Class Reflection: Week 6

In our last lecture, the School of Labor and Employment Relations welcomed Raymond L. Price who gave a lecture on the techinical visionaries vs. Serial innovators. He spoke about three categories: Enhancement, New applications, and creation. Most companies seem to fall into the enhancement category because it is faster, better, and cheaper. According to Mr. Price, about 10% of companies fall into the creation category because it is a process that involves risk, time, and difficulty along with a low success rate. However, companies should invest in the creation category because it is what will set their company apart and increase revenue long term versus short term. Companies need to be able to distinguish candidates who have the abilities and characteristics for innovation and become familiar with a innovation process. The hour glass model of Innovation is a great example. It involves the following steps:

1. Find the problem
2. Understand the problem
3. Invest and validate
4. Execute
5. Create Market Acceptance
6. Launch

As a future HR professional, I think this lecture was very helpful because it has changed my views on how to handle situations that involved employees and their approach to innovation. I think it is important to listen to employees, take risks with reason, and give innovative employees more flexibility to increase the organization's overall success in innovation. I think increasing the creation category is what is going to set an organization apart and have it succeed long-term.

Please view the following video about Raymond L. Price and his new book:

News Item #4

An article came out today in the Electronic Engineering Times titled 2009 Salary Survey: Engineers take a bad year in stride. This title automatically caught my attention since I am pursuing a career in Human Resources and I will most likely end up working with engineers at some point.

The article points out that an annual survey was administered by the Electronic Times to engineers worldwide and the results show that although we are in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, engineers are still satisfied with their fields and opportunities for growth.

Based on the provided chart it seems that engineers in Asia, India, and Europe are discontent with their salaries compared to their counterparts in the West. "Engineers in China and India, who typically receive lower salaries than Western engineers do, are also less satisfied with engineering as a career, and are generally more open to the idea of changing jobs. Their dissatisfaction--and their willingness to switch allegiances and even careers to advance their positions--could well continue to rise as they become more tightly integrated into the global electronics design and supply chain fabric."

The article concludes that Emplloyers in the East may have to start increasing salaries in order to keep their employees happy and satisfied with their career choice.

Class Reflection: Week 5

On week 5, our class discussed the topic of engineering in the professional setting and the natural tension that can arise in the field. For example, who or to what does engineering serve? Unlike doctors who serve health or lawyers who serve those seeking justice. Another tension we discussed was the tension between engineering and business. It appears that about 60% of engineers transfer into a managerial role. I found this to be very interesting because I am not sure how prepared engineers are for this task, based on the required education curricula. It seems to me that this is another reason why the education curricula needs to include business courses, especially on how to manage people.

The class later discussed professional societies, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), National Society of Professional Engineers, and the Society of Human Resources Management.

We compared the code of ethics for the societies mentioned above. For instance the code of ethics for NSPE was very detailed about their rules along with high standards compared to the other two societies. The code of ethics for IEEE was very brief- almost can consider these to be 10 suggestions. Finally, SHRM's code of ethics included a language that was more in tune to the inside to the organization and seperated their core principles by sections, although it did not do a well job at defining them. I think it was very interesting examining these societies and learning more about SHRM because this was something that I was not exposed to in my time at the School of Labor and Employment Relations. I also think it was a good opportunity for my class to examine the societies of engineering because this encourage them to learn about other societies that are in line with their future employers, thus helping them to understand who they are serving.

News Item #3: Commentary: What's next for troubled SMIC?

I came across a commentary titled "What's next for troubled SMIC?" in the Electronic Engineering Times on November 15, 2009.

The commentary is about China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) and points out how the company suffered three major setbacks. "On Tuesday (Nov. 10), it lost a big patent suit, its chief executive, and, in some respects, its independence".

It appears that the company was sued by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC). "Under the terms, SMIC will pay TSMC $200 million plus SMIC stock and warrants. TSMC obtained 1,789,493,218 shares of SMIC, representing approximately 8 percent of SMIC. TSMC also obtained a warrant to subscribe for 695,914,030 shares of SMIC, which would allow TSMC to obtain total ownership of approximately 10 percent of SMIC". The commenter Mark LaPedus believes the organization has lost its independence and asks ifl TSMC will impose its will on SMIC? And over time, will TSMC buy SMIC--in an effort to expand into China?

The other setback was about the chief executive who resigned right after the settlement. SMIC has appointed veteran industry executive David N.K. Wang to replace Chang. However, others view the change in management as a positive thing. ''Shareholders have been very frustrated with SMIC's performance since IPO (in 2004), thus we believe the news will be interpreted positive,'' said Steven Pelayo,an analyst with HSBC.

The commenter also explains how the company's strategy is to emulate TSMC and offer a broad range of technologies. SMIC's process offerings include analog, CMOS, mixed-signal/RF, liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), and MEMS technology. At one time, SMIC even offered a solar foundry process.

A lot of change has occurred to SMIC in the past week and I wonder how HR is dealing with it. I assume that change management practices will have to take place by keeping all employees aware of the changes and explain what those changes would mean to them, demonstration of job security if needed, and provide strategic thinking in ways to move forward with the organization.
For access to the full article, visit http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221601153

Class Reflection Week 4

In class #4, we looked the history of technology and discussed whether or not the inventions created 2000 plus years ago, such as tools used to clean scrapes, would be considered an item created by an engineer. The definition of engineering given to us in class is the following, "Engineering is the social practice of conceiving, designing, implementing, producing, & sustaining complex artifacts, processes, or systems appropriate to some recognized need". Our class discussed how this definition fits in with technology history. Some students had a difficult time considering Homo habilis' or Homo ergasters as engineers, unlike those who created the pyramids. One student argued that an engineer could be considered someone with great skill in their time frame who created something that resulted in improvement or enhancement, without any training or certification. I agree with this student because some of the greatest inventors have invented things in the past century by accident, such as the microwave, 3M post-it-notes,fireworks,etc. I do not think something has to be considered complex in order to have been created by engineer. Also, in the previous lectures, we learned that engineering concepts build on each other. Perhaps the stone flakes created 2 million years ago would not be considered a brilliant invention now, however inventions evolved over time and build on each other for further enhancement. This can be seen in the creation of the microwave(refer to embedded youtube video).

I really enjoyed reviewing some snippets of tech history and I think it was beneficial because as potential HR professionals, having familiarity with technology history can give us more credibility with our engineering colleagues and help us relate better with each other. I also think it is important to understand the history and culture of the company for whom you work for. Such knowledge will help the HR professional understand the business better and provide useful and relevant training.

SEE No. 2: Voltage Dividers and lighting an LED

In this Simulated Engineering Experience, I was placed in a team and our task was to construct a circuit in order light up an LED. The first step was to become familiar with the dimension of an LED and this was done by measuring the dimension of the LED with a digital caliper. I was rather amused by the digital caliper because I had never seen one before. I also learned that digital calipers are cheaper than the mechanical ones. The next step, was to build a circuit using a resistor with the appropriate amount of resistance in order to give a voltage drop across the LED so that it could be properly lit.

In this SEE, I learned that it is important to have a precise amount of current in order to light up an LED because if you use to much current, you can blow up the LED. This tells me that engineering consist of precise measures for constructing circuits and precision is important when measuring values. The second thing I learned is that previous knowledge is also key and this was exemplified in the SEE when my team used knowledge that we obtained from SEE No. 1. As discussed in class, engineering concepts build on each other. The third thing I learned is the importance of working in teams and how engineers depend on their coworkers when designing, implementing, and testing circuits. As an HR professional, I am interested in learning more about how engineers perceive team work and perhaps share that knowledge with other functions in an organizations. It seems like there is a lot we can learn about engineers and how the work together to meet an ends goal.

Prior to this SEE, I had already been exposed to a similar exercise where I lit some LEDs. However, it was until this class exercise that I realized how much light a small an LED can produce by seeing it from a difference angle. I understand that engineers are working on developing LEDs that can function as light bulbs. Hopefully, this can come to a reality so that we can save energy and still have a products that produces a rich source of light.