Engineering Their Future at PCB Carolina

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It is always a refreshing change of pace at trade shows to punctuate our interviews with seasoned professionals with the perspective of the very youngest members in our industry. A huge focus for all segments of our industry right now is drawing new blood into it—a party we have all arrived at much too late, but where we see herculean efforts toward engagement being made. 

At the PCB Carolina show in Raleigh, North Carolina, I had the opportunity to speak to several engineering students from NC State. We hear a lot of older curmudgeons criticizing the work ethic of today’s young folks, but these students were on the ball. Most of them knew how to code before coming to the university. They displayed obvious intelligence, and their sponge-like demeanors and excitement about electronics offer hope for our industry’s future. 

I sat down for an interview with Cayden Longwell, a member of the class of ’27 in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at NC State. Even as a freshman, Cayden already has a basic roadmap for his career in electronics. Check it out. 

Andy Shaughnessy: How are you doing, Cayden?

Cayden Longwell: It's going pretty well. I’m having a good time here.

Shaughnessy: Cayden, what is your major? 

Longwell: I’m studying electrical and computer engineering here at North Carolina State.

Shaughnessy: How did you pick that major?

Longwell: When I was younger, I was into science generally. We’d get a lot of science books, but my interest didn't progress much from there. Then COVID happened and I had a lot of extra time. I really got into programming and computers. So, when choosing my major here, I decided to study electrical and computer engineering. I've been programming for three years, and there's a lot of stuff in computer science. I wanted to get my money's worth. They have a good electrical/computer engineering program here because they have Makerspaces with equipment and resources to experiment with—they have soldering pools, parts, components, and all that.

Shaughnessy: That’s great. Tell me about your classes. What are you taking, and what are the classes like?

Longwell: This semester, I am mostly getting through my generals (GPs). I have three unrelated GPs and chemistry. But next semester, I have Calculus 3, Physics 1, and I have EC109, which is Introduction to Electronics and Computer Engineering (ECE), where you're doing a lot with hardware and software. 

Shaughnessy: We really need electrical engineers and circuit board designers. If you're an electrical engineer, you can do a lot of different things. 

Longwell: I already like to program on normal computers and operating systems. I think it's really cool to be able to engineer something, put an embedded chip on something and program it, and make it work. I could go into PCB design or microprocessor design. That's an opportunity that they actually have here for undergraduates.

Shaughnessy: We need all of that, and it kind of gets overlooked, but we also need materials engineers. You may have heard about the CHIPS Act that came out last year, where the DoD has earmarked dollars for U.S. companies.

Longwell: There is actually a program I can go into around that. 

Shaughnessy: You could definitely find a job in this industry. There are so many different things that you could do with an ECE degree, and a lot of designers are retiring. Do you have any specialties in mind?

Longwell: After I get my degree, I might go into computer engineering, or I could still go into software development. But even if I end up going into software development—it just depends upon who's hiring—it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I just love it. I want to do my specialization in embedded programming.

Shaughnessy: That’s impressive. So, what did you think of the show?

Longwell: It was really nice. There were a lot of really cool circuit boards. I took a lot of pictures and got a bunch of free stuff, even PCB business cards and rulers. They have really cool swag here. I made my goal: I have four more bags of stuff (laughs).

Shaughnessy: No one wants to carry that stuff back on the plane home! Cayden, is there anything else you would like to add?

Longwell: It was a really interesting event. I got to talk with some people, ask questions, and be around so many PCBs. 

Shaughnessy: It was a pleasure talking to you. Thank you for doing the interview, and good luck with everything.

Longwell: Thank you.