hey /sci/, would VLSI be a good field to get into for an ECE

>>7996656
How many classes have you had dealing with VLSI? Also, how much circuit experience do you have? It can be a very tedious and rigorous subject but you can work at some very cool places

>>7996719
I am a frosh planning out my curriculum for the rest of college, and deciding what track to take for my capstone project senior year. As you could imagine, I have not yet taken any formal classes on VLSI, but do have some experience with circuits. I find the topic very interesting, and plan to self teach myself some basics about it through books as well.

>>7996730
Are there other subjects you are interested in? Your question seems weirdly worded since it really depends on what you find the most interesting subject is. Certainly VLSI can be a good focus area for your technical classed but there are others as well. Do you have any more specific questions that would help guide you toward finding an area of interest?

>>7996656
>VLSI
shouldn't it be called Very Small Scale Integration instead considering how tiny the chips are?

>>7996782
It's about the number of components on a chip not about the size of the chip

>>7996770
Basically I guess what books would you recommend for one looking to get more into the field and see if it is for them

>>7996656
Most work relating to chip design and manufacture is fairly safe.


There is a need for skilled people in chip architecture and design, everything relating to manufacture such as thin film, mask and optics, solid state, CAD and development tools and more.

And this will be the case for the forseeable future.

>>7996848
Start with "CMOS VLSI Design A Circuits and Systems approach", after that ask a faculty member in the field for more specific texts in areas like digital or analog design.

Additionally like >>7997361 says there are more areas than actual circuit design. As we approach what seems to be the minimum feature size of MOS transistors, engineers will have to figure out more clever ways to improve performance of chips whether that be more advanced fab techniques or smarter circuit layouts

>>7998166
>or analog design
That reminds me, there is a huge need for good analogue designers. The reason is that digital design is far easier to teach so universities have by and large quietly dropped it.

You might go for specialisation like high speed analogue,. RF analogue, low noise analogue etc.

Salaries are good and you are not unemployed for long. I know: in an earlier job the spud of a chief tried to down-negotiate the salaries of two analogue designers. They walked out. and THEN said spud discovered why they could afford to calmly walk out: it was hard to find a replacement. End result: product launch massively delayed and later on the facility was closed down.

The spud was so desperate when reality downed on him like the proverbial ton of bricks that when I had a job interview there he asked me if I was good in analogue design even though I had not listed it on my CV.

>>7999318
I always find it amazing how set backs large or small backs absolutely kill companies. The semiconductor industry is so unforgiving

>>8000189
I have seen this many times. Many of my ex-employers are now ex-companies.
There is a patterns that surprises me every time
- the stupidity of some management decisions you know basically is signing off the death and destruction of the company
- that the process takes such a long time to complete (usually some employees give their all to survive but there is no hope, and I have been there too)
- and last but not least: that the people responsible get off and usually get a promotion in every case I have seen.

I have seen both software and electronics companies following this pattern. All the more important then to be in a field that lets you get a new job easily.