How do you grow an industry in a nation? You grow the people. Regardless of the sector or area, growth happens when there are consistent and persistent knowledge transfer from the more experienced to the ones who are aspiring to grow or ventures into the sector or field.
Similarly, with the advent of 5G and Industry 4.0, the industries of the world are also evolving. In the electronic industry, there is a sudden realization for the need to be equipped with knowledge related with RF and Microwave. RF talents are in an increasing demand to sustain the continuous growth and evolution.
In FILPAL, we realize we are able to contribute to the raising up of talents. As a design house, we are familiar with the entire process from design, manufacturing, assembly and testing of many RF and Microwave parts. So how does one equip for the RF industry? Here’s what we think are the 4 important progression levels to be a master in RF and Microwave:
Level 1: RF Fundamental and Measurement Basics
We all must starts somewhere. RF fundamentals includes understanding and knowledge of things like transmission lines theory, Smith chart usage, impedance matching and antenna designs. It is also important to start everything right. Therefore it is important for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals to also be familiar with using Engineering Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software tools and equipment such as the Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). In our modern RF industry, proficiency of using ECAD and VNA are entry requirements to the industry.
Level 2: RF Sub-System Evaluation & Measurement
Moving on from the fundamentals, aspiring RF engineers should familiarize with system/sub-system level designs. the “front-end” designs are usually consists of systems and modules working together to perform a function. By picking up system and sub-system designs, we are learning up techniques required for interactions between modules, such as modulation-demodulation scheme, time domain reflectometry (TDR) and Power link budget calculations.
Level 3: Advanced RF Characterization & Measurement
Often times, what we learn in the classroom and what is needed in the real world are very much different. This is because most of the theoretical understanding happens in an ideal condition. And most importantly, they do not factor in cost and return of investment (ROI). In a highly competitive and commercialized world, technologies are demanded to not only be high tech but also commercially viable.
RF engineers should understand device life cycles of their designs and many of the norms and guide to instrumentation selection. Knowledge like these are pivotal for managers when considering capital expenditure (CAPEX) investment. Together with these, engineers should also be familiar with calibration, measurement and troubleshooting techniques in design. RF designs usually requires extensive testing and calibration to match the practical response to the theoretical . Thus such knowledge are also equally important.
Level 4: Advanced RF & Microwave Design & Measurement
One of the most commonly used design in RF and Microwave design happens on printed circuit board (PCB). PCBs are used in high speed designs and are relevant in many areas in the electronic industry. RF engineers will need to master design of microwave transmission line, encompassing passive and active components unto its testing and measurement. At this stage, it is also beneficial to know some of the more common designs such as L-section impedance matching network, Wilkinson power divider, branch-line couplers and much more!
Be Industry-Ready
In FILPAL, we offer these training courses both to the industry and academic because we are passionate in raising up talents. We believe for the RF industry to sustain, it has to be backed up by an ever growing pool of talents who are “industry-ready” to tackle the many challenges and opportunities.
Therefore, starting from 2023, we are partnering with Penang Skill Development Center (PSDC) to organize quarterly trainings for raising up RF talents and human resources. The dates are as followed:
Q1: 14–15, 21–22 Feb 2023
Q2: 16–17, 23–24 May 2023
Q3: 15–16, 22–23 Aug 2023
Q4: 14–15, 21–22 Nov 2023
2023 will be an exciting year as we put our “home-grown” hardware, software and our knowledge into making these trainings happen!
All our trainers are certified under Train-The-Trainer (TTT) program and claimable under Malaysia Human Resource Development Cooperation (HRDC) For more info, check out our website: https://www.filpal.com/rf-training
Originally published at http://filpal.wordpress.com on November 13, 2022.
