Introduction

This is the first entry, and I figured I'd give a little introduction on my background and the big little things that marked my way to where I am right now.

I was born in a hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 19th, 1979. My mom was in labor for something like 3 days. From what my dad and other relatives told me, it was a painful process, so I'm very appreciative of my mother.

Elementary was a mixture of Physical Education and academics. I was trained for competitive swimming from second grade to fourth. Back in those days, they still used a nice stick on the buttocks and palms as encouragement.

The entire family moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during my fourth grade, due to my dad's relocation. I went to the International School of Kuala Lumpur and learned to speak English and to appreciate foreign girls.

After I graduated from High School from the same school, I went to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute to major in Electrical Engineering and minor in Computer Science. But I think the most unforgettable experience was staying for four years in a place where there was 1 girl for every 5 guys.

Then I went to the University of Southern California to learn more about Engineering. The male-to-female ratio improved drastically at this institution. I majored in VLSI System Design, but also enjoyed classes in Adaptive Signal Processing, Statistics for Engineers, Fuzzy Systems and Neural Networks, and Public Speaking.

I tried to find a job after I graduated. But post-911 and economic conditions and my lack of industry experience and my citizenship status (I was in the US on student visa) collaborated in effecting my inability to find a job.

I did help out at a marketing position which involved representing the Child Protection & Education of America in their campaign for helping find missing children as well as increasing public awareness of the dangers to children.

In May 2005, I went back to Taiwan to find a job. I interviewed with many companies, and decided on the one that seemed to have the most potential. The position put me in China, where I lived the life of an assembly line worker for three months.

Then I became an actual engineer. I used my language skills to help translate in conversations between my coworkers and our American customer's representatives. I contributed my creativity in helping build posters for our visiting customers' viewing. I learned and taught Cadence Concept to my fellow new workers. I studied about Intel chipsets and system-level interconnects and specifications and standards. I re-learned to use the oscilloscope when I had to measure Power-On Sequences and do Signal Integrity tests for a new system. And I learned soldering skills while learning to repair and rework computer motherboards.

And found a girlfriend, among other things.

And that is how that story ended, and where this new story begins.