What Makes A Great Engineer?

Not everyone is born with a high IQ, and those who do may not possess a good EQ to augment their inborn advantage. That's why geniuses like Leonardo Da Vinci and Nikola Tesla are such rare breed who were born ahead of their times.

What distinguishes a great engineer from a good engineer is not how much knowledge he gained in the classroom, but how much experience he acquired in the course of his career. Not that he never fail or suffer setbacks but rather, he never calls it quit in the face of difficulties. It's the courage to confront and overcome a problem that sets him apart from the rest of the pack. If I may put it aptly:

Great engineers are crafted in the baptism of fire. Those who opt for the easy way out either sabotaged their latent potentials or do not have what it takes to be one.

Do you have what it takes to be a great engineer?

A Blast from the Past

How time flies! It's been 35 years since my first overseas training at Grumman Aerospace Corporation (GAC) in Long Island, New York. I was part of the pioneer team responsible for bay repair of the now decommissioned E-2C early-warning surveillance aircraft. During the six month stint there, I was introduced to the concept of automated test equipment (ATE), learning how to operate and maintain two sophisticated test equipment designed by GAC (now Northrop-Grumman) to service the avionics of four E-2Cs purchased by the RSAF.

Posting for photo shoot with the CAT-IIID with the ATE team's instructors, Kevin Campbell (left) and Frank Lockwood, Jr. Wonder if they're still around...

And here is the coveted certificate:

Well, I didn't display it at my work desk in my previous company of 25 years, and now that I'm into full-time writing, it is locked away in a cabinet along with the rest of my other ATE certifications. I had dreamed of putting my knowledge on these machine marvels into four volumes, but now it seems that will only remain a dream and I will take all that I've learned to my grave...

Layout Diagram (Fast Track)

Microsoft Visio is such a piece of versatile 2D drafting tool it's not difficult to create complex illustrations and diagrams using simple geometric shapes. Take for example the Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT graphics card featured in Manual PCB-RE: The Essentials:

At one glance, it seems impossible but if you were to go through Chapter 5 of the book, you will be given a fast track into how such a complicated PCB layout diagram can be created. Well not effortlessly but certainly not difficult either.

But if you are the type that needs to be held by the hand and taught step-by-step, then I would suggest getting The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering, where you will literally go through a detailed exercise in creating a SCSI host adapter card, complete with the mechanical fittings.

Don't take my word for it; you've got to really hands on to believe it. Click on the titles of the books to go to Amazon and start drawing some amazing stuff with Microsoft Visio!

The Chameleon

What has a chameleon got to go with PCB-RE? Observant readers will notice that a colorful chameleon is featured on the bottom right side of my fourth book, Manual PCB-RE: The Essentials:

The chameleon is an interesting species of the reptilian family. Besides its ability to change skin color to match the surrounding environment, it has a pair of pinhole–sized eyes that can pivot and focus independently, allowing it to observe two different objects simultaneously with a 360-degree arc of vision around its body. It also possesses a sticky long tongue over twice its body length that enables it to catch its prey at a distance with precision and speed.

Similarly, a PCB-RE engineer must possess the ability to adapt to different types of PCB technology, with eyes for expansive and miniscule details, as well as the resourcefulness to grow beyond present limits with each project undertaking. In other words——be like the Chameleon!

This fourth and final book on PCB-RE gives you all the essentials on how to master the manual method of PCB reverse engineering. Using a Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT as a teaching aid, readers are introduced to several technologies involved in the design of today's graphics card, from the PCI-e bus, PWM controller chips, RGB-DVI video interfaces, dual data rate (DDR2) memories, to Nvidia's  illusive G84 series GPU and proprietary SLI bus, as well as HDCP ROM and GPU BIOS Flash——all within one single book!

So if you want a fast-lane, no-frills introduction to these interesting topics (besides picking up one of the ultimate methodology I developed over 15 years of doing PCB-RE), then grab a copy of the book by clicking on the front cover above to order. Joe Grand's endorsement is your surest guarantee!

Princess Engineer

People have a notion that engineering is a guys' thing, so whenever a young woman takes up this trade, whether it's electronics, mechanical, power, civil, etc., it seems to raise an eyebrow with an 'are you serious?' kind of expression. Truth is, in my thirty over years as an electronics engineer, I have seen many women working on test benches than I could care to count, from my air force days to the last company that I worked in.

So what is it about engineering that attracts women, apart from the fact that some people are the handy type who like to work or create things with their hands? I remember there was one time while I was dismantling an airborne electronic module with many screws, carefully laying out the parts and bolts on a work bench, when a lady programmer who was quietly watching me remarked, "I just love to watch men at work taking things apart. It's just so... man!"

Well, I don't know if I can say the same if I were to watch a woman does the same thing, though. "Err... you know, watching you taking things apart is such a... beautiful thing!" Better not risk myself getting whammed on the head with a size 32 spanner!

Anyway, if you're a lady engineer who happens to read this post, I would love to hear your take on this. Who knows, it may just inspire me to write a book (grin!)

PCB-RE in Forensic Investigation

Chip-Off forensics using JTAG in data recovery is an increasingly essential and important aspect of investigative work to support judicial evidence in a post-modern, fast-changing landscape of mobile-invasive lifestyle. This topic is featured in PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques by one of the leading renown instructor in this 'dark art', Bob Elder, who is also the CEO in-charge of operations for Teel Technologies, Canada.

Participants who enrolled for the Embedded Hardware Acquisition & Analysis Training are given a special bonus: The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering and PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques. Readers interested to find out more about the courses can go to this LINK.

Of course, you can order a copy of my sequel book to catch a glimpse of what Chip-off forensics is all about from the man himself who contributed that chapter. Just click on the book titles above to preview and place your order.

Interest and Query

Since announcing my fourth book, Manual PCB-RE: The Essentials on various social media platforms, there has been quite some interests generated over the series of PCB-RE books I've written. An engineer by the name Pedro Ribeiro emailed me:

Your books look amazing, but I wanted to ask your advice for which one should I get first.

I'm a software reverse engineer and ethical hacker and I'm specializing in attacking embedded systems. One of the first steps in attacking these systems is to identify serial or JTAG connections in order to obtain root access to them. However sometimes the JTAG/serial lines are cut after the device leaves the factory and need to be shorted, restored, a resistor needs to be added etc.

As you can see this is the kind of issue I face frequently which doesn't require a very deep understanding of PCB reverse engineering.

For this simple use case, which of your books do you recommend to get started? 

I'm sure other people would benefit if you put an explanation of what each book is and what is the intended audience in your blog! It's a bit confusing to try to understand what are the differences between each of the books.

Thanks in advance!

My reply:

Nice to hear from you and I’m happy to answer your query. 

I did a short write-up on the first three books in my blog. You can find it at this link.

The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering is for beginners who wants to learn how to document their manual approach in doing PCB-RE. There are two editions of the book, a full-color and a black-and-white.

PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques is for those who want a more complete treatment of the PCB-RE subject. It features contributing engineers who shared their experiences using different equipment and methodologies.

PCB-RE: Real-World Examples is for those who want to learn how engineers apply PCB-RE in real life scenarios. There is a chapter by Juan Carlos Jiménez on firmware hacking which should be useful to you.

Based on your interest and work, this is the book to get.

Manual PCB-RE: The Essentials is a more in-depth look at the manual method using a commercial PCB. This is for those who wants a no-frills guide to doing real-world manual PCB-RE.

Hope the above information helps.