Resourceful philanthropy benefits out-of-work designers

Times are tough for design engineers; many have been laid off with the slowdown of the global economy. The problem is particularly acute in North America where, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the first quarter of 2002 the unemployment rate for electrical and electronics engineers rose from 4.1 to 4.8% in the second quarter alone.

In the fast-moving field of EDA, staying on top requires a constant upgrading of one?s design skills. This is easier said than done even when you are employed. Then, what about the unemployed designers? EDA heavyweight Mentor Graphics has taken an innovative approach in reaching out to these designers by offering free EDA training to displaced engineers. Called the Displaced Worker Program, Mentor is offering free course placements to unemployed designers in its public enrollment training classes on a space available basis. Mentor's training program enables you to enhance technical skills and gain hands-on experience in the use of the latest tools for programmable logic design, pc-board design and ASIC design and verification.

There are some conditions you must satisfy to enter the program, though. Mentor stipulates that you must be an experienced EDA designer who has been unemployed for less than six months. For competitive reasons, this program is not open to employed EDA users, or to Mentor Graphics' competitors. You need to have a bachelor's or master's degree in EE or comparable design experience. An ideal candidate in Mentor's opinion is someone who is a former user of a competing product who wishes to learn about Mentor Graphics' EDA solutions. The courses will first be offered to qualified candidates in Mentor's North American training locations. For a list of course descriptions, schedules and other details, please visit www.mentor.com/es.

Mentor is clearly displaying leadership skills in offering this program and making its technology available to a broad base of designers. A minority may argue that Mentor's altruism is based on commercial considerations. It doesn't really matter, because at the end of the day, it's the hands-on training you have with leading-edge tools that will enable you to maintain your place at the forefront of EDA design. I hope other industry leaders will take a leaf out of Mentor's book and will come out with their own programs. We could use programs of this nature in our own region. Are there any local companies or subsidiaries of multinational companies ready to take up the challenge?


What do you think? Send me your comments at
nsmanjunath@rbi-asia.com.hk.