THE NAIL on your little finger is about the size of an integrated circuit, John Gahan says. As an electronic technician, he is intimately concerned with the workings of these tiny objects.
However, as he points out, everything is done on a screen - where he is able to zoom in and enlarge the smallest plan to whatever size he wants. The physical dimensions of these electronic maps is not, therefore, a problem.
"It's very challenging," he says about his work at Analog Devices in Limerick. "It really forces you to think."
Using some technical shorthand such as LVS, DRC and PCB, Gahan begins to explain patiently what his job involves: electronic technicians design the layout of an integrated circuit; this design has to be laid out on a mask and then checked and corrected if needs be.
"A mask looks like a mirror before the ICs (integrated circuits) are placed on it," he says. There can be up to 100 ICs on any mask. Once an error has been pin-pointed, it must be solved - like any maths problem. This, says John, is what he loves about his job.
Nineteen people work in this department of Analog Devices. "It is the biggest mask-designing unit in Europe," he says.
Gahan went to Carnew Community College in Co Wicklow which, he says, was strong in engineering subjects. There he was advised to study electronic engineering.
"At the time things were going well in electronics. You have to have a biggish interest yourself as well. I had worked on radios, electrics, in my spare time - I knew I was going to like it."
When he started electronic engineering at Carlow RTC there were 50 students in first year, immediately divided into four classes. In this age of equality, electronic engineering is still male-dominated; there were only three or four women in every class, Gahan says.
Looking back, he says that maths was the single most important subject and the toughest. "The course at Carlow started off at honours level from Leaving Cert. I only had pass maths." He would "definitely, without a doubt" do the honours course if he were back at school today. "It's important for so many courses," he says. He would also study physics.
However, as the lecturers were "brilliant" and the majority of the students were all in the same boat getting to grips with maths, Gahan says that it was possible to progress and master the course.
"The RTC is a continuation of the classroom really," be says. Students are able to ask questions and "if you do a certain amount of work every evening, then the more you put in the better the grade," he says.
Students spend a lot of time working in the college laboratories completing practical assignments. In second year, they do an industry-related design or development project; Gahan built a metronome and a burglar alarm for a house. An average mark of 60 per cent has to be attained in each subject in order to go on.
In third year, students also have to choose a project. Gahan's involved creating the lay-out of a digital ammeter on a printed circuit board. In third year, students get their project assignments at the beginning of October and they have to hand them up in March. "It sounds like a lot of time, but you've four or five other subjects to study as well."
Gahan graduated with a national diploma in electronic engineering last year. He had his first interview with Analog Devices while still attending Carlow RTC; his second came later in Limerick. Two class-mates also got jobs with Analog Devices last year, and all three were trained for 18 weeks at the start.
There are more jobs than graduates on the market at the moment, he says. And future prospects include plenty of job opportunities and promotion within the area where he works. Analog Devices, he says, has a scheme whereby employees can opt to study for a degree in computer science or electronics.
