IEEE Spectrum September, 2008 - 48

Continued from page 55

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Engineering Skills for the Next
5 Years...Are You Qualified?
Session 1: Are You Management Material?
Who Will Fill the Management Slots
in the Future?
Industry companies need executives who can
integrate technological innovations into their
firm's strategy, can justify and secure funding for
technology initiatives, and who can lead combined
technical/line management teams that deliver
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Session 2: Career Opportunities in
Consumer Electronics - What Technical
Skills Are Most in Demand Today?
The spectacular growth of the consumer electronic
products sector and the need for shorter development cycles are requiring semiconductor suppliers
to work more closely with CE producers to improve
design processes and help bring CE products
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compensate for Mexico's
frequent outages. He designed
a water system that stores
dr inking water from the
city's irregular supply and
filters it, along with a sepa‑
rate system that collects and
stores rainwater for irriga‑
tion. He even helped design
a compact waste‑treatment
plant for the house.
He approached the house
as though it were a big iPod.
He looked around, found the
best components, and then
designed custom systems to
make them work together.
For example, here was one
problem: the heat pump that
warmed the Jacuzzi was slow.
Solution: integrate that sys‑
tem with the house's robust
hot‑water system, using heat
exchangers and various con‑
trollers and timers to allow the
recirculating water to pick up
heat from the house system.
His pal Blank had just
f inished building a big
house when construction on
Rubinstein's began. Blank
recalls giving Rubinstein a
tour that included his pool
house, a Rub e G oldb erg
nightmare of crisscrossing
pipes and labyrinthine con‑
nections-typical, he says,
for pool plumbing. "I think he
was rolling his eyes," Blank
says, chuckling. He recently
saw Rubinstein's pool water
system and was stunned.
"The plumbing looks like a
circuit board layout," he mar‑
vels. "I don't know how he did
it. There's not a single pipe
that crosses another."
Rubinstein spent a year and
a half working on the house,
running, biking, kayaking,
scuba diving, and just hang‑
ing around with his wife. He
got regular calls inviting him
to serve on corporate boards
but turned every single one of
them down. After the insanity
at Apple, it was just too much
fun doing nothing.
Then, in May of last year,
he got a call from Elevation
Partners principals Fred

Anderson and Roger McNamee,
along with Palm CEO Ed
Colligan. Elevation was con‑
sidering buying a 25 percent
stake in Palm and taking on
the challenge of transforming
the company. They wanted to
know if Rubinstein would be
willing to come on board if the
purchase went through.
Ru b i n s t e i n h a d b e e n
a friend of Anderson and
McNamee for years but had
never met Colligan. So a few
days later Colligan flew down
to Mexico so the two could
spend a few days getting to
know each other. The fact that
the struggling Palm, a once‑
innovative leader, was in a
position similar to Apple's
at the time Rubinstein joined
appealed to him. And he saw
a lot of potential in mobile
devices; there would be multi‑
ple winners, and Palm could
easily be one of them. "I liked
the idea of another recovery
project," he says. "I also love
doing products and being in
a space where the trend is
your friend."
They weren't asking him to
take on the full‑time respon‑
sibility of running the com‑
pany-Colligan would do that.
Instead, Rubinstein would
oversee major decisions and
get involved in the nitty‑gritty
details as much or as little as
he felt he should. He would set
Palm's course. But he'd also
have a little time for a per‑
sonal life-in theory, anyway.
Rubinstein took only a day or
two to decide to go for it.
So now he's executive chair‑
man of Palm, where he runs
product development. He spent
his first few months tweaking
the company's product plans.
Now he's pushing those plans
forward, sometimes from his
management seat, sometimes
getting into the design work
itself. And he spends a fair
amount of time working his
industry contacts to recruit
engineers, software writers,
and other tech specialists.
On a typical day, Rubinstein
catches
Continued on page 58
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum September, 2008