Not all great ideas turn into patents; they simply are not novel enough to warrant the effort. Some ideas are so great that a company decides to keep them as a trade secret. The following exchange I had with Greg Taylor instructed me on how to determine if an invention should be patented: “Would other…
Tag: Solving the Sexy Hard Problem
Introduction to a Sexy Hard Problem: From the Weak Write Test Mode Saga
Signs the problem is very hard: Before you have worked on it you’re asked a vague question from an IBM engineer during a research review. The solution results in a 10X decrease. The solution can be applied to every single product with that circuitry at your company. Patents are filed. People who can’t make your…
Starting in the Middle– A Lesson on Documentation
In early July of 1984 Jim Morris, my manager, stopped by my office and suggested I start writing up my project. I thought it odd to start writing so soon; I had not completed my revisions to the computer program. My project focused on my converting the Grade of Service parameter from a constant…
Comparing Needles in Haystacks: From the Weighted Random Pattern Chronicles
Culling out bad from good parts is a necessary step in any manufacturing process, be it a spark plug for a car, the highchair for your infant child or a computer chip for your mobile device. Semiconductor testing moved from testing explicitly for Good parts to identifying Bad parts decades ago. The exponential growth in…
Asking Questions of Experts
In the summer of 1984 I attended a seminar presented by Bob, a member of technical staff. I carefully listened and realized that my project would be changing some fundamental assumptions related to his talk. When the Q&A time arrived I asked this question– “If Grade of Service (GOS) is no longer a constant, i.e….
Enthusiasm and Feedback Leads to a Cool Project: From the Weighted Random Pattern Chronicles
“Frankly Lou, I have had summer jobs that have been much more interesting,” I told my boss. Running enthusiastically into my boss’s boss’s office I blurted out “Bob, I heard this engineer Franco describe a test method called Weighted Random Patterns. I found it so fascinating.” As a young engineer at IBM in the mid-1980’s…