Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1093246
40 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2019 either way, we want you to go to this because it's the last one that he's doing publicly." Now, Eric teaches at the University of Colorado and has an online academy. Shaughnessy: Growing up, you must have had video games. Hazelett: I remember before the internet was ubiquitous, the first computer I ever touched and played with was a 486—maybe an early Apple product. It wasn't until high school that I started seeing people with cellphones. Now, I have friends who have kids who are six years old and monitor their screen time. Shaughnessy: It seems like today's young peo- ple would be more interested in a career like this because they've been exposed to handheld devices their entire lives. It seems like they would want to know how to design or built it Hazelett: Unfortunately, a lot of this isn't flashy. Mark Zuckerberg is a few months younger than me. You're telling me I could have been a bil- lionaire if I'd created a website? So, that leads to my generation saying, "I can just make an app and get a quick buck." You have a low bar- rier to possibly becoming a billionaire because you can have a good website or phone app versus PCB design and manufacturing, where there's a much higher cost of entry and infra- structure required. Shaughnessy: How do we get more of the younger people involved? I see Susy Webb's PCB basics classes are full, but most of her stu- dents are currently EEs—not necessarily young people. Still, they're coming into the field. Hazelett: That's what I was saying earlier. I'm an EE, and my professors told me, "A techni- cian will do the PCB design." It was before the time when this was a specialized EE element. Fabrication shops are starting to acquire EEs to help them, not just chemical or mechani- cal engineers, but on the design side, and it's fascinating. There is a ton of exciting stuff that people are getting involved with. Cellphones and video games have massively complex PCBs. That's what's really cool about my job: I get to go to companies that I'm a fan of and help them to make the next product that I'm probably going to buy. Or I get to find out what they're working on, which brings my ex- citement to a whole new level. I don't actually work for the company, but I support them and the chain because no one company does ev- erything. I get to participate and think to my- self, "They used the tools I trained them on to launch that product into the marketplace. I helped that device communicate with some- thing in space. I helped this company with medical equipment." Shaughnessy: We have to do a better job of tooting our own horn because half of the peo- ple in this industry are retiring in the next 10 years. How do we share this better with young students? Hazelett: Polar Instruments started engaging that a number of years ago. I just celebrated five years at Polar, and six months before hir- ing me, the company hired Michael Bode who's even younger than me. We made that concert- ed effort, realizing there needs to be new blood welcomed into the industry. Also, you have to be very careful because you can't just push out the older people either; then, you're approaching ageism. I've started to see some of that occurring in certain indus- try elements where companies remove an old-