Go team! From microprocessors to new products, engineer teams lead the way in computer technology!

Scott Pennington involved with making computer chips. He is currently the head of the Technical Review Board at IBM Microelectronics in Essex Junction, Vermont where all significant changes to the computer chip manufacturing process are reviewed before implementation. Because it takes 2 months or more and hundreds of steps to make a computer chip, millions of dollars can be lost if a change that is made has a negative impact on the quality of the chips. As a result, changes are carefully evaluated on a small quantity of computer chips before gradually ramping up the change across the entire manufacturing line. This method allows IBM's customers to receive a steady flow of high quality chips while at the same time being able to implement changes that can make the chips less expensive, smaller and faster.

Mr. Pennington is also involved with the introduction of computer chips that use new and innovative process steps into manufacturing. The computer chip industry is one of the fastest changing industries in the world today. The number of circuit components on a computer chip has been doubling every 2 years or so since the early 1970's. Computer circuits today are smaller than the wavelength of visible light and they are becoming smaller every year. The computer chip industry is an exciting place to work.

Besides working at IBM full time, Mr. Pennington teaches Advanced Chemistry and Advance Physics at a local high school. He enjoys connecting what is happening in the world around us to the traditional subject matter covered in the classroom. These connections increase the relevance of the subject matter and make it more interesting. For example, realizing that most of the elements the Earth is made of and that we are made of were created in a supernova explosion before the formation of our Sun or that the impact of a comet or asteroid 65 million years ago played a substantial role in the extinction of the dinosaurs, allowing mammals to flourish which eventually lead to human beings living on this planet, are tremendously exciting ideas that brings science to life.

Nick Donofrio
Engineer & Inventor

Job:
Electrical engineer and senior vice president at IBM. Nick is also an inventor and a 1997 National Engineers Week All Star.

Education:
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, B.S. in electrical engineering; Syracuse University, M.S. in electrical engineering.

Why engineering: "Engineers are always curious - they like to take things apart and figure out how they work."

Email: NMD@US.IBM.COM

To learn more about Nick and his visit to Sleepy Hollow middle school, where he helped students build their own burglar alarms, click here.

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