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> Not clear if US companies can catch up at this point. I'm biased as I'm working on 18A at Intel but I'm very optimistic for this node. We could leapfrog TSMC

by KK7NIL 2y ago

> Not clear if US companies can catch up at this point. I'm biased as I'm working on 18A at Intel but I'm very optimistic for this node. We could leapfrog TSMC (this is all public information). And in the last few years Intel speedran 4 nodes to catch up, which was quite the feat. > I think another efficient goal would be to invite politically friendly asian companies to build fabs in US. This was part of the CHIPS act too (which I think shows how scattered the US semiconductor policy is), TSMC and Samsung got money to do exactly that.

osnium123 2y ago
Do you feel like Intel is a compelling employer for you and does it pay well/create a positive environment for you?
- KK7NIL 2y ago
  It's a really large company so, has you pointed out, this is just my experience. Pros: It has provided compelling compensation in Oregon (significantly more than my previous position, but I'm junior so large jumps are normal) and work (leading edge tech in my field, plenty of external eyes looking at it). All my managers all the way up to and including the CEO are very successful engineers and understand the technical detail of what they're managing extremely well. Pat is very capable of talking about details of upcoming processes during internal meetings, for example. I also feel empowered by my manager and colleagues to point out how we could improve our methodology, although that often results in extra projects for me, requiring some sacrifice of personal time if I want to complete them all (which is what I'm looking for right now but not sustainable in the long run). I quite like OKR system and I feel like my manager really understands what I'm doing and provides useful feedback. Cons: I feel there's a bit of a "fire-fighting mentality" in parts of the foundry, especially as you get closer to the fab. There's an unspoken pride in spending your day working late to fix some issue. Many teams are constantly in meetings debugging issues caused by human error and no one seems to ask the question "how can we automate this so it doesn't happen again?" because they're HW not SW people. A lot of my automation side projects require buy-in from other teams and there's been some friction in showing them the value of their cooperation ("this is how we've always done it" kind of attitude). Thankfully I have more senior engineers and managers who have a vision to fix these issues so it's going in the right direction. I believe this is not unusual in HW manufacturing. If you get placed in a team that has a bad methodology and has a manager that has no vision on how to completely revamp it, then it's going to be a real slog. If you're thinking of accepting a position at Intel Foundry, feel free to drop contact and we can talk further about my experience here.
  - osnium123 2y ago
    If you don’t mind me asking, what is your role in particular? Are you a module engineer, a metrology engineer or are you in design enablement? Also, is Intel Foundry currently hiring given all the cuts and layoffs? I hope your job is safe amid all the turmoil!
    - KK7NIL 2y ago
      > If you don’t mind me asking, what is your role in particular? Are you a module engineer, a metrology engineer or are you in design enablement? I'm a test engineer in Design Enablement, specifically in Advanced Design testing high speed IO. I'm sure you can find my Linkedin through my callsign if you'd like to know more details or reach out. > Also, is Intel Foundry currently hiring given all the cuts and layoffs? Yes, there's case by case exemptions, just depends on that team's needs and staffing levels. There's also voluntary internal movement as part of the pre-layoff process. > I hope your job is safe amid all the turmoil! I appreciate it!

by KK7NIL 2y ago

osnium123 2y ago

Do you feel like Intel is a compelling employer for you and does it pay well/create a positive environment for you?

KK7NIL 2y ago
It's a really large company so, has you pointed out, this is just my experience. Pros: It has provided compelling compensation in Oregon (significantly more than my previous position, but I'm junior so large jumps are normal) and work (leading edge tech in my field, plenty of external eyes looking at it). All my managers all the way up to and including the CEO are very successful engineers and understand the technical detail of what they're managing extremely well. Pat is very capable of talking about details of upcoming processes during internal meetings, for example. I also feel empowered by my manager and colleagues to point out how we could improve our methodology, although that often results in extra projects for me, requiring some sacrifice of personal time if I want to complete them all (which is what I'm looking for right now but not sustainable in the long run). I quite like OKR system and I feel like my manager really understands what I'm doing and provides useful feedback. Cons: I feel there's a bit of a "fire-fighting mentality" in parts of the foundry, especially as you get closer to the fab. There's an unspoken pride in spending your day working late to fix some issue. Many teams are constantly in meetings debugging issues caused by human error and no one seems to ask the question "how can we automate this so it doesn't happen again?" because they're HW not SW people. A lot of my automation side projects require buy-in from other teams and there's been some friction in showing them the value of their cooperation ("this is how we've always done it" kind of attitude). Thankfully I have more senior engineers and managers who have a vision to fix these issues so it's going in the right direction. I believe this is not unusual in HW manufacturing. If you get placed in a team that has a bad methodology and has a manager that has no vision on how to completely revamp it, then it's going to be a real slog. If you're thinking of accepting a position at Intel Foundry, feel free to drop contact and we can talk further about my experience here.
- osnium123 2y ago
  If you don’t mind me asking, what is your role in particular? Are you a module engineer, a metrology engineer or are you in design enablement? Also, is Intel Foundry currently hiring given all the cuts and layoffs? I hope your job is safe amid all the turmoil!
  - KK7NIL 2y ago
    > If you don’t mind me asking, what is your role in particular? Are you a module engineer, a metrology engineer or are you in design enablement? I'm a test engineer in Design Enablement, specifically in Advanced Design testing high speed IO. I'm sure you can find my Linkedin through my callsign if you'd like to know more details or reach out. > Also, is Intel Foundry currently hiring given all the cuts and layoffs? Yes, there's case by case exemptions, just depends on that team's needs and staffing levels. There's also voluntary internal movement as part of the pre-layoff process. > I hope your job is safe amid all the turmoil! I appreciate it!