Rako is headed to Analog Devices

It is with a sad heart I tell you that I am leaving EDN today. Next year I will start at Analog Devices. I will be working here in the Silicon Valley office. I loved my gig here at EDN, but Analog Devices asked me to get back to the bench and work on amplifier tools. In preparing for my recent article on error budgets, I fired up my old copy of PSpice and ran a few Monte-Carlo simulations. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the detailed work of analog design. One aspect of my getting sucked back into the analog semiconductor world was the loss this summer of the two analog greats, Bob Pease and Jim Williams. Indeed, it was a friend at National Semiconductor that first approached me about coming back to the semiconductor industry. The hole left by Bob and Jim in analog applications is reverberating through the whole industry and I got tagged as a guy to help fill the hole.

I am happy to be going to ADI. It is a great company and I am looking forward to making an important contribution. At the same time, I am sad to leave EDN. One factor is that the direction of the magazine is secure and we are appreciated after UBM Electronics acquired us this year. EDN’s previous owner, Reed Elsevier, did not want to be in the publishing business, they wanted to run Lexus Nexus. Another great factor about our acquisition by UBM was that it allowed me to work with Karen Field, who made a very positive impact at EDN, Design Ideas, and other Reed publications before she left for UBM several years ago.

Compounding the sadness of leaving a great company with good bosses is having to leave my co-workers. They have been so patient with me, helping me and teaching me the tricks of the trade. At every company I have worked there has been one person that really took me under their wing. At National Semiconductor it was Paul Grohe. His help is one reason I am qualified to work on op amps. Here at EDN it has been Fran Granville. She is the English major that calmly and quietly fixed all my twisted sentences and tortured English. I see her like the editor of a film. The director and actors get the credit, but the reason you like a film has a lot to do with the editing. Fran has been a consistent presence in the look and feel of EDN since 1993. Fran was not the only person that helped me and taught me and mentored me. Margery Conner has been a great inspiration too. I read her stuff and I just marvel at how well she writes. She also had the foresight to get into social media, along with online managing editor Suzanne Deffree. That has served EDN and myself well, now that everyone realizes what a force social media is in bringing together a community. Amy Norcross was always gracious and calm as she put up with my late deadlines and over-long articles. Co-workers from other magazines, Martin Rowe from Test and Measurement World and especially Bill Schweber at EETimes have been a joy to work with and learn from. I should also mention the new boss here at EDN, Patrick Mannion. He made a positive contribution from his first day here and I can’t wait until you get to see some of the things he and the team have in store for EDN next year. He brought in Rich Pell who I hit it off with in the short time we worked together.

My former bosses at EDN, Maury Wright, Rick Nelson, and Ron Wilson, were also pillars of reassurance and competence. They all stressed the ethics of our job, and how we were to report the technical facts independent of who did or did not advertise with us. You can image my delight after UBM bought us and they circulated their ethics policy. It was every bit as strict and forthright as what EDN has stood for all these years.

The fruit of such a great tree as EDN never falls too far. I hope to contribute and help EDN no matter where I am. I can assure you I will be at DESIGN West and DesignCon in 2012. I will also be holding my Analog Aficionados party, Feb 18, the Saturday before the ISSCC conference. This year it will be at David’s Restaurant, a new venue with more parking and a bigger room. If you like, you can follow me via my Twitter and LinkedIn pages.