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Cal Augason B.S. in Mat.E., Fall 1986 Cal addresses in this Fall '95 Article the "Transition from Aerospace to
Semiconductors": After eight years in the aerospace defense industry, I felt my growth prospects were
limited in a highly impacted work environment. I had survived the layoffs, but I felt an
urgent need to make a change and pursue alternative job markets . My eventual success in
finding a new job was the result of a proactive approach; developing relevant experience,
targeting job markets, continuing education and training, and maintaining perseverance. In
this article, I suggest strategy based on the activities which helped me make the change. Develop job assignments with your current employer which provide experience which can
apply to other industries. Be prepared to change career paths several times. Be positive
in explaining the virtues of prior experience and how it is applicable to a new, potential
employer. Aerospace applications of advanced materials are extremely demanding and unique.
So, this experience can provide a fresh outlook and new resources to another `apparently'
unrelated industry. Plan a strategy and be prepared to sell yourself in an interview. Experience and a
proactive "can do" attitude are important attributes which prospective employers
are looking for. Target industries and companies which interest you and are in a hiring
mode. Learn as much about their technologies and business aspects as possible before the
interview. Subscribe to industry journals, study the technology, read the newspaper, and
develop and maintain personal and professional contacts. Write and rewrite your resume until it works. A resume should be focused on the
industry and the specific job you are pursuing. Learn the target industry buzz words and
use them. Initial screening is often carried out by the hiring manager. If you identify a
specific position, try all means to communicate directly with the hiring manager. This is
where it pays to network and develop contacts. Pursue education and training opportunities. Orient these efforts towards the needs of
prospective employers. As a materials engineer working in the area of materials,
processes, and quality control, I found most employers to require a basic understanding of
statistical design of experiment (SDE) and statistical process control (SPC). Therefore I
took training courses from my employer and worked these topics into my masters' thesis
topic. In addition, develop complimentary skills such as computer expertise and Auto CAD;
and further develop laboratory equipment operation, data analysis, and computer feedback
and control skills. Be diligent! Work with a recruiter, use personal contacts, review newspaper ads, and
attend job fairs. Through these experiences, I learned how to successfully market my
capabilities. I found my current job at Applied Materials through a full page newspaper ad
and a two hour interview; you never know what is going to work beforehand. I am pleased with my change to the semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry. It has provided me interesting work and growth opportunities. However, I still practice the activities which I have highlighted above. I believe that in order to stay competitive, one must continually evaluate one's career path and adapt to the changing job environment. Steve Woodman B.S. in Mat.E., Fall 1991 After I received my Bachelor of Science Degree from the Materials Engineering
Department at San Jose State University in December of 1991, I took a position at the
IBM-Almaden Research Center. The first group I worked for was developing ink jet print
heads. I was involved with thin film deposition and wet and dry etching techniques. After
that, I was involved with process development for the Micromechanics Group. I developed
several photoresist and thin film steps to define devices and I determined plating rates
for metal deposition. I was also involved with a CVD laboratory. The lab introduced me to
LPCVD and PECVD process tools. Most of the work that I did at IBM was directly related to Materials Engineering. The
mechanical stress in the layers of thin film was of every day importance, along with
materials interaction between layers. Not only were we concerned with the physical
processing steps, but also the process flow and hierarchy. I also needed the design of
experiment experience given in Mat. E. 198A/B, the Senior Project class. I have recently accepted a position in a small biotech company developing DNA
sequencing on a chip. At the present time, I am not dealing directly with materials
related issues, but I am using the knowledge of process flow and development which I
learned in the Materials Engineering Department. I am hoping to one day get back into
device development. Adauto Diaz B.S. in Ch.E. from Fall '93 I began my undergraduate education believing that my chemical engineering curriculum
would provide me with a broad and well balanced education and allow me to enter almost any
engineering field dealing with the processing of materials. Today I am grateful that a
friend informed me of the minor offered by the Materials Engineering Department. In
today's tough job market, especially here in the heart of the Silicon Valley, we all need
an extra edge to get us past the first interview. For me that extra edge was the materials
engineering minor I obtained in conjunction with my bachelors degree in chemical
engineering. The materials engineering courses have given me a broad understanding of
today's integrated circuit processing technology that was not included in the chemical
engineering curricula. I am convinced that the knowledge that I've acquired has helped
increase my overall value to my present company. The most important part of the materials
courses is the information regarding the testing, characterization and production of the
different materials used in today's VLSI processes. The correct and effective use of
analytical equipment and techniques is crucial to understand failure mechanisms, optimize
process steps, and select the correct materials. In short, the materials engineering classes have helped me to become technically
competent in the field of IC production, design, testing and manufacturing. The knowledge
that I've learned has also given me a higher level of self-confidence, enthusiasm, clear
vision of my future; I have become more decisive in my career goals. My verbal and written
communication skills have improved after completing the required classroom presentations
and technical reports. The most important lesson I've learned in pursuing my materials
engineering minor is not to try to "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to trying
to solve an extremely difficult problem. I can turn to the published literature, prior
reports, consultants, or other engineers who have worked on similar problems to seek the
proper solution. Kathy Lewis: B.S. in MatE, Fall 1996 I know there are some of you out there who are struggling through each semester
wondering if you'll ever use what you're learning. I mean, how important can Engineering
IOOW (the Engineering Reports class) be anyway? I'm here to tell you that you' 11 need
most of it on the job. As an undergraduate in Materials Engineering at San Jose State,
I've had the opportunity to apply my studies directly to my work in industry. Actually,
the skills that I've attained in various classes have opened many doors for me. It all started in Materials Engineering 154. For those of you who don't know, Mat.E.
154 (Metals an Alloys Processing) is a metallography class taught by Dr. Pizzo. It
involves the thermal and mechanical processing of metals and alloys as well as the
interpretation of microstructure. In this course, you are also trained to use various
instruments, such as the Nikon inverted microscope, the Rockwell hardness tester and the
Knoop hardness tester. It was experience with the Knoop hardness tester that opened the
door to my first job related to my field of study. In the summer of 1995, Integrated Device Technology Incorporated needed hardness
testing to be performed on various areas of their integrated circuits . I was not only
required to use the Knoop hardness machine, but also to analyze the results and write a
short report in summary. Thank goodness for Engineering lOOW and all of those miserable
lab reports in Mat E. 154 and MatE.195 (the Mechanical Behavior of Materials course)! This
job gave me the opportunity to work with Dr. Peter Gwozdz, Director of the Integrated
Circuit Laboratory on campus. For the past year, I have been able to work as a Lab
Assistant for the Microfabrication short course, held for people in industry and taught by
Dr. Gwozdz. This has given me experience in silicon wafer photolithography, oxidation and
metallization. This is experience that I hope to use in the future in this valley. The skills that I gained in Mat.E. 154, as well as those attained in Mat.E.195
(Mechanical Behavior of Materials) allowed me to take advantage of an opportunity to work
at G.E. Nuclear in San Jose. At G.E., I worked as an engineering technician in the
Metallurgical Laboratory. This job offered me a wide variety of experience in the fields
of metallography and mechanical testing of materials. I have gained experience in optical
microscopy, electron dispersive x-ray analysis, tensile testing, Charpy impact testing,
hardness testing, and scanning electron microscope. My job also involves graphing and
analyzing data as well as contributing to the written technical reports. So, take heart, it's all important. Yes, even Engineering 100W! John Nugent B.S. Graduate, Fall 1996 Before I graduated from the materials engineering program at SJSU, I had the crazy idea of pursuing a PhD in materials engineering. After graduating in the Fall '96 semester, I worked for a short time for alumnus Steve Woodman (’91) at Affymetrix in Santa Clara. Then in August of ’97 I trekked across the country to attend graduate school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. I have now finished my second year here and am anticipating graduation sometime between a year and a half to two years from now. Let me just say that the education that I received at SJSU plus the job opportunities that I had as an undergraduate have prepared me for the challenge of a PhD program. For example, after our first year here, we are required to take a preliminary examination to see if we are PhD material. The 3-hour written exam is followed by a two hour oral exam with a committee of four professors; and just about anything materials-related is fair game. The number of hours that I spent studying at SJSU plus the instruction there saved me from having to relearn everything for this exam. The background that I had was more than sufficient and the amount of studying that I had to do was minimal compared to my classmates. Another area that the education at SJSU helps to prepare you for, both as a graduate student and as an industry employee is the emphasis on hands-on learning. The hours that were spent in lecture/laboratory classes such as MatE 154 [Metals & Alloys] and 195 [Mechanical Properties] as well as senior project are invaluable. Every time my advisor asks me if I have either worked with a piece of equipment or if I am familiar with a process, I can answer "Yes." As a graduate student working for a PhD, you are expected to do original research in some area. Often this involves designing, constructing and using some sort of equipment. That is a primary area where the hands on approach at SJSU helps. |
