Back to School 2022

Summer is winding down and many students are headed back to school. Is your social media feed blowing up with all the back-to-school pictures? This time of year may be a bit emotional for some and may cause your eyes to tear up a bit. Here are a few reasons I have seen;

• Sending off your own kids for the first time.
• Your kids have outgrown those back-to-school pictures, or are headed away for college.
• When looking at some of the outfits you see kids wearing to school these days.
• Your home office/bedroom is now so quiet during the day… and you are not worried about your young child doing a trust fall, off your headboard on the bed, in his underwear, behind your video zoom call.

(That last example was purely hypothetical and would never have happened at my house)

Engineers Don’t Cry When they go Back to School

As emotional as this season can be for some, engineering types don’t cry! … they build something to help them get over it. We also know that learning never really stops. I have just kicked off my 21st year with Samtec and in the electronics industry. I have learned more from my coworkers and the customers than I ever did in a textbook.

As fast as the industry moves textbooks are outdated before they are published in most cases. What formal education does do well, is teach you to foundations and how to look at problems differently. This can apply to all facets of the life of an engineer, or anyone really. It really is okay to cry during some of these seasons of life, but know there are new things to learn, experience, discover, and invent. Wipe those tears from your eyes and prepare for what is next!

Lifelong Learning

Rich Mellitz noted this in his Engineer of the Year acceptance speech at DesignCon this past year. Learn at least one thing each day. Rich also mentions collaboration with coworkers and industry partners. Each connection you have can build a foundation for your proficiency and lifelong learning opportunities.

Samtec understands this which is why there are so many resources at your fingertips to understand, not only our products but how they play in the wholistic architecture of the systems that use them. We encourage our engineers to publish papers and participate in industry standards and working groups.

Here are a few links to resources that may help you continues your lifelong learning

• gEEk spEEk Webinare Series
• White Papers and Technical Library
• FUNdamentals Podcast
• Signal Integrity Journal’s Fundamentals

It is never too soon to go back to school- many of us have never stopped. The building and teachers just change a bit and not everything is pulled from a textbook. If you have kids headed off to catch the bus or logging into a classroom we wish you all a fantastic school year!