Tekmos' Blog

Tekmos makes frequent use of interns, particularly over the summer months. These are college students, majoring in engineering or computing science. The challenge is how to make effective use of a smart, but relatively untrained employee who may only be available for 8 to 10 weeks. Here is how we do it.

Every company has a combination of both low and high priority projects. The high priority projects are customer driven, and all have deadlines. These are not projects for interns. The low priority projects are another matter. Low priority projects are typically for internal use. There is no specific deadline, and they are usually not manned. And so these are what we assign to the interns. If they succeed, then we have solved a problem. If they don’t, then we are no worse off than we were before. Fortunately, we have had a good deal of success with interns, and have been successful every time.

Past projects have included an interface between our tester and our handler that also allowed for a manual start button. Another project involved the use of DSP algorithms for testing a codec circuit. And a third was a test case where we extracted a circuit schematic from a physical layout.

This summer, we have had our two interns, Byron Seaberg and Gavin May, working on a dedicated tester for one of our high-volume parts. We have a handler capable of 7 site testing, but we don’t have a tester to go with it. One of our engineers had put together a schematic, but the resulting board had issues. So, we assigned one intern to hardware problems, and the second intern to software problems. The hardware intern identified several wiring issues on the board where 2.5 volt signals were connected to 3.3 volt flash memories. He corrected the schematic, turned the board, and is now debugging it before he returns back to school (MIT). Our software intern has assisted by writing code to exercise the board, and working on USB protocols to interface the tester with a PC. Again, it is a rush to finish before he returns to school (UC Berkley).

We try to create jobs that will not only benefit us, but will benefit the interns. The main benefit is doing actual engineering work in an engineering environment.  We also try to enhance their experience by letting them participate in engineering design reviews and in manufacturing meetings. This makes the internship a win-win proposition for both of us.

Tekmos Engineer Intern program provides an opportunity to apply what learning in academic pursuits to real world situations, allowing future engineers to enhance skills, further learning, and gain valuable experience. Our interns are technically excellent Graduates who are looking to forge a career with one of the most successful companies within the field of mixed-signal integrated circuits.

Several of our engineers were mentored through our Intern program and currently serve in full time positions including Kelsey Casto, Director of Quality for Tekmos who came to Tekmos as a Junior in college. She has risen up in her 6 years at Tekmos. Clay Abel has worked at Tekmos through high school and breaks from college, and now works as a full-time engineer.

This summer we have a new intern in Byron Seaberg and a returning intern in Gavin May. Byron Seaberg learned about Tekmos in high school through Lynn Reed and Jon Gehm, who were both active in Boy Scout Troop 70. Lynn was Byron’s scoutmaster for a period of time and both Lynn and Jon had a large impact on him through the organization. Byron did reach Eagle Scout alongside several other current Tekmos employees Alan Reed, Clay Abel and Adrian De Leon.

Byron became interested in engineering through his high school robotics team. He always enjoyed math and science classes during school, and engineering provided a hands-on application of those subjects. Byron is hoping to gain some practical experience with the design and implementation of application specific circuits. He is from Austin, TX. And his hobbies include reading, rock climbing, and board games. Byron graduated in May from Texas A&M University with a major in Mechanical Engineering and minor in Electrical Engineering. He will be pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at MIT in the Fall.

Gavin May learned about Tekmos through the mentor-ship at his school. Gavin had been mentored by Lynn Reed last summer and returned. Gavin has always enjoyed new things, as well as math and science, so engineering was a clear pathway for him. He hopes to gain real technical experience during his time at Tekmos, and to learn all that he can from the Tekmos Team.

This October will be my 6th year as a Tekmos employee. Oh- how time flies. Tekmos has gotten to see me graduate college, buy my first house, get married, and so much more! So-I think it’s only fitting to write an article about my experience within the company and a few life changing principles I have learned in the many different roles as; Intern, Assembly Engineer, and Director of Quality.

I started at Tekmos in 2014 as an Engineering Intern helping the design and layout of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). I was familiar with working on CAD programs, so I was able to pick up the PCB software easily, but there was one important lesson I still needed to learn; admitting to my mistakes. Not every PCB I designed was functional, which meant my 20 year old self made numerous arguments blaming others for the mistakes. After one failed (expensive) project and my countless excuses blaming others, Lynn Reed, President, sat down in my cubicle with me and shared some wisdom about taking ownership of my work, including the mistakes, because in the end the project is ultimately my responsibility. Those simple, self-explanatory words changed my view on how to embrace mistakes and take ownership. Yes, I still made mistakes on some PCBs, but my attitude towards failure had drastically changed.

My next important learning experience came after I got promoted to an Assembly Engineer. This promotion meant I was now transitioning into a role I had little knowledge in and leaving the comfort-ability of PCB designing. I had to embrace getting out of my comfort zone and take initiative on learning a subject outside of the classroom. Although- fellow Tekmos employees graciously helped along the way. Specifically Test Floor Technician, Phil Buck, who spent many patient hours explaining the assembly process of ICs, machine operations/troubleshooting, and even the importance of electrical safety while working on test floors. With his help, I learned how to get comfortable with my new role as an Assembly Engineer and be humble in times of the unfamiliarity.

Fast forward one year, VP of Operations, Jon Gehm, introduced me to the Quality Management System (QMS). Initially, I was assisting him with audit prepping and reorganization, but over time he encouraged me to take leadership on the AS9100 quality system upgrade and set a goal to become the Director of Quality at Tekmos. This encouragement really tested my self-confidence and I had to learn to push myself beyond my set boundaries. I had many learning curves on what it meant to be in a Director position, but it eventually led me to grow a voice in meetings, audits, improvement plans, and much more. Eventually I was promoted to Director of Quality and have been at this role since 2017.

Because of the leadership and environment at Tekmos I have learned how to admit to mistakes, embrace the uncomfortable, and gain self-confidence.

Although Quality Metrics sound uninteresting to the standard employee, any Quality representative should know that those metrics are the unsung heroes of a healthy company. Quality Metrics are also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPI's), which measures the success of a company based on meeting specific goals and targets set by Management.

Tracking KPI’s play a vital role in properly determining if a department is functioning correctly. Unlike a person’s relative opinion on a department’s status, i.e. “I think the Sales Department has been doing well this quarter”, Quality Metrics use a numerical value to assess the department, along with creating a target goal, i.e. “The Sales Department sent out 72 quotes this quarter, which surpassed the target goal of 60 quotes.” These numerical values help management evaluate the department quickly and bypass the possibility of a biased opinion.

Metrics also help determine trends occurring in the company. In the above example, if the Sales Department continues to surpass the target goal every quarter, this may be an indication to management that it is time to raise expectations. This could include, allowing more throughput on a production floor, incorporating additional capabilities, or taking on more projects. Of course, if metrics start to trend negatively, management will then have to discuss action plans to get the department healthy again. Implementing action plans first consist of asking the questions; What will be done to get back on track, What resources are required, Who is responsible for the new implementation, and When will the implementation be completed. These questions will initiate movement and gear people back towards success.

Tekmos has Quality Metrics in all core departments. Here are a just few; Average Response Time for Sales Inquires, Number of Supplier Late Deliveries, Raw Stock Cycle time to Finished Goods, and more. Tekmos’ metrics were chosen with the help of our President, VP of Operations, and myself – Director of Quality. Each of us brought different experience and understanding of the Organization to accurately assess what a “healthy” Tekmos should look like.

Tekmos’ Metric Practices;
-Establish beneficial Quality Metrics
-Set realistic target goals
-Perform quarterly reviews of Quality Metrics
-Address Action Plans when target goals are not met
-Adjust Quality Metrics and/or target goals, when applicable Tekmos continues to utilize the above Metric Practices to help eliminate potential risks and improve customer confidence in all department areas.

Since technology and applications seem to advance, it’s only fitting that Tekmos’ qualification testing advances as well. Within the last year, Tekmos has incorporated more reliability and qualification testing in our First Article Inspections, which brings customers more confidence and assurance for our design and manufacturing abilities.

Tekmos uses two generic qualification standards; MIL-STD-883 and JESD47. Both of these standards have compliance testing for the device’s Electrical Capability, Environmental Strains, Life Potential, and Package Assembly Integrity. These tests allow the device to be looked at from all angles and predict whether the device can survive under typical stresses seen in the semiconductor industry. However, some testing is dependent on the final application of the device. If the final application is prone to jolt movements but rarely exposed to alternating extreme temperatures, then a focus on the Package Assembly Integrity testing; I.E. Bond Pull Strength, Bond Shear, and Die Shear, might be more beneficial than the Environmental Strains; I.E. Temperature Cycling. Another testing dependent could be from a Product Change Notice (PCN). If a PCN is sent due to a Wafer Design Change, then it would be more useful to perform Electrical Capability testing rather than Package Assembly Integrity. Of course, if any time a customer desires a full qualification, then Tekmos will be happy to accommodate.

Incorporating these qualification tests has come with learning curves and challenges. One main challenge was our project management process had to be revamped to keep up with the additional testing. Majority of the qualification tests are performed by outside suppliers, which means there needs to be extra precaution on lead-time agreements, material management, cost evaluations, and final review of reports. As the Director of Quality, I have taken these new additions to project management as my responsibility. Within the last few months, I have been beta testing a new tool that captures all steps in the qualification process, as well as tracks lead-times and cost trends. Tekmos is hoping this implementation will reduce human error risks, and accurately assess upcoming qualifications.

A key player in our Qualification Testing has been our Product Engineer, Zachary Kolb. He was hired back in April of 2019 and has been the main person involved in First Article Inspections. Along with receiving my many pestering, if not annoying emails and phone calls, he is the mastermind behind the qualification tests performed at Tekmos. He is responsible for coordinating information and material with our suppliers, setup and testing of inhouse qualifications, and report generating. He has been a great asset to Tekmos and continues to help maintain structure and organization in device qualifications.

Kelsey Casto, Director of Quality