National Engineers Week takes place this year from February 27th until March 5th. The week-long festival of nationwide events, of which Intel is a proud supporter, celebrates the world of engineering. 63% of all Intel employees are engineers and to coincide with Engineers Week, Intel Ireland will share our #HowIBecameanEngineer series. The series shares an insight into the many different and diverse pathways that can lead to a career in engineering. Next in the series is Frances Lordan, a Dry Etch Process Engineer in Fab 24, who shares an insight into how she became an engineer.
Frances Lordan
Process Engineer in Dry Etch, Fab 24
Joined Intel in 2014
Can you share a brief description of what your job at Intel involves?
My job at Intel involves looking after several tools and processes in the chip manufacturing chain. Day to day this includes monitoring key parameters on silicon wafers, monitoring tool performance and troubleshooting any tool issues. There is a lot of data analysis involved to root cause problems either on the tool or with the process.
Tell us about your pathway to engineering?
I studied for a BSc in Physics in University College Cork (UCC) and then went on to do a PhD in Univeristy College Dublin (UCD). My research was with the Physics department and focused on nanostructure applications in spectroscopy. After completing final year in UCC I spent a summer working at the Tyndall National Institute where I carried out research on photonic fibres. There was a lot of problem-solving and troubleshooting involved in the project which I really enjoyed. This confirmed my plan to go on to do research in UCD. While the research was mostly physics based, again there was a lot of problem solving and thinking outside the box – this got me thinking about careers outside of pure academia and science. Intel reps visited UCD a few times to tell us about the job opportunities there and I really liked the sound of them – a combination of science and engineering which offered lots of challenging and fulfilling work. Now that I’m working here, I’m definitely glad I made the move into engineering, while at the same time I get to use all the skills that I developed through my academic research.
Check out the other stories in our How I became an Engineer series.
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