This quote originates from an internal engineering document and training manual for transistor modeling, not a traditionally published textbook. The guide offers practical, step-by-step procedures for extracting parameters and constructing SPICE computer simulation models for NPN Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs).
The exact author of this internal document is not named, as it was written anonymously and collectively by a group of "NEW-HIREs" (newly hired junior engineers) at an unnamed semiconductor or aerospace firm.
The Transistor Modeling Techniques Guide functions as an informal, internally passed-down "survival guide" rather than an official corporate publication or textbook. It was compiled by entry-level engineers who had just gone through the frustrating trial-and-error process of extracting Gummel-Poon BJT parameters and "tweaking" SPICE simulation files to match physical manufacturer data sheets.Because the guide was written from the perspective of junior employees who had to learn the hard way, they left tongue-in-cheek advice for the next generation of engineers onboarding into the device modeling department.
Not worth serious consideration.
On Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:30:02 +0000, someone
Not worth serious consideration.
They weren't shooting for the Nobel.
They got the thankless job that senior engineers preferred to
avoid for one reason or another - those senior engineers
tending to chuck PCs out the window, if they had sufficient
seniority.
. . . . and they didn't have access to the typing pool or a
secretary.
It's a practical example of bipolar device spice modeling
that is well worth the read, typos and all.
of Transistor Modeling from 1986 is a modest illustration of
past 'new-hire' attitudes. In the 'Background Information'
section, the authors let rip:
"Since device modeling is a task usually given to a 'NEW - HIRE', it
is recommended that the advise of a Senior Engineer with experience
be sort after when a difficult problem is encountered. Get used to
asking questions because your going to have a lot of them"
I'm guessing that this hand-typed page didn't rate proofreading, as
'advise', 'sort' and 'your' got through. They'd possibly pass a
'spell-check' by commodity word processing software, today.
. . . . . at that time, some Senior Engineers would just as likely
have turfed your DOS PC out the window, as offer pertinent advice.
Saught is still unlikely to get its own dictionary entry - just a
notation under 'seek'. Using 'sort' suggests UK, Aussy or Kiwi
origins for one of the self-typing authors. 'Senior Engineers'
would probably have had typing assistance.
On 7/12/26 7:39 AM, legg wrote:
of Transistor Modeling from 1986 is a modest illustration of
past 'new-hire' attitudes. In the 'Background Information'
section, the authors let rip:
"Since device modeling is a task usually given to a 'NEW - HIRE', it
is recommended that the advise of a Senior Engineer with experience
be sort after when a difficult problem is encountered. Get used to
asking questions because your going to have a lot of them"
I'm guessing that this hand-typed page didn't rate proofreading, as
'advise', 'sort' and 'your' got through. They'd possibly pass a
'spell-check' by commodity word processing software, today.
. . . . . at that time, some Senior Engineers would just as likely
have turfed your DOS PC out the window, as offer pertinent advice.
Saught is still unlikely to get its own dictionary entry - just a
notation under 'seek'. Using 'sort' suggests UK, Aussy or Kiwi
origins for one of the self-typing authors. 'Senior Engineers'
would probably have had typing assistance.
In my experience the average writing skills of new EEs have gone
downhill, fast. There are exceptions but many can't even compose a
decent module spec.
Regarding what the authors above were saying: A few months after I had >earned my degree I met a university mate by chance, at a big rail
station. He got his degree around the same time, also a few months
before. However, this guy did not have a lick of practical experience
with electronics. No hobby exposure, no tinkering, no repairing of >electronics, nothing, only whatever theory he had learned at the
university. I asked him what he did at this first job. "Writing
application notes for [huge semiconductor company]" ... WHAT?!
of Transistor Modeling from 1986 is a modest illustration of
past 'new-hire' attitudes. In the 'Background Information'
section, the authors let rip:
"Since device modeling is a task usually given to a 'NEW - HIRE', it
is recommended that the advise of a Senior Engineer with experience
be sort after when a difficult problem is encountered. Get used to
asking questions because your going to have a lot of them"
I'm guessing that this hand-typed page didn't rate proofreading, as
'advise', 'sort' and 'your' got through. They'd possibly pass a
'spell-check' by commodity word processing software, today.
. . . . . at that time, some Senior Engineers would just as likely
have turfed your DOS PC out the window, as offer pertinent advice.
Saught is still unlikely to get its own dictionary entry - just a
notation under 'seek'. Using 'sort' suggests UK, Aussy or Kiwi
origins for one of the self-typing authors. 'Senior Engineers'
would probably have had typing assistance.
On 13/07/2026 12:39 am, legg wrote:
of Transistor Modeling from 1986 is a modest illustration of
past 'new-hire' attitudes. In the 'Background Information'
section, the authors let rip:
"Since device modeling is a task usually given to a 'NEW - HIRE', it
is recommended that the advise of a Senior Engineer with experience
be sort after when a difficult problem is encountered. Get used to
asking questions because your going to have a lot of them"
I'm guessing that this hand-typed page didn't rate proofreading, as
'advise', 'sort' and 'your' got through. They'd possibly pass a
'spell-check' by commodity word processing software, today.
. . . . . at that time, some Senior Engineers would just as likely
have turfed your DOS PC out the window, as offer pertinent advice.
Saught is still unlikely to get its own dictionary entry - just a
notation under 'seek'. Using 'sort' suggests UK, Aussy or Kiwi
origins for one of the self-typing authors. 'Senior Engineers'
would probably have had typing assistance.
As an Australian-born and educated engineer, the suggestion that
Australian or New Zealand trained engineer would have trouble separating >sort and sought strikes me as unrealistic.
The only engineer I know who had that kind of problem was English and >dyslexic. We couldn't persuade him that works that sounded the same
could need to be spelled differently, depending on the different ideas
that they were expressing. About 15% of readers do sub-vocalise - as you
can test by printing a piece of verse as if it were prose and asking the >reader if it was rythmic (and my wife and one of her colleagues did the >experiment and published the result in verse, printed as it were prose),
but most understand that "theirs" and "there's" are different concepts.
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