S04-E05 Lincoln is a technician in the semiconductor industry

Lincoln is a technician working in the semiconductor industry. Lincoln was in the armed services, then went to community college and enrolled in an electrical engineering technology program. He now has experience working as a technician at two different semiconductor companies in the Portland, OR area. Hear about Lincoln’s experience in this episode of Talking Technicians

The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.

Links from the show:

Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/

Portland Community College Electronic Engineering Technology (EET) Program: https://www.pcc.edu/programs/electronic-engineering/

Jobs at Lam Research: https://careers.lamresearch.com/

Jobs at Intel: https://jobs.intel.com/

Jobs at Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL): https://www.tel.com/careers/careercenter/index.html

Transcript

Peter Kazarinoff  0:03  
From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, this is Talking Technicians. The podcast about technicians: who they are, what they do, and where they come from. I'm your host, Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and engineers that Portland Community College. In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews, with real technicians, about real jobs. At the end of each episode, you'll hear actions you can take if you want to be a technician too.

 In this episode, you'll meet Lincoln. Lincoln as a field service engineer at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon outside Portland. Lincoln, welcome to Talking Technicians.

Lincoln  0:52  
Thanks. I'm glad to be here.

Peter Kazarinoff  0:54  
So Lincoln, tell me a little bit about yourself. You work at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon, which is outside Portland. Where do you live? And how long have you been there for?

Lincoln  1:02  
I currently live in Beaverton, and I'm actually from the Portland area. So I've lived in and out of Portland and Beaverton pretty much growing up my whole life.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:11  
So you grew up in the Portland area, Beaverton is a suburb of Portland, and now you're working to Hillsborough, another suburb of Portland. So tell me about where you work and what your job title is? How would you explain your job title as a field service engineer?

Lincoln  1:32  
Sure, I'd be glad to. So I'm a field service engineer, I work on the semiconductor tools that Intel uses that they use to make their Microsoft computer chips. And so day to day we do routine maintenance and deal with any disasters as they might come put out fires, as you would say.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:54  
So you're doing some routine maintenance, and then when their problems cropping up, then you've got to deal with those. So what would you kind of say your day to day is at work? When you go in the first thing, what's kind of the first things you do? What do you do in the middle, and then what's at the very end.

Lincoln  2:12  
So first thing of the day is we go and we have typically a scheduled work items. So we will go through whatever PMS that need to be done, or modifications that the tuners are doing with their equipment. And then we execute the plan. So we come up with a plan with the team, if there's any support that we that's needed, you know, I contact my support team. And we go through our manuals and our Blueprints, and we come up with safety strategies. And then we get to work throughout the day, we are dealing with high voltage over, you know, 200 navels easy up to 1000 volts, I believe, is where they're at, you know, hazardous chemical caustics acids. So, you know, the real deal of business, it's a good time. So the begin of the day, we just kind of lay out our plan, and in the middle, we're just executing all day until we completed.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:01  
 And Lincoln, do you work in a shift? Or do you work in a regular nine to five schedule?

Lincoln  3:07  
I work on a compact work schedule. So it's three days, one week, and the next week? It's four days, and these are 12 hour shifts?

Peter Kazarinoff  3:16  
And do you work with a bunch of other technicians also work with technicians, engineers, PhD researchers, and business people as well?

Lincoln  3:26  
All of the above? Well, not so much many business people, but we work with hands on with engineers, people, all different types of levels of engineers, PhDs, you know, I work right next to my, my left to my left and my right, people have bachelor's degrees or 17 years worth of experience. And then above me, I have support teams that have doctorates. There's a lot of money around the equipment and the tools to make sure that stuff is run. It's like the it's like the pro sports of, of semiconductors.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:57  
So Lincoln, you mentioned that you do some pm and that you work on tools. For folks that don't work in the semiconductor industry. What's PLM? And when you say tool, what do you mean? Is that like a hammer?

Lincoln  4:09  
Ah, sure, yeah, that needs a little explaining. Sure. So PMS or proper preventative maintenance. So in a good exam, and that goes right into your next question. A tool is what the semiconductor companies call their equipment. So it's really it's a big machine, it's a giant is a piece of machinery, just call it a tool. So it's not like a hammer. It's, it's a giant, it's like the size of a small garage, and has robotics in there and it moves different modules to do whatever, you know, there are different varieties of tools, my particular ones that I work on, we work on the clean track. So this what this tool is job is, is it's cleaning and prepping the wafers and the masks to the next step. It's cleaning off some caustic I think we're now keep in mind, most of this stuff is you know, contained information. So This is you know, these are these are secret, these are Intel secrets that they don't let let public know like, what the recipe is or even their steps are. So you know, in this business, and this is very common for this field, you won't necessarily know what the tool right before its job was per se, just kind of isolated. So that's fine. Anyway. So the purpose of this tool is it's a giant robot moving through modules, and then a number of things could go wrong from error codes to air pressure levels going off, mechanical issues, electrical issues, just a million things that could go wrong with this guy.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:37  
So that means you work on these large machines, the size of garages, or big trucks that are inside a factory that makes microchips that sounds pretty exciting.

Lincoln  5:50  
Yeah, it's a really good time. It is it is. And if you if the viewers would like to see that you can just YouTube in FA be the fabs at Intel in Hillsborough, and you can they give you a good idea of what kind of what these tools look like, what kind of machinery does, it's pretty impressive.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:04  
Lincoln, can you provide a ballpark salary for a job like yours in the semiconductor industry?

Lincoln  6:11  
Sure. As a field service engineer, you hear right around 65,000 A year net. And if you're a technician right before this one, probably about like 5050 to 55 or so they range from like, like, you know, if I came in as a tech, yeah.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:30  
So let's talk about that. So are there opportunities for professional growth? And what did you do before you were a field service engineer?

Lincoln  6:39  
Oh, sure. Yeah. So right, when I got graduated from PCC, I immediately got a job with lamb, which is the it's funny, they build the tools that Intel uses, you know, for different customers anyway. So I was there. And I, that's what I was my first job outside of college with this degree was it was the Electrical Technician job, a testing position where we build these tools, and we test them out, see, you know, make sure the robot does motions correctly, zero in all the movements that need to happen, make sure everything works. For these, you know, these, these tools, like $15 million, each has gotten a little nice, you know, so this is what so that was my immediate job. And that was at, we were making, right about $27 an hour is what the was what, you know, I would I would, I would ask went into that, that field 25 to 27. You know what I mean? That's a good asking, or at least that's what they were offering at the time. And this was last year. And then to be the field service engineer. That was kind of a win for me, you know, I worked, I did the technician job for a year. And I just applied for this position with tell who I'm with now, which is just services Intel. That's how I work at Intel. And, yeah, that was going for 35 or so an hour. So that's what people can hope you know, that that was kind of the one that I wanted. And that was able to I was actually pretty decent as well. Anyway. So that's what we do now.

Peter Kazarinoff  8:05  
So Lincoln, for folks that don't work in large semiconductor fabs, which are large semiconductor foundries. You mentioned that some folks will work for another company, like tell, which is Tokyo electron, but they'll still be working in the Intel factory. Can you explain a little bit about how that works? Absolutely.

Speaker 1  8:26  
So we are, I mean, again, these these tools are very expensive. So what Intel does to help these, you know, they don't just buy the expensive product to have the technicians from the company that sold it to them, specifically work on it so that they have somebody that we can work hand in hand with to make sure where it runs properly. They have their engineers and we have ours and we come together. And we service the tool for him. You know, I guess a good way of saying, Yeah, we just we they want to make an investment. And then want to make sure the company the people that built it, or can can make sure it runs, you know, properly. So it's a really good collaboration.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:03  
So at the end of the day, does that mean that tell Tokyo electron is the one that writes your paycheck, even though you go in day to day to the hotel factory? Nein, nein. So Lincoln, that's correct. Yep. What did it feel like your first day of work going into Intel? You came from a supplier company Lam doing some testing. And then you went into the semiconductor fab, the semiconductor factory. What did it feel like going in there for the first time?

Lincoln  9:34  
Oh, it felt great. You know, I tell you, I was just it was it was the position that I wanted. And I got it. So it really was really great. And it's been great. It was similar to it's just just like my previous job except for with you know, you're on your own kind of you have a small team and you're kind of expected to perform, you know, in front of customers and like, if you want to go back to a sports analogy, you use game day, you know, so it's a it's a really good feeling. And it really was really helped prepare by what I was able to do with PCC? And to answer your previous question, there's definitely a lot of job opportunities if you want to go left or right or up on these, these these types of these these companies and this field, you know, there's there, you have to be interested in the in, you know, in the in the work, but if you are, there's definitely a lot of places you go, you know, eye contact and out with Intel, you know, there's fabs more open up all over the country, there's plenty of opportunities there.

Peter Kazarinoff  10:31  
So like Lincoln, we've talked a little bit about hourly or yearly wages. What about things like benefits, health care, dental care, or retirement, or there was some of the things that technicians in the semiconductor industry get? Absolutely.

Lincoln  10:47  
The one thing that the barrier to getting all the results great benefits initially is for a lot of these companies, Intel, lamb, and tell all three of them right, experienced, they, for the most part they hire on as contract workers, and sometimes these contracts contracts can last one or two years. So eventually, if you can get hired onto these companies, the benefits are there. And they are, they're sweet. They have bonuses, which was something that you know, most of their bonuses, and school pay for is a really appreciated one. And they just because they want advanced their own technicians, so they don't feel so if you have the motivation, there's, there's a good amount of assistants to go around. One of the one of the one of the I worked with, they even offered an online just courses that you can take for free. Like for spreadsheet classes, it was a pro, but a whole list of things. So they're the benefits package is pretty competitive. You know, these are probably one of the fields that there's not really a push for, at least in the northwest, for unions, because there isn't necessarily a need to they, they do pretty good job of taking care. Well, it's competitive. Actually, there's a, there's a little bit of a shortage. On the engineering side, not as much on the technician side. So but if you can get if you can get hired on the trick is getting high on, you know, and one thing about the semiconductor industry is it kind of has ebbs and flows, it rises and shrinks. Pie kind of like since I've been working in it, I've seen it rise and shrink. And you know, it's kind of rising again. So I've been in for almost three years, so it can fluctuate. But if you can get through those periods and get hired on. Yeah, they have some pretty nice benefits at the end.

Peter Kazarinoff  12:31  
Thanks Lincoln. I liked how you describe these stepping stones between first being hired on as a contractor, and then potentially after that being hired on as a technician. And then there are benefits packages that can go along with being hired over a longer term as a technician. But you could start as that contractor, kind of get your feet wet. So how about we kind of shift gears a little bit and talk about how you got to where you are now, you mentioned that you went to PCC, what's PCC for folks who don't know and what program on degree did you do?

Lincoln  13:12  
PCC is Portland Community College. And I went for their kind of just general E T, Electrical Engineering Technician Program, the they have more specialized ones like robotics, and things of that nature, just got more of a general one. And as my it was actually the eldest came from my idea of before then I was in the army, I was a chemical specialist. So I've gotten on the army, you know, I kind of didn't really want necessarily want to continue that field. And I just decided to, you know, give this one shot that I tried previously, they didn't have, you know, it didn't work out, this is my second attempt at it. And it had just, I just kind of fell into it. It really, really worked for me. So that's how I got to the idea of getting into that program. And that program, you know, was a green light into the oil industry that I can now that's probably where I'm gonna be at for, you know, that's all I need to be at,

Peter Kazarinoff  14:01  
About how long did it take to finish that two - that EET degree?

Lincoln  14:07  
Well, for me, it was a little bit longer, because I had some prereqs that I had to get in. So it was about two and a half years. It was 10 terms. I went summer term included. So I just went so yeah, so yeah, I tried to get out as quick as possible.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:20  
And Lincoln, you mentioned that you came from the military. What was that transition like going from the military and then enrolling in community college?

Lincoln  14:29  
Well, I'd tell you, it was great for me. You know, the GI Bill was really COVID It just happened. So everything was online. But so it was great for me to just kind of take a step back from a very demanding and fast paced environment to kind of my own schedule. To just kind of Yeah, make my own schedule around school, keep my expenses low, and just kind of chill out and be the college kid I never got to be so it was great for me is this part or just, yeah, yeah, my military career ended a little sooner I had ended up breaking my foot. And it just it was it was it was like a year long injury. And I was like I left with that was still kind of, you know, kind of healing. So it kind of worked out for me personally, I had I had a good transition, I recommended people who wanted to do a transition, if you can take some time and get yourself in a couple classes, it's a pays off,

Peter Kazarinoff  15:23  
can you mention that you are a chemical specialist in the military? How did some of the things that you learned in the military then help you at Community College and in your current role?

Lincoln  15:34  
So discipline is a great one. You know, it can be a little bit corny when you hear it, but you know, it's one thing to want something and it's another thing to get a oh, here's an example. You know, I had to rely on my bicycle was one way to keep my expenses low, you know, so that's kind of, you had some classes, you had to take a lab in order to get, you know, and when I started working, I still don't have enough money to save up yet. So that's what I was. And I was still taking courses. So that's what the Army did for me, it really just kind of made me you know, go, I want a dream, I can change my reality. And so that's what that's kind of what that helped me do. Um, and from my current work, being a chemical specialist, I deal with some personal protective equipment. PPE is what I learned from that I'm the best at it, that's all dealt with was contamination contain, you know, you know, biological how, you know, how do you, how do you contain it. So when you're dealing with what we deal with, now, these, these, these sub factories, have all the world power stations and chemical stations are, how's that supply everything above it. And frequently, we're down there, you know, changing pumps and changing this stuff. It's, it's very corrosive, but it's no big deal if you if you just are comfortable with working safely, and that and that's, that's maybe a very safe and reliably save. Not just coworker, but kind of instructor because now I can help train people in the same way.

Peter Kazarinoff  16:55  
Yeah, that sounds great that you were able to transfer some of those skills and some of those experiences. And that also gave you both this level of comfort, and possibly an ability to talk with other technicians, so that they can learn some of the things that you learn. So Lincoln, how did your life change when you became a technician? What's different? Once you got your job at lamb component compared to when you were a student?

Lincoln  17:20  
Oh, man, well, it's kind of the realization or plan coming to fruition. You know, I was really I didn't know what to expect. When I was in school, I admit, you know, there were a couple of different jobs I was applying for. Was it Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos space company, that's one of those I interviewed for, like five levels of interviews. And I like the last one, I was like, Ah, so I was really excited about these different companies that I was interviewing for. And I was excited. I can see doors opening for me there at the end was when you're getting these interviews, maybe I didn't get all of them. But it's really exciting technology, because it's not just the semiconductor industry that I thought about. There's a lot of words and there's like, there's, I don't know if I didn't know this until I got into this industry. But there's this renewable battery technology company out here in the Northwest. You know, there's a lot of interesting things in here in the Northwest that are, you know, have to do with electronics. So it was really exciting for me. And so when I finally got the job, I was really perfect. For me, it's, it's, some people like to do a little more on the coding side. And I don't mind it, for sure. But what we do is much more like hardware. So instead, I'm not programming any chips. I'm just replacing the whole module, you know what I mean? Like, just just take the whole computer out and the whole new bunch. So I really, really, I fallen for it. And you know, I've got to mention the number one thing that these jobs offer isn't just the pay or the benefits. It's the work life schedule, that compact schedule, and there's nothing like I'm just coming I'm gonna four days off right now. This Wednesday, I go back to work Thursday and only work. There's a Friday, Saturday. Yeah, yeah. So that's been, that's been the biggest change. You know, I wasn't working. So I'm getting lazy, I gotta do stuff. That's the biggest problem.

Peter Kazarinoff  18:59  
So Lincoln, it sounds like the Portland Community College program opened a couple of different options for you, and that you eventually chose to work in the semiconductor industry. But now it also sounds like after that first job at Lam that also opened up other options for you afterwards. So what advice would you give current students or people who want to transition careers and work in the semiconductor industry, like you do,

Lincoln  19:26  
You know, the work life schedule I was mentioning, you know, it's really something to consider, I can't go back to the five day work, we got to unless it's Overtime. Besides that, you know, it's once you get past the first year of EA the EA T program, the math is pretty much over, you know, you're just dealing with theories and stuff like that, you know, it takes some hard work to get there. But this isn't gonna reward and and it's a Gosh, darn it, it's a budding industry. You know, that's a good word. Phil. I want to say to some people that that if you're if you just want to transition, you know, if you're doing fine where you're at but you know, it's just kind of you know, not you know, I'm not really grabbing you that much. You know, this is kind of you can, there's plenty of entry level positions that do the same thing. But don't give me four days off a week, you know, like, so if you just want something new, it's it's just, it's really great. It's for me, it's a platform where security that I can stand up on and view other opportunities, those opportunities still, though those renewable battery companies that I wanted to get into are still there, my resume is just, you know, going it's even just working as a technician working on these types of tools in the semiconductor industry specifically, it's very transferable, you know, that. It is, it is, but you have to, you have to, you know, still apply yourself. But the point is, is that they are respected on a resume is my point from that. So

Peter Kazarinoff  20:42  
Lincoln, do have a final call to action for students or people who want to transition their careers and is the semiconductor industry at least in the Pacific Northwest growing right now.

Lincoln  20:52  
It is it is growing right now. It just coming from a slump but everything's things are starting to open back up. And they're opening up in the northwest and they're also going to be opening up nationwide. So if you if you're planning two years out, which might be how long it takes you to get your degree it's definitely gonna be but it's definitely gonna be coming up and I would put out a bet money on it. Do it got election you know, if you if you're filling it, at least check it out. Electronics, you know, it's super, it's super fun. I was, you know, I used to think was magic and I'm convinced it's magic.

Peter Kazarinoff  21:26  
Well, Lincoln, thank you so much for sharing your story with me and talking about your work as a technician in the semiconductor industry.

Lincoln  21:33  
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Peter Kazarinoff  21:34  
Please keep in touch.

Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. Join the conversation: If you are a working technician, or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We're always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai