Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1199133
JANUARY 2020 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 19 The older designers have to teach the young designers so that, hopefully, they will pick up the torch and carry it. I'm sure you hear that all the time from the engineering community. I hope more young folks come into the profes- sion; it's a great career, and you can make a good living. And no matter what you're doing in high-tech, we need more tech people in the United States. Shaughnessy: And if we lose design, then we lose everything. Seymour: We'd like to keep the edge. Shaughnessy: If your evaluation goes well, will you be able to move up to the big leagues? Seymour: Right. That's the process for becom- ing an instructor. You train and take the test. Yeah, I had to have a CID+ before I could even think about teaching it. I had to catch up on the material that they've changed over the last few years by either adding to or subtracting from the class and then study the new mate- rial and present. As new designs come along, there are always techniques and methods to stay on top of. Shaughnessy: Do you have a pretty good feel- ing about it? Seymour: I do. The next part is a formal ap- proval where they give you the certificate and say you are approved as an instructor. Then, I'll look forward to a number of years of training young designers. I'd like to thank a number of EPTAC instructors who have contributed to my growth, including Steph Chavez, Cherie Litson, and Gary Ferrari, who are all master instruc- tors. I think Gary was born in an etch tank. Shaughnessy: Probably! Seymour: But I haven't approached anywhere near the MIT level yet. I'm sure I have to teach for a certain number of years before I can think about becoming an MIT; then, I'll see what the future holds for the master level. Shaughnessy: Very good. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss that we haven't covered? Seymour: I'd like to say one more thing about PCB design. I'm a musician—a bass player on the weekends. I think that a PCB design is a great marriage of technology and artistry in the same way that that left and right sides of your brain think about problems. It's technol- ogy and artistry wrapped into one. Shaughnessy: Sure. A lot of designers are mu- sicians. Seymour: Exactly. It's a creative outlet. Young potential designers need to understand that in this career, you draw all day long. There is a reason they call it "artwork." My mom thought I was wasting a lot of time in the vid- eo arcades during college. We'd get $6 worth of tokens for $5 on college night and play Cen- tipede, Defender, Tempus, Stargate, and Aster- oids. I was sitting in front of a big tube playing games and coordinating hand movement with a trackball, and my mom would say, "You'll never use that in the future." Now, what do I do? I use a trackball all day long and draw pic- tures. Shaughnessy: That's too funny. It has been great talking with you, Dave. We need to put a band together for the next PCB Carolina. Seymour: Thank you, Andy. Any time you want to visit and make some noise, let's do it. DESIGN007 I think that a PCB design is a great marriage of technology and artistry in the same way that that left and right sides of your brain think about problems.