IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2021 - 33

Thomas H. Lee

Paul Brokaw, Jedi Master
Lessons
from a wizard
"

o or do not; there
is no try. " For some
inexplicable reason, that Star Wars
quote was stuck in
my head as I pulled into the parking
lot at Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) for the
first time. My future boss, Larry DeVito,
had told me that Paul Brokaw was first
on the interview schedule, admonishing that " it could get challenging. " He
followed this warning with stories of
other applicants who had been shown
the exit door after Paul determined that
continuing the interviews would not be
a good use of ADI's valuable time.
I don't think Larry was trying to
rattle me. He just wanted to pass
along some Brokaw stories. I was simply excited that I would be meeting
one of my analog heroes, the inventor of the most elegant implementation of the bandgap reference and
mentor to countless engineers.
I recall only a few specifics about
the interview. One was a brainteaser
involving a textbook common-emitter amplifier. I will not publish the
answers here, to avoid spoiling the
fun for students who may not have
seen the problem before.
" What can you tell me about the
gain of this circuit? " There were no
resistor values or bias currents. The
only information given was that the
voltage dropped across the collector
load. I gave him a numerical upper
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSSC.2020.3037389
Date of current version: 25 January 2021

bound and admitted that I was sort
of cheating, as I had once assigned it
as a problem set question as a teaching assistant.
" That's okay. I'd like you to explain
your reasoning anyway. " I complied.
" Okay, now suppose we replace the
load resistor with a current source.
How would your answer change? "
I asked some clarifying questions
about what I was permitted to assume.
He asked me questions about my questions. It went on like that for a while,
and I've long forgotten the details.
What I have not forgotten is how my
initial trepidation quickly gave way
to a deep admiration for the way he
thought about things. The questions
themselves were posed in a way that
hinted at deeper truths to be appreciated. Unlike many brilliant folks, he is
actually able to describe how he thinks
about problem solving and inventing.
I find it difficult to identify someone,
inside or outside of our field, who can
match his ability to teach the art of
creation to lesser mortals.
Another ADI engineer, Steve Sherman, captured the essence of Paul's

legendary interview style in a piece written for Paul's 50th birthday. It imagines
the Creator coming in for a job interview with Paul. Upon looking over the
applicant's impressive-looking résumé
( " created the universe " ), Paul critiques
(continental) drift and wonders why
it was necessary to wipe out revision A
of terrestrial civilization with a flood.
The story accurately reflects Paul's
focus on critiquing the ideas, not the
engineer, and regardless of who the
engineer happens to be.
The questions Paul asked me were
simply stated yet profound and revelatory in construction. The interview
was exhilarating and has had a lasting influence on my own teaching and
interview style. I've since seen him
in action with others. His artful use
of the Socratic method, in particular,
recalls John Houseman's Prof. Kingsfield from the film The Paper Chase:
P.B.: How would you convert a
voltage into bits?
Student: I'd use an analog-to-digital converter, of course (inaudibly
adding an impudent " Mr. Obvious " ).

1943-0582/21©2021IEEE
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2021