IEEE Navigational Bar IEEE Home Search IEEE Join IEEE About IEEE

DENVER SECTION

Home

Upcoming Events

Past Events

Meeting Schedule

Mailing List

Officers

Links

Panel Discussion (Joint Meeting with IEEE High Plains Section)
Expanding Semiconductor Job Opportunities in Northern Colorado
DATE/TIME  Wednesday, June 8, 2011 (6:00pm to 8:30pm).  The panel discussion will be preceded by a half hour of “mingling and munching”
PLACE  Avago Technologies Fort Collins Campus Building 1 (4380 Ziegler Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525) NOTE ONE-TIME CHANGE OF VENUE
DIRECTIONS

From I-25, take Harmony Road Exit (Exit 265) westbound, and enter Avago campus on right immediately before Harmony/Ziegler intersection.  Park in the circle an.  You will be given a visitor's badge and will be escorted by an Avago employee to the auditorium room.  Non-Avago employees:  please arrive at 6:00pm for security sign-in and escort.

COST    Free for IEEE and unemployed non-members/guests.  $5 for employed non-members.  Food will be provided.
RSVP    Send e-mail to Tang at sytang@ieee.org
ISSUE

The semiconductor and closely related industries are the largest source of primary income in the Fort Collins area.  This area also has one of the highest concentrations of semiconductor professionals in the world.  Yet local employment has been stagnant for a decade and engineers feel their opportunities are limited.  We have assembled a panel of local business, education, technical, and management people to examine how we can expand our industry and, especially, enhance the job opportunities and job security of  local professionals and students.
QUESTIONS

  • What is the present IC design environment in Fort Collins?

  • What could enhance this environment?

  • What resources are available in Fort Collins for IC design entrepreneurs?

  • What in inhibits/encourages start ups in Fort Collins?

  • From what level does City/Industry coordination happen .. management or engineers?

  • Panelists’ interest in developing this industry.

  • How does Northern Colorado compare to other areas of concentrated high-tech industries?
BIOGRAPHY OF PANELISTS

PETER O'NEILL, Moderator (IEEE High Plains Section, Avago Technologies)

Peter O’Neill has worked in the Northern Colorado IC industry since 1978.  He is a test methodologist in the ASIC Product Div. of Avago Technologies working the areas of reliability screening and test effectiveness.  He received his BSEE and MSEE from Purdue University in 1977 and 1978, respectively.  Pete then joined Hewlett-Packard Co. where he has worked in process, device, SPICE modeling, and reliability engineering.  With Agilent’s spin-off from HP he joined the central labs to work on IC test and, with the subsequent break-up of Agilent, went with the sale of Avago Technologies.  Pete cofounded what is now the IEEE High Plains Section in 2002 and has been an officer ever since.  He is presently Treasurer and is a Senior Member of the IEEE.
DON BARTLETT (Local IC Design Entrepreneur, Greyrock Technology)
Don Bartlett received his BSEE from Iowa State University, Ames, IA, in 1984.  He immediately joined Burr Brown Corporation, where he worked as an Analog Design Engineer involved in the area of isolation products, both signal and power isolation for industrial control.  In 1987, he joined NCR Microelectronics (which later became Symbios and then purchased by LSI Logic) where he held positions of Group Leader, Manager, Director and Chief Analog Consultant within the Semi-Custom Design and Analag Design & Technology Departments.  His primary focus was on the development, application, and development management of analog components for ASIC products in a variety of markets.  In 1999, he co-founded SiLutia along with Randy Zwetzig, Dan Curran, and Gary Amato where his primary rols was as a Technology Consultant and Product Development Manager.  SiLutia's focus on high-speed interconnect led to an acquisition by AMCC in 2000.  In 2003, he joined forces with Dan Curran and Steve Bassett in founding Greyrock Technology.
MIKE FREEMAN (Chief Financial Officer and Economic Development, City of Fort Collins)

Mike is the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Fort Collins, CO.  He has overseen all City finances, budget, strategic planning, organizational performance measurement, and economic development since 2006. Mike has been leading the City’s efforts to build and sustain industry cluster groups in clean energy, water, bioscience, and arts and culture. He is a board member of the Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, the Chair of the Board of the Rocky Mountain Innosphere (incubator), and chair of FortZED (Fort Collins zero energy district project). Formerly, Mike was President of The Local Government Solutions Group, a management consultancy focused on improving the financial, economic, and organizational performance of local government.  Mike has extensive experience in managing complex organizational finances, implementing strategic planning programs, innovation based economic development, business planning for local government, asset management, and information technology. He received his Masters of Public Administration from George Washington University and BA from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
BRUCE GAMMILL (Founder, Colorado Silicon Network)
Buce Gammill has been building Colorado Silicon Network (CSN), a web-based networking and promotional tool for Colorado's substantial silicon chip design, software design, and Informational Communications Technology (ICT) communities. CSN hopes to provide organized support for this sector in Colorado, despite the fact that Colorado's largest export sector is semiconductos and that the concentration of silicon chip designers in Northern Colorado is roughly five times as large as the largest similar concentration in Europe. Prior to CSN, Bruce represented the Southwest England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), a British governmental agency, in North America to promote the growth of ICT jobs in SW England. He was also an economic development consultant to the City of Marseilles and the Provence region. For the greater part of his career, he worked on "Wall Street" specializing in municipal finance. Bruce is a graduate of Colgate University and has studied at the University of Southern California's Institute of Aerospace Safety and Management and served in the US Air Force as a Missile/Nuclear Weapons Safety Officer.
PROF. ANTHONY MACIEJEWSKI (Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins)
Tony Maciejewski received the BSEE, MSEE, and PhDEE degrees in 1982, 1984, and 1987, all from The Ohio State University. In 1985-6, he was an American Electronics Association Japan Research Fellow at the Hitachi Central Research Laboratory in Tokyo.   From 1988-2001, he was a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette.  In 2001, he joined Colorado State University where he is currently the Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  He is a Fellow of IEEE and currently serves on the Board of Governor's for the Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society and is Vice-President Elect of Financial Activities for the Robotics and Automation Society.
DR. DON McGRATH (Director of Analog IP Design, LSI Corporation)

Don McGrath is a Senior Member of the IEEE and was instrumental in starting the local Solid-State Circuits Society Chapter in 2003. He received his BSEE from the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, MSEE from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, and PhDEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Dr. McGrath began his professional career as a circuit designer at the GE Corporate R&D Center in New York. He moved to Colorado in 2001 to lead a Mixed-Signal design group at LSI Corporation and has been there ever since. He now is Director of Analog IP Design and manages groups in Colorado, India, and Canada. Along with leadership, Don also has a passion for wellness and has written two books on the topic and hopes to publish more as time and energy allow.