Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/745476
78 SMT Magazine • November 2016 one can do the job as well as you, and since you will be personally evaluated by the output of your group—just do it yourself. Believe me, from firsthand experience, learning to delegate is one of the most difficult skills for a young en- gineer to learn. So the answer to the question, is leader- ship in your company something you should worry about, is yes, if the security of you job is something you care about and if the company growth that spawns individual opportunity and prosperity is important to you. However, probably the most important thing is that company leaders don't have to be in management. As we said last month, anyone in the orga- nization can be a technical leader through dem- onstrating their mastery of the technical com- ponent of their job—but, more important they can be a leader of the workforce by putting their team, project and the company before them- selves. Finally, It's risky to be the little boy or girl on the parade route who screams, "The emperor has no clothes." However, this too is leadership. If your company cannot tolerate an assessment of this kind, maybe it's time to consider work- ing for a different company. Next month we'll continue to drill down into some of these topics and work toward a saner organizational structure—one that per- mits a more efficient and cost effective way to manage electronic product assembly and one that exploits the natural leadership abilities within the company. Hey, what do you say? I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences. SMT References 1. T. Borkes, "The Child is Father of the Man: Turning the Relationship Between the Electronic Product Assembly Employer and Re- cent Graduates Upside Down," SMT Magazine, September 2016. 2. T. Borkes, "Do the High Paid Managers in Your Organization Add Value?" SMT Magazine, October 2016. 3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Standards. 4. Occupational Employment and Wag- es, May 2015, Category 51-2022 Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers. Tom Borkes is the founder of the Jefferson Project and the forthcoming Jefferson Institute of Technology. To reach Borkes, click here. LEADERSHIP IN YOUR COMPANY: SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT? Engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new design for transistors that operate on scavenged energy from their environment. The design could form the basis for devices which function for months or years with- out a battery, and could be used for wearable or im- plantable electronics. Using a similar principle to a computer in sleep mode, the new transistor harnesses a tiny leakage of electrical current, known as a near-off-state cur- rent, for its operations. This leak, like water dripping from a faulty tap, is a characteristic of all transistors, but this is the first time that it has been effective- ly captured and used functionally. The results, reported in the jour- nal Science, open up new avenues for system design for the Internet of Things, in which most of the things we interact with every day are connected to the Internet. The transistors can be produced at low tem- peratures and can be printed on almost any ma- terial, from glass and plastic to polyester and pa- per. They are based on a unique geometry which uses a 'non-desirable' characteristic, namely the point of contact between the metal and semicon- ducting components of a transistor, a so-called 'Schottky barrier'. Engineers Design Ultralow Power Transistors That Could Function for Years Without a Battery