Ovidiu Mesesan, Principal Backplane Engineer, Elma Electronic Inc

I graduated in ‘97 with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication from the National University of Science and Technology “Politehnica” in Bucharest and started working right away in the field of backplanes and PCB design. In ’99 I moved to Canada with my wife and continued working in the same field with a bright startup which was a spinoff of a renown high tech Canadian company. Since 2008 I’ve been full time consulting for Elma Electronic Inc.

1.     Over the years, you’ve worked with multiple standards, how have you seen them evolve, do you have any that are your favorite to work with?

The standardization effort has closely followed the path of the industry, in that with higher data rates, more power consumption and more space constraints (i.e. denser boards and systems) the challenges expanded from “just” interoperability to supporting new, higher data rate protocols, new form factors and various cooling technologies. This required both the adoption of new standards, as well as revising existing standards. My favorite standards are VITA 46.x, VITA 65.x and VITA 68.x and I enjoy contributing to the up-and-coming VITA 100.x series of standards, which will address the challenges that I just mentioned in the space of VPX.

2. Why are standards so important to the work you do with backplanes? 

As with everything else which is part of a system, interoperability is key, and since backplanes provide the backbone of communications in a system, their practical implementation should make sure boards from different manufacturers are able to be plugged into the same backplane slot (or slots) and communicate over the same backplane channels as required. Standardizing backplanes results in a lower time to market for COTS systems, easier test and development cycles for new Plugin Cards, easier system integration and, paradoxically, easier custom backplane and plugin board developments. Also, without standards that include backplanes, there would be a continuous need to use a potentially large variety of board-to-board connectors making interoperability and system level simulations a nightmare.

WHY ENGINEERING?

1. Did you always want to be an engineer? If so, why?  If not, how’d you wind up here?

By the time I had to choose a university, I had been thoroughly convinced by my father that computer technology is the future of humankind, so I owe this to him (he was also an engineer in the aeronautical field). But I was interested in other fields too, like quantum physics, genetics and even anthropology. However, all these fields sort of involve “splitting things apart” so you could say that from that perspective yes, I always wanted to know how and why things work, and by knowing that I always wanted to know how to improve them – which IS engineering! I also had the luck to kickstart my engineering career during the “golden age” of Internet, so I was exposed to the technologies that currently permeate our digital existence from early on, thus reinforcing my choice to be in the electronics and telecommunications field.

2. What has surprised you the most about the work you do with embedded computing? (or engineering in general)

I knew about Moore’s Law from one of my very first undergraduate courses but being the rather skeptical thinker that I am, I was surprised to see how the law was still being valid as late as mid 2010s – and I use the past tense because, as NVIDIA CEO put it a few years ago, Moore’s Law seems to be dead by now. But as we look forward at new technologies like 3D chips and 3D printing, I think this 60 years old patient still has a long way to go! This in and of itself is quite surprising! I am still skeptical about hard AI becoming a reality during my lifetime, for instance, but I am surprised to see that every year new and old AI challenges are being solved at an increasingly rapid pace.

3. What is one of the biggest issues currently facing engineers?

I think one of the biggest issues facing engineers is acquiring, retaining and enhancing their complex problem-solving skills, and for hardware engineers and PCB designers I’d add skills in the high-speed design area (simulations and measurements alike) and in the DFM (design for manufacturing) area. Since I already mentioned AI, and specifically hard AI, these issues go hand in hand with that type of technology as embodied in good old “human self-learning” but also in self-learning creative AI. As my father used to say, there may be a thousand solutions to an engineering problem but only very few would be put in practice when it comes to the final price and total effort needed – price and effort being the most important constraints in any engineering problem. We’re all familiar with the SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost) constraints paradigm. When you throw in the high-speed design constraints paradigm, you’re really looking at a complex problem with lots of variables.

4. What advice would you give to someone looking into this field of engineering?

Stay up to date with the latest developments in the industry as a whole and in the PCB manufacturing industry in particular, be aware of all the constraints on your designs, collaborate across various disciplines (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, statistical analysis in design of experiments, etc) and do not (always) settle for what looks like the cheapest solution at the time – what appears to be a relatively more expensive solution may actually end up costing a lot less on the long term.

Off the cuff: What’s the most recent show you’ve binge watched? 

I watched both seasons of “Silo” in 4 days (two of which were weekend days and one was a statutory holiday in case my manager is reading this – just joking!). I really look forward to the next 2 seasons! Given the times we’re living in, and having been born and lived almost half of my life in a formerly communist country, I found it very relevant and fascinating on so many points. "I am not limited by what others think I am capable of…”