Fern Yoon always enjoyed learning how things work. However, like many, or even most, electrical engineers, she grew up with a very limited understanding of the profession. Even through college, she still had a narrow understanding of what engineers actually do on the job. (Hmm…maybe this is why attracting people to engineering careers is difficult?).

After beginning her career with Texas Instruments (TI) as a thin film process engineering intern, Fern had the opportunity to go on a job rotation where she could see there were “a lot of different roles that existed that I honestly didn't realize.” This experience opened her eyes to a new world of possibilities and find her true satisfaction in working with customers and being able to take in the big picture. 

Texas Instruments ICs are driving innovation in the automotive industry. Image used courtesy of Texas Instruments

Fern’s excitement comes across as she discusses working as a fab engineer, helping build a ruggedized laptop, and in her current position working on vehicle electrification. 

When I started working in automotive ten-plus years ago, cars had a big emphasis on sustainability, emissions, and of course, reliability. Fast forward ten years, the cars are starting to look like a supercomputer on wheels.

In her 15 years at TI, Fern has steadily worked her way up the ranks and learned a lot of valuable lessons about working in teams, collaborating with customers, and charting your career path. In this second episode of All About Circuits’ coverage of women in engineering month, Fern provides interesting insights and anecdotes that you will not want to miss, including: 

• How vehicle electrification is probably impacting more in our cars than you imagine
• Why electrical engineering was “the lesser of four evils”
• Her best advice to engineers
• Why you shouldn’t be afraid to learn that you don’t like something

Meet Fern Yoon

Fern Yoon is the Director of Automotive Systems Engineering and Marketing at Texas Instruments. She began her 15-year career at TI as an intern working in process engineering. From there, she has taken on increasing responsibility and leadership.

At TI, Fern’s roles have included analog FAE, automotive systems and marketing manager, automotive systems sector GM for body electronics and lighting, and product line manager for LVDS interface and analog components.

Fern received both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas. The research for her master’s thesis involved using silicon nanowire FET’s for early cancer detection.