Student:

Owen Benner
POE Block 2
Interviewee:
Hugh Shen
Computer Engineer
Interview:
By Phone
10/22/15

Interviewee Background Information

Mr. Shen is an engineer/scientist at IBM. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. His Professional Business email account is
hughshen@us.ibm.com.

Interview
1. Could you please describe the field of computer engineering in general?
So computer engineering, from my point of view, is basically building computers. Specifically I design
processors and theres [sic] other fields like designing the memory or I/O devices, like that attach to PCIe
and stuff.
So for me I find that the processor is probably the most interesting part of the design computer
engineering process. Theres [sic] also other things you can do thats [sic] not exactly design, for instance
theres verification, which is you are somebody who actually takes someone elses design and tests it
in simulation so that to make sure it works before they actually build the thing.
Theres [sic] other things you can do. So they call it hardware bring up where after they build their
engineering samples you need some you need people to be able to build the machines into a working
sample and to test it. And so you can write the software that tests these engineering samples. Or you could
also be somebody who designs the testing of like what needs to be tested and how to test it.
And actually with my work at IBM I do a little bit of all of that. I do the designing of the processor, I help
point the direction in testing and simulation, and during bring up I help them figure out what needs to be
tested and how. And I help debug the hardware testing if something should not turn out properly based on
test software. So thats all part of my job.
2. What is your job title?
Its basically just I think they just call me engineer/scientist at IBM but I mean officially
thats what I am. I just consider myself a design engineer I guess.
3. Please describe your particular job and duties.
Answered in question 1 response.
4. Whats your average work schedule?
In general its it depends on the company but at IBM we are pretty much work on your own
time. As long as you get your stuff done youre good to go. You can work you know, early in the

morning, late into the night. Sometimes I come home around 2 p.m. to pick up my kids, and then get back
online later on after they go to bed.
But thats really up to the culture of the company. Ive heard of some companies require you to be
there in the core hours; somewhere between like 9 to 5, you know. IBM and most I think most of
the companies Ive and people Ive seen in other companies are mostly, you know, work when you can
type of thing.
+So how much do you tend to work in one week?
In general I work somewhere between 40 to 50 hours a week. I get in around 8:30 to 9-ish, leave
around 3 or so and then 2 or 3 and then I log in again after 7 or 8 and then stay on for another couple
of hours or more depending on the workload of that day.
5. Starting with high school, could you describe your educational background chronologically?
I went to the Science Academy of Austin. I Mostly did a lot of Advanced Placement classes in
high school. Then I kind of coasted my way into UT with the Top 10% Rule back then I guess its not
quite ten percent now. And then I found myself in the engineering in the engineering department
because they didnt require a foreign language. I dont know if thats still the case now but I guess the
engineers didnt need a foreign language back then.
So I picked out of all the engineering fields I picked computers because I liked to I used to build
my own computers back in high school using off-the-shelf parts. And so thats how I got into computer
engineering. And then I graduated with a bachelors and I tried to do a little more in graduate school but I
never actually got around to actually taking the GRE.
+So when you say you built your own computers do you mean, like bread boarding or?
No, no, no, not like nothing like that I was just taking off-the-shelf parts and putting it [sic]
together into a working PC.
*What were some of the most interesting or helpful courses you took in your during your
education?

The programming classes definitely were good and useful for computer engineering. The
theres one at UT, I forget what the number is, but its called basically the Introduction to Logic
Design. That one is basically, for my field of work, something I use every day, because logic is what you
do to design a computer, basically using 1s and 0s right? Thats the one you want to get if you want to be
a designer. Its also helpful to have Discrete Math, because theres also logic in the discrete math portion
of the parts of that class.
They give you a [sic] all-around education at UT, like stuff with transistors and materials science
fields. I didnt find that as useful for what I do, but I can see where it could be useful for other fields in
computer engineering; like, if you were, say, a circuit designer, where you actually worked with the
transistors themselves and placing them and routing wires and stuff. So that would be that would be
something that I didnt find useful, but you, if that interests you, you could you could be you might
want to look into that, too.
But Id say, mostly, the programming classes. Oh! And then there is in the higher, like junior
and senior years you want to take a [sic] architecture class, so that you can see If youre going to
design computers you need to know about how architecture works. A [sic] operating systems class is also
good for learning about what it is that software generally do [sic], and that the bottlenecks in software
they and what software has to watch out for, and that helped me in designing the hardware and
figuring out to make you know, where the bottlenecks in software are; you can try to design the
computers to work better with the with the software that you know is the bottleneck.
*What jobs have you held before?
Other than my co-op experience with Oasis Design that was back in 98, it was a small startup
where they were doing some they were building a DSP chip and I was doing some testing for them,
Ive been working at IBM as a logic designer for the past 15 years.
*So with that first job back in 98, you said? What sort of stuff did you learn and gain
experience in from there that you still use today? Just all of it or?
Okay so the co-ops I guess the thing that I learned most from that co-op is basically how to
debug a hardware problem, right? So they had some test software that and they needed it to run on the
chip and it wasnt behaving like it should. So then I had to step through the code and figure out what was
wrong. I got to use LabVIEW, which I dont use it [sic] anymore now, and so I actually figured out a

bug in some of the LabVIEW code that was keeping the test from running properly. So I had to go make
my own little macro in LabVIEW. [Interruption]
+So you were talking about using LabVIEW, I think.
Yes! So the I think the most important thing in computer engineering is your problem solving
abilities, right? Basically somebody will as a designer somebody will say make this work with, you
know, these [sic] set of rules. And youll have to figure how to figure out how to build something like
that within the parameters.
The other thing I do a lot of is debugging in hardware bring-up, so youre going to need something the
ability to say, oh, why you know, when you did x, y, and z, you know, a popped out of the output
here. Why is that happening? And you need to be able to go dig through the code, the VHDL or Verilog
code of the design, and figure out why would a how is it possible that a could come out when youre
not expecting it to be a, right? So those types of abilities are an asset [sic] for you.
+So this is all when youre working with like emulating chips, or?
Not even emulating, that is that is actually the hardest part is when you have an engineering
sample in the lab, bringing it up, and it doesnt work right, and you have to figure out why, and you dont
have, you know, every signal in the system available to you. You have to use what you have to figure out
why something didnt work.
6. If you had to do it over, related to your career or education, would you do anything differently?
For me, probably not, I mean, I guess I feel pretty lucky that I fell into the right career out of
whimsy and ended up in something doing something I like.
7. What advice would you give to me, I mean, youve already given me some, but, as someone
interested in pursuing a career path similar to yours?
One thing I would say is: dont procrastinate, right? Do all your work up front, and then, you
know, take it easy in the back end. There was a Dilbert cartoon where someone asked him how long
would it [sic] take to do something and said six months; three months to build the thing and three months
to play Doom. [Chuckles]

Yeah, build get what you need to do first done first and then come out looking like a hero when you
get done early, right? You definitely dont want to be the last guy holding up the project. So what you do
want to do is even if somebody else is holding up the project, you want to get your stuff done early, so
that, when theyre out of the way, youre not the next guy in line to be held holding things up.
Other than that, you know, if you have a good feel for logic and how to design how to, you know,
problem solve, I think computer engineerings a pretty good field for you.
+So, do you tend to, like set, sort of, made-up deadlines for yourself from day to day, or?
Not really.
+You just work until everything is off your plate?
Yeah, pretty much. I try to do as much of the work as I can in a reasonable amount of time, right? I dont
work myself until, like, 4 a.m., because that because I find that the next morning, what I wrote at 4
a.m. is actually useless. [Interruption]
+You were talking about staying up at 4 a.m. and your.
Yeah, I find that, the one time I did stay up til 4 a.m. I wrote some code that ended up not being useful at
all the next day when I finally looked at it again. So, you know, if you I do find that, you know they
say work smarter, not harder, right? So you sometimes when youre hitting a problem, and youre banging
your head into the wall trying to figure it out, its always it might be better to just take a break, and let
your subconscious work on it for a while and then come back to it the next day. Work on something else
for a while. That usually works for me and in that, like, once Ive had myself dream about a
problem and then figure out a solution in the middle of the night before. And then and thats when you
get up at 4 a.m. because you cant sleep because youve got the solution in your head, and you write it
down and, yeah. Thats when you get up at 4 a.m. to go write it down, you know.
*My Question
+Follow-up Question

Personal Reflection
a)

I was surprised by how easily the professional tone fell away. I did not expect it to be easy to

maintain, but I didnt think it would be the first thing to fail when my concentration broke. However, as
my interviewee was speaking in a casual tone, perhaps this was good for the interview.
b)

I was glad to learn how much of a role logic plays in this engineering field. I expected most of the

design to be focused around materials science and circuitry, both of which interest me, but not as much as
logic.
c)

I was already interested in a career in computer engineering and now I am much more interested

than I was before. I was particularly intrigued by the lenient schedules.

d)

I plan to take Digital Electronics next year and the courses that my interviewee recommended in

college and find a job in electrical engineering. These plans could change, of course, but this is what
interests me most right now.
e)

The next step for me in pursuing this career is studying Computer Engineering on my own, and

maybe doing some breadboard and logic experiments, until I can take Digital Electronics next year.