Electrical engineers specializing in analog design are becoming harder to find.  The vast majority of new electrical engineering graduates are opting for digital design and/or computer engineering as their specialty.  Interestingly, the need for skilled analog designers is becoming greater.  While many of the new gadgets on the market today may seem to be digital in nature, much of what makes them special is really innovative analog design.  However the perception is that “analog” is “old”, and “digital” is “new”.

A recent article in EE Times (”Analog expertise: coveted, lucrative, and rare” - R. Colin Johnson - June 2, 2008) highlights the apparent shortage of analog engineers.  The article states that electrical engineering graduates specializing in digital engineering outnumber those specializing in analog design by at least 10 to 1.  This amounts to only about 1,000 new analog engineers per year in the U.S.  An interesting quote in the article makes the claim that a new digital engineer can often make significant contributions to their employer just six months on the job, while it may take five to seven years of experience before an analog engineer can make significant contributions.  Also it is stated that digital talent can be found everywhere in the world, while it is hard to find experienced analog talent anywhere in the world.

Analog design is more challenging.  Many more variables are involved; there is more to take into account in an analog design.  Unfortunately, many professors skilled in this area have left academia to pursue higher paying jobs elsewhere.  If you are an engineering student, and desire to specialize in analog design, then you should select your college or university carefully. Then you should talk to the placement office and professors to find out about analog interning opportunities. If no active programs exist, you should think about another institution. The odds do not favor your sudden transformation into an analog engineer after graduation.

For analog design information you can visit http://electronicdesign.com/subject/analog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Electrical Engineering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.