Talking Technicians
Talking Technicians
S05-E05 Gabriel is a Field Service Engineer at Applied Materials
Gabriel is a field service engineer at Applied Materials in Hillsboro, Oregon. In this episode, Gabriel discusses his career path. He attended the Early College High School Program, focusing on microelectronics technology automation. Gabriel works inside Intel's Ronler Acres campus, troubleshooting and maintaining semiconductor equipment. Gabriel advises students to consider the microelectronics program and Early College High School for career advancement in the semiconductor industry.
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 Microelectronics Program:
https://www.pcc.edu/programs/microelectronics/
Jobs at Applied Materials: https://www.appliedmaterials.com/il/en/careers.html
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, 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 Gabriel. Gabriel is a technician, a field service engineer at Applied Materials in Hillsboro, Oregon. Gabriel, welcome to Talking technicians.
Gabriel 0:53
Thanks, Peter. I'm happy to be here.
Peter Kazarinoff 0:55
I'm really glad to talk with you today, Gabriel, both about what you've done in Applied Materials and also how you got there, what your education background is, but before we get into that, tell me a little bit about yourself. Applied Materials is in Hillsboro. That's one of its locations outside Portland. Where do you live and how long have you been there for?
Gabriel 1:16
So I've been in Portland for around the past 10 years. Right now I'm in the Hillsboro area, and we moved over here because my dad, he's working at Intel right now as a tech and because of all the layoffs that were happening in New Mexico, we wanted to move here because there were better, just prospects and sort of jobs that you could get here.
Peter Kazarinoff 1:36
And so when you moved to Oregon, then after that, you did both your high school work in Oregon and then also went to community college in Oregon, right?
Gabriel 1:47
Yeah, I did what's called the Early College High School Program, and then in that program, I chose to follow the micro electronics technology automation pathway, and that's what got me into being a field service engineer.
Peter Kazarinoff 2:03
Amazing, amazing. Well, let's dig a little bit into that job as a field service engineer. So can you tell me about where you work and what does it mean to be a field service engineer?
Gabriel 2:16
Yeah, so pretty much as a field service engineer, I'm working in the ronler acres campus at Intel. And pretty muc what we do is we do troubleshooting, preventative maintenance and upgrades on the semiconductor equipment that we're working on. I'm in the dry etch group, so on the dry etch tools we've been assigned. Our jobs are to pretty much troubleshoot problems if we have any upgrades, we need to install teaching some of the techs, because our tool is fairly new, so we're still in the process of teaching some of the Intel technicians. But as well as because I'm fairly new to the to the job, I'm still getting taught as well.
Peter Kazarinoff 2:58
So Gabriel, you mentioned that you work for Applied Materials, but you're working on the inside of an Intel factory. Can you explain to me a little bit about that? How can somebody get a job like yours for one company, but they're working inside another company?
Gabriel 3:14
Yeah, so pretty much the way it works is kind of like how how car dealerships work, where you can fix your car, but then if you don't know, like how to solve a problem or such, you sort of take it to the dealership. In this essence, we're the dealership. So companies like Applied Materials, ASML, tell ASM, those sort of companies, they make the semiconductor tools, but people like Intel or TSMC buy them, and then they usually have support staff like the field service engineers on their campuses, so that if anything goes wrong and the Intel people or TSMC people don't know how to fix it, then they call in the field service engineers, and they pretty much work their magic.
Peter Kazarinoff 4:01
So Gabriel, talk to me a little bit about this magic that you can work. What's it like day to day at work? What do you do at the beginning of a shift, the middle and the end of a shift?
Gabriel 4:12
So in the beginning of the shift, what happens is we get we do a pass down meeting at around seven o'clock where the previous shift they give us because we're on a compressed work week schedule, which is alternating three days on four days off, four days on three days off, Days and Night schedule, my schedule is the front end of the week on days, and pretty much what happens is, in that beginning of the day meeting, our night shift team is going to tell us what they did that day and what how they how they did it, what they did. And after that, we wait for Intel to give us our priorities for the day on what they want us to fix. And then we go out we fix it, or try to fix it. And then we usually get breaks in between, like lunch, that sort of thing. And then at the end of the day, we have to compose our meeting to the night shift, and pretty much it just goes on from there.
Peter Kazarinoff 5:14
So you get this passed down from the previous shift, you do your work, and then the end of the shift you passed down to the next shift about what you do, what you did, or what that next shift has to do. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So Gabriel, what did it feel like your first day of work? What did it feel like going into either applied or like your first day walking into the Intel factory?
Gabriel 5:40
It was honestly like it was really weird because me doing that program for two years, or just hearing about where my dad has worked for the past almost 20 years. It's just weird to actually see it in its fruition, because I've heard so many people talk about going into the fab but it's a really odd experience. Like it's, you go through the the clean room doors, and it feels like you're in sort of like a different dimension. The first couple times you're going there, like it's, there's all these overhead vehicles just going around, and there's a million, millions of dollars of semiconductor equipment just sitting around you. It's, it's, it's impressive. It's really, I don't know it's something. It was really cool. I liked it.
Peter Kazarinoff 6:29
And what does it feel like now, when you go in?
Gabriel 6:33
It's getting to feel more like work to be honest. I mean, it's really, when you think about it, when I think about it. It's really cool that in this day and age, we're working on these sort of tools that are sort of empowering our future and building chips for our computers, our cars and whatever they choose to use it in. But I don't know. It just feels cool still.
Peter Kazarinoff 6:58
Thanks, Gabriel, you mentioned that you work with some of the Intel technicians. Do you also work with engineers or scientists? Who other people in the FAB, in the factory? Do you have to communicate with?
Gabriel 7:11
Yeah, so pretty much we work with whoever's sort of involved in the sort of tool support group. Because for me, we're we're just sort of support for that tool. So we're the hardware side. So there's we work in conjunction with the software side of things, the process side of things, on our side. And then Intel has their own process engineers that are sort of working to develop their side of the process, because Intel creates their own processes to whatever they want to do on the chips, and that's all their IP for what they're designing. So it's their process engineers jobs to sort of get everything in order, but then it's our guys jobs just to make sure it's running out as it's can be.
Peter Kazarinoff 8:02
And can you give me, like, a ballpark salary for your job as a field service engineer, or maybe if you were working for one of the other companies that you mentioned, like Tokyo electron or lamb research?
Gabriel 8:16
Yeah, I when I was applying to a bunch of different places, I noticed that they like to be around like 27 to $30 an hour was sort of the ballpark for a field service engineer starting it in like a semiconductor company here.
Peter Kazarinoff 8:31
And do you get any differentials for things like working overtime or having longer weeks or weekends nights, things like that?
Gabriel 8:40
Yeah, we we get a weekend shift differential. So on the weekend day, we get paid an extra amount of money because for our compressed shifts, at least for the day side, we work at least one weekend day per week, and we get like, a certain amount of money just for working that day. But then if you move on to nights, I think you get a 15% pay increase. And then if you're a lead, I think you get 5% extra, yeah.
Peter Kazarinoff 9:06
So you mentioned, if you're lead, you get a little bit more. Are there opportunities for professional growth? Can you move up and apply materials?
Gabriel 9:14
Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, there's a tuition reimbursement program, so that pretty much supports that if you want to grow professionally through education, you can choose to apply to a certain amount of classes that adds up to whatever the tuition reimbursement value is, and as long as it's something that's related to a job at applied, then they'll support that. And you can pretty much just take those classes in conjunction with your normal work.
Peter Kazarinoff 9:45
Oh, that sounds pretty cool. So also, in addition to salary, do you have things like health benefits or retirement that you can take advantage of as a field service engineer?
Gabriel 9:57
Yeah, we have, we have health benefits. Vision, dental, we have this cool program where it's a lifestyle support so a certain amount of money you can spend on, like gym equipment, gym memberships, running shoes, that sort of thing. I think that's pretty cool.
Peter Kazarinoff 10:18
Interesting. I haven't heard of other technicians being able to have that benefit. But it makes sense that you want to keep your workforce healthy and that you want to keep them around. Well, how about we shift gears a little bit and talk a little bit about how you got to where you are. Now, you mentioned your high school experience a little bit. Can you tell me a little bit about the high school that you went to and the program, and then we'll transition and talk a little bit about community college after that. So what was your high school experience like?
Gabriel 10:50
Yeah, so in high school, I did, I was in the engineering and software pathway of my high school. I went to the Beaverton academy of science and engineering, but then in 10th grade, we found there was this program that we could join. It was the early college high school, and I enrolled in that and pretty much how that worked was in Portland, we have this thing where you can take community college classes instead of doing high school courses, so you would follow a full time community college schedule, and through that, I was recommended by my dad and his co workers to take the micro electronics pathway, because that's what they did to being becoming like techs and field service engineers. So what I did was I followed that, that pathway in the automation route, because I wanted to keep my options open in terms of if I ever wanted to move to like software engineering. So I did that. And then after I finished that program, I applied for job at Applied Materials, and that was one of those spots that they accepted me into.
Peter Kazarinoff 12:00
Interesting, interesting. So you sort of finished your two year community college technician degree at the point of when a lot of people were graduating from high school. Is that right? Yeah, wow. And then right after that, when other people may have been going to community college or going to college, you were able to start a full time job and make 27 or more dollars. That's pretty amazing.
Gabriel 12:24
Thanks. Yeah, no, I'm I'm honestly, really, really happy to be here. I feel amazing about it. Feels good to be starting my life early.
Peter Kazarinoff 12:35
And you mentioned that Applied Materials has some support for you to take classes, some like tuition reimbursement. Do you remember while when you were going to that Beaverton High School and taking the community college classes, did you have to pay tuition as part of that?
Gabriel 12:52
No, actually, I for anyone exiting 10th grade and going into 11th I highly recommend them to do that early college program. There's two early college programs, at least in Oregon, in the northern part that I know of. There's one called Summit, and there's another one called EC, HS, early college high school, and I recommend both of them. I just feel like, because, from what I understand, you don't have to pay for any of the tuition amounts, aside from just textbooks and that sort of thing. So I recommend fully to do it, because at least the program I did, EC, HS, we were able to take 16 credits of classes, and it was all paid for by the district.
Peter Kazarinoff 13:37
Interesting. Yeah, it's amazing. Really good. Well, one thing I wanted to ask you, before we sort of finish up today, was also about working at Applied Materials as opposed to working at Intel. If there's some technician students that are working right now, how would you compare and contrast doing those two jobs? Because you directly work with some of those people at Intel. So what do you think are some like, advantages and disadvantages of working with a supplier like applied compared to working in the main company like Intel?
Gabriel 14:11
So the nice thing about being able to work at a supplier or a vendor is that you can move around a lot to a different site. So if you're working like let's say you're working at the Intel Ron the rakers campus, there's a pretty high chance that as an Intel worker, you're going to be on that campus for as long as you want to, unless you switch into a different sort of position or want to move areas. Because at least when I was talking to my dad, he was pretty much saying that once you, once you're in your position, then you can, you're usually staying there, right? You don't have to worry about being moved a lot or anything in most groups. But because this, this is just one sort. Of account of it. I'm not saying this as a blanket statement, because I've never worked for Intel, but at least at vendors, you're able to, there's a lot more opportunities for travel, I would say, because I'm on the sustaining side, so that means I'm able to just stay in Portland, and I don't have to move around a lot, but you can choose to be on the install team and install tools and various fabs all throughout the world. So if you want to do that, there's much more opportunity for just going around to different places. So if you want to travel, I would say definitely be a vendor.
Peter Kazarinoff 15:41
One of those advantages is like the variety of potential places that you can work in.
Gabriel 15:47
yeah, but that's not to say that working as a vendor will always make you travel. There is definitely travel. At least when I was training, they flew me out to an applied training site to do that training. But at least for for working at most vendors, there is a sustaining side of the team that just stays at whatever customer site they're working at for whatever duration of their contract is
Peter Kazarinoff 16:17
Yeah. So one thing I wanted to ask you about Gabriel, was you mentioned that you did some training off site with Applied Materials. How do you feel like your community college education and micro electronics prepared you for that? And how was that different than what you did at community college?
Gabriel 16:36
I'm going to be honest, I think community college did a really good job, because it was pretty similar in sort of the way they got into it. Because in community college, what they did was we would take a lecture on how sort of the tool operates. Because in our classes in community college, we would work on these older like 1980s semiconductor tools, and pretty much, we would have to go through all of the different subsystems in it, learn how to troubleshoot, learn how to do certain preventative maintenance procedures and that sort of thing. And then after that, after we did that lecture aspect, which was like couple hours per week, we would go into the class and we would actually do what work we learned on it. So like, let's say, let's say we're learning about the pneumatic systems in the tool, and our instructor is saying, Hey, you guys are going to troubleshoot this, by the way, he's going to put an error in the tool. And what our job is that week is we're going to have to find it
Peter Kazarinoff 17:43
Well, Gabriel, to sort of finish up today, I'd like to know what advice would you give current students or people that want to transition their careers and work in the semiconductor industry as a technician? What would you say to somebody at your high school in Beaverton, or somebody who's thinking about transitioning careers and doing something new?
Gabriel 18:04
I would definitely say at least, if you're in the Portland area, take the micro electronics program. I would say it was pretty useful in teaching me how to sort of navigate through this world. They gave us a lot of good representation, especially in the second year of pretty much what it's going to look like day to day on the job, specifically working on the tools. And there's a lot of opportunities for internships, connecting you with jobs, a lot of networking opportunities. In that regard, I would definitely recommend to take that. And if you're still in high school, before 10th grade, do the Early College Program, because even if you want it, if you want to get into not just semiconductor, but just engineering in general, I would definitely recommend doing that, because it gets you two years ahead of of the competition. So it's, I would say that's very it's very powerful, and this industry is so far I've liked working in it all. My coworkers are very, very fun to work with, and I don't know I enjoy it.
Peter Kazarinoff 19:13
Well. Gabriel, thank you so much for telling your story and talking with me about how you went from high school and then community college and now working as a technician at Applied Materials.
Gabriel 19:26
Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me, Peter.
Peter Kazarinoff 19:28
Please keep in touch.
Gabriel 19:30
Sounds good? Thank you.
Peter Kazarinoff 19:38
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.