TABLE OF CONTENTS Jim Williams
| Note | Here is a classic example of how to adapt an old circuit to new requirements. Jim took one of my old (power-wasteful) circuits and adapted it and reengineered it to run at very low power. Nice engineering! With no degradation of accuracy./rap |
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Professor Jerrold R. Zacharias, who saved my ass.
A couple of years ago I was asked to design a circuit for a customer. The requirements were not trivial, and the customer was having difficulty. I worked on this problem for some time and was asked to present my solution in a formal design review at the customer's location.
When I say "formal," I mean it! I came expecting to talk circuits with a few guys over a pizza. Upon arrival, I was taken to a large and very grand room, reminiscent of a movie theater. About 150 engineers were in attendance. There was every audiovisual machine known to humanity at the ready, and I was almost embarrassed to report that I had no slides, overheads, charts, or whatever (although the piece of chalk I grasped was nice). A "senior technical management panel," positioned in a boxed-off section adjacent to the lectern, was to present a prepared list of questions. A video camera duly recorded the proceedings. The whole thing was chaired by somebody who introduced himself as "Dr. So-and-So, senior vice president of engineering." Everybody in the place...
