The Bridge - Issue 1, 2022 - 31

Professional Profile
Why did you choose to study the engineering
field (or the field you studied)?
To have a deeper understanding of electronics
and circuits. I am a musician and had a yearning
to better understand the electronics involved in
that hobby.
Warren H. Nicholson
President/CEO/Founder
of N-Fina Technologies
Theta Lambda Chapter
Warren Nicholson earned a BSEE (1982) and the
first MSEE (1989) from the University of South
Alabama. He was the president of the IEEE Student
Branch in his senior year.
Warren worked for RCA Sarnoff Labs in Princeton, N.J.
from 1982 to 1984 (primarily in HDTV). From 19841994,
he served as Executive Director of Product
Development and of laser printers at QMS in Mobile,
Alabama. He then served as CTO at RTP Corp. in
Pompano Beach, Florida from 1994-1999, and
was the CEO, President, and Founder of N-Tron in
Mobile from 1999-2010. He is currently is the CEO/
President/and Founder of N-Fina Technologies.
Warren established the University of South Alabama's
first endowed chair in engineering and has made
numerous scholarship gifts to the ECE Department
and the School of Computing.
He is currently is the Chair for SoutheastCon 2022,
to be held 31 March to 3 April 2022 in Mobile,
Alabama. SoutheastCon is the annual IEEE Region 3
Technical, Professional, and Student Conference.
What do you love about the industry?
EE is constantly evolving with new technology.
What don't you like about the industry?
I see politics creeping in. Science and engineering
need to apolitical.
How has the engineering field changed since
you entered it?
More specialized tools and automation and
simulation are available. We can do things in
minutes now that used to take us weeks.
In what direction do you think engineering
and other IEEE fields of interest are headed
in the next 10 years?
Software and programming are becoming
a bigger part of every new project.
This trend will continue. I also believe we need to
reverse the trend of outsourcing and manufacturing
everything offshore, or we run the risk of losing
core capabilities and a brain drain.
What is the most important lesson you have
learned during your time in the field?
When you are applying new technology, you need to
become a student again and learn everything you can
about that technology and its nuances before you
deploy it. When learning about new technology, one
must immerse themselves in it and try to lessen the
learning curve ASAP so you can maximize
your productivity.
What advice can you offer recent graduates
entering the field?
Don't use the force. It's probably not going to be
with you.
What is your favorite Eta Kappa Nu memory?
The induction ceremony with my classmates
and Dr. Hayes.
HKN.ORG
31
https://hkn.ieee.org/
The Bridge - Issue 1, 2022

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