Talking Technicians

S01-E09 Teddy is a technician at Tokyo Electron

May 31, 2021 MNT-EC Season 1 Episode 9
Talking Technicians
S01-E09 Teddy is a technician at Tokyo Electron
Show Notes Transcript

Teddy works as a technician at Tokyo Electron in Schenectady, NY. He graduated from a 2-year community college, then went to a semester-long nanotechnology program. Teddy started as a contractor, then moved up to work full-time as an equipment technician. He works in semiconductor fabs up and down the east coast.


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:

Peter Kazarinoff  0:02  

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 at Portland Community College. In each episode, he'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 Teddy. Teddy works at Tokyo Electron in Schenectady, New York. Teddy, welcome to Talking Technicians.


Teddy  0:52  

Peter, thanks for having me.


Peter Kazarinoff  0:53  

Absolutely. Thanks so much for being here. So tell me a little bit about yourself. Where do you live? And how long have you been there for?


Teddy  1:02  

So right now I am living in Schenectady, New York, which is, I guess you could call it a suburb of Albany, New York. And I've been here since about two years now. A year and a half. Yeah.


Peter Kazarinoff  1:17  

Where'd you move from?


Teddy  1:19  

I moved from - I just wrapped up school. But I moved from Pennsylvania. So about five hours south of where I'm currently at.


Peter Kazarinoff  1:28  

And is there anyone else in your household?


Teddy  1:31  

No, I'm living on my own right now.


Peter Kazarinoff  1:34  

So tell me about where you work. What's your job title? And what do you do day to day?


Teddy  1:39  

I am a field service engineer level one for Tokyo Electron. And what was the other part of the question?


Peter Kazarinoff  1:51  

So what do field service engineers do day to day? 


Teddy  1:55  

Oh, well, so I mean, it, it just depends on kind of what your assignment is. I've, in the past, you know, year and a half, two years that I've had this job, it's I've kind of had dipped my toes in a little bit of everything from covering service contracts, to installing tools to de-installing tools to reporting to like a repair call. So day to day, definitely can vary unless you're, you know, the depending if you're on a consistent assignment. But for the most part, they can range from clearing, you know, an alarm on a tool where, you know, you have to understand what's going on, and you make sure things are okay. Or maybe you have to tweak a gauge to maybe something more complex, like something's broken, you need to recover or troubleshoot. And that could vary from something from gases to mechanical problems. So there's quite a bit.


Peter Kazarinoff  3:01  

When you say tool, some people might think of hammers and screwdrivers, what do you mean by maintaining tools?


Yeah, so when I use the phrase tools, I'm referring to, essentially, a big machine that is, like in the mind of like, these productions for semiconductors is a tool or a step in the overall process of the production. And so you can categorize these steps as tools, but it's essentially like a big machine. Very complex with a lot of safety designs, a lot of technical designs, and yeah, very technical.


When you go into work, does the sign on the door, say Tokyo Electron?


Teddy  3:54  

Oh, no.


Peter Kazarinoff  3:56  

So can you explain that a little bit?


Teddy  3:58  

Yeah. So it's actually kind of interesting. So, I mean, COVID probably played a little bit of a role in the past year, but uh, my, my supervisor, my current supervisor, I only met him once face-to-face so far. And all other contact is, you know, phone calls or emails. And so, in a way, that's kind of kind of nice that I've been given that trust. But what you to answer your question is like, so my company provides, or designs and provides these tools for, so we're considered a vendor for a customer and a customer could be anything from Intel to Samsung, to Texas Instruments or you know, Global Foundries, anything like that. So, when I show up to work, there is a possibility that you know, it says Tokyo Electron on the wall because we do have facilities that I have been to and to pick up things or sometimes to work on things, you're going to trainings, but for the most part, you're going to these customer sites. And you're servicing or installing and working on these tools.


Peter Kazarinoff  5:12  

Have you gone to a lot of different customer sites or do you mainly go to one?


Teddy  5:16  

I have been going to a lot. So initially, when I first got in, I actually didn't walk in as a direct hire with Tokyo Electron I walked in as a contractor. And the contract that they hired me for, I was assigned to just one location. And there happened to be tool installs going on there. And I helped out that group of, or that team that was installing the tools, and they had a position available. So I applied for it. And they picked me up full time. And then that's when I started to travel and install tools. So I have been to upwards of five plus sites in the past year all over the East Coast. 


Peter Kazarinoff  6:02  

So it sounds like your job involves quite a bit of travel?


Teddy  6:06  

This one does, yes. But there are other jobs or assignments where you know, you don't need to travel. But...


Peter Kazarinoff  6:14  

What's your work schedule? Like? How many days a week do you work? And what kind of hours?


Teddy  6:20  

Well, once again, it depends, uh, if it's free for you to figure out for our group, because we do travel. You know, I mean, you're, you're on the job, and you're working. So a lot of us try to work six days a week, when we're able to, you know, which is good, because we're not paid salary, we're paid hourly. So that's a benefit, because you're able to benefit from overtime. But like I said, that's, that's um, if you're, if that's kind of the assignment that you get put into or volunteer for, then that's what you can expect. There's other contracts or assignments that only require 40 hours a week, or, you know, you can might be on a shift where you're working three twelves a week, and then four twelves a week alternating. And it kind of just depends, I worked that for a little bit when I was helping train some new hires, who are covering contracts out in Minnesota.


Peter Kazarinoff  7:19  

About how much can a starting technician at Tokyo electron expect to make?


Teddy  7:27  

So if you're not working overtime, and you're working 40 hours a week, you could expect to make anywhere from 45 to 55, upwards of 60. And that's not including if there's any possibilities of bonuses.


Peter Kazarinoff  7:47  

And are there opportunities for growth?


Teddy  7:50  

Definitely, there's always movement happening. And when movement happens, you know, people move on to other positions or get promoted themselves and you're able to fulfill their shoes or whatnot. But yeah, I mean, I got hired as a temporary contractor, and within six months they, which isn't typical. Usually, it takes a little bit longer than that. But yeah, within six months, I'd say I definitely moved up when they hired me full time. And yeah, then there's other possibilities in the future to keep going along with, they can help, my company, help support with furthering education, if you're interested in that they can help compensate for that.


Peter Kazarinoff  8:38  

What kind of things do you have to do as an employee to be able to move up?


Teddy  8:43  

Um, I wish I could really say I mean, I feel like for me, they just when they were hired, because the position I initially got hired for, like even the apple or the the one to whatever it's called, I can't think of the technical term. The ones that add, it basically said No experience required, you know, just someone who has, you know, technical knowledge or you know, someone who has somewhat smart basically, was what they're looking for, and they took a chance on me and they quickly realized that the spot I was in was underutilizing my abilities and they wanted to put me in a position where they could utilize me more and I could help them make money as they helped me make money.


Peter Kazarinoff  9:30  

That's great. I'm glad you got to move up. So how did you become a technician? What was your work experience and your educational experience before you started at Tokyo Electron?


Teddy  9:42  

Yes, so I, um, my work experience was quite limited. I only really delivered food out during high school and during college and then I also worked at Panda Express as a chef during college, just to make ends meet. And then when I finished my two year degree, I had a two year degree from Brigham Young University Idaho. And it was a Associates in Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering. And then, yeah, so then, basically, I was applying for jobs after receiving that degree. And I must have submitted over 100 applications and only heard back from one person. But I already committed to a course that my mom told me about. My family happens to actually, a lot of them happen to be in this industry. And so she actually reached out to me about a educational course. And so I decided to sign up for it and take it. It was a one semester long, I believe it was nano fabrication, material sciences. That's what it's called. And yeah, it was about a semester long. And it's kind of it's a kind of like a certificate specialization, and or even a minor if you were to get a four year degree. And it just kind of goes over a lot of, a lot of the basics of this industry. Which happens to be a very wide set of knowledge.


Peter Kazarinoff  11:33  

How do you think earning your two year degree and then doing this semester long experience in nanotechnology helped you to land a job at Tokyo Electron?


Teddy  11:44  

Oh, it definitely did. Like I said, before I took the, the capstone course that extra semester. Like I said, I also have applied over 100 times. But uh, after the capstone course, I had a much better understanding of what kind of roles and positions and what job titles in the industry meant. And so I applied for about probably like 15 to 25 positions. And I was much more selective at the roles and like, what they were offering. And I got contacted by four people, and three phone calls and two face-to-face interviews in Tokyo Electron extended me and offer very - pretty quickly. When - that's one of the nice things about this company is when they, when we need people. We're not we don't waste time - we hire you up right away.


Peter Kazarinoff  12:46  

What was your first day like at Tokyo Electron? How did you feel when you went into work the first time?


Teddy  12:53  

Well, it definitely- I could see it being overwhelming for for people who haven't been around the industry. Luckily, that capstone course kind of gave a better idea of like, what a fab is or fabrication site is for these integrated circuits and what a cleanroom is, but uh, yeah, it's - the first day, the site is was very big. The production floor was very large, and just a lot going on. A lot going on, it could be overwhelming, but at the end of the day, you know, you have a very specific job. So like, you just worry about what you need to do.


Peter Kazarinoff  13:38  

What was something unexpected about being a technician that you only learned after you started working?


Teddy  13:46  

Mmm hmm. That's true. Well, something that was unexpected, uh, that I would use a lot of, like knowledge that I I have learned as a kid.


Peter Kazarinoff  14:05  

What do you mean by that?


Teddy  14:07  

So my grandfather, and just aunts and uncles have all kind of worked in this industry as well, my, my grandfather, worked on a toolset known as implant for a while. I think almost close to 20 years. And I remember him like as a, you know, a younger kid and teenager I remember him just like teaching me how to use tools, teaching you how to use a multimeter to like troubleshoot issues is like we were working on things and repairing things. And I remember actually going to training in class and it was really interesting how, like a quick click to me that he basically taught me the standards as a kid that the industry uses. So like to use proper, you know, tools for the job, and to just make sure things are properly used and what to look out for. And so that was kind of unexpected was very basic knowledge on like, just how to use tools is very, very critical because you're working on very technical and expensive equipment. So like, even just the very basics they they will train you on to make sure that you're not going to strip a screw, because that could end up delaying a process which could cost the company a lot of money, not Tokyo electron but the customer a lot of money.


Peter Kazarinoff  15:37  

What advice would you give current students or people that want to transition careers, and work in the semiconductor industry as a technician like you?


Teddy  15:49  

Don't be afraid of like doing small projects, I guess. That's a good knowledge point. Like if something's wrong with your car, don't be afraid to like look into it and try to work on it yourself. Don't be, also like if for some reason, there's something in general is just holding you back. Like just trust yourself and go through the schooling because it does help with the interviewing process and having a company trust you because there - that's what's so difficult is you want to be a good employee and you want your co-workers to be good because if you end up working with someone who isn't carrying their weight, then everyone feels it and you don't. So I mean just take take schooling, I guess seriously, and take the skills upon yourself to learn. Because you don't want to play catch up when you're required to - to act and you are like, Wait, how do I do that again?


Peter Kazarinoff  16:51  

Teddy, thank you so much for being on Talking Technicians. I really enjoyed hearing about the work you do and how you got there. So please keep in touch.


Teddy  17:02  

No problem.


Peter Kazarinoff  17:03  

Bye now.


Teddy  17:05  

Bye.


Peter Kazarinoff  17:10  

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.