In the Fall of 1988 I started my PhD studies in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Soon, I began to have an inkling of why Professor Wojciech Maly had invited me to be his student. Attending the weekly research group meeting exposed me to the thesis topics of the other students….
Month: April 2017
Museum Living and Mixed-up Files: Revisiting Books
The title must have captured my nine-year-old imagination as I pulled it from the shelf. What stood out in my memory was solving the puzzle of the mixed-up files, sleeping in the Metropolitan museum, bathing in the fountain. These recollections spoke of adventure that entranced a nine-year-old. “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E….
Don’t Fail Good Cells: Part of the Weak Write Test Mode Saga
Doug, the P54CS memory design manager, stated numerous times to not fail a good cell. My mantra during the design of the very first weak write test mode circuit became “thou shalt not fail a good cell.” To address this requirement, the boundaries between a good and bad cell needed to be determined. Given the…
I Still Have a Landline
The young men looked at me in awe: “You have a landline!” They went on to explain that it had become a status symbol. I had been signing up at a volunteer expo and mentioned I was providing my landline. I smiled at their response; it used to be that having a cell phone signified…