Joyce Chen

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• 1. What made you want to get into engineering? And specifically, your specialization?
  When I was 7 years old, I visited one of my father’s factories. I saw a machine making various shapes of the parts in a machine shop. It was magical for me and immediately drew me in. I told myself that I would be an engineer after I grew up. However, people told me this mechanical job normally wasn’t for a woman. Anyway, I went to a university to study polymer processing machine design and polymer materials until I finished my Ph D program of polymer engineering in the US. I believe that scientists study the world as it is but engineers create the world that has never been. I enjoy finding new ways to apply science knowledge to make products successfully for both technology and business.

• 2. What advice would you give to new engineers at Littelfuse?
  The following is advice from my manager in my 1st job in US. I think this is also helpful for new engineers:

  a) To be business oriented – although our daily work is to create new design, make new formulation, and build new product line, all our works should generate value for the business. Our company prospers so will we.

  b) To understand the different between university and company – Academe study could be more freedom to try any new ideas and do something interested to you while company has strategy and business target which could have strictly controlling the engineering project and review procedures. Knowing the culture of the company and keep positive attitude to accept the difference.

  c) Multi-disciplinary problem is excepted – we may have different education backgrounds and majors. However, no matter how well we can find a job to fit our background it always has something new for us. Learn from the experienced engineers and experts. In addition, we should not only keep up with trends in your own discipline, but also in adjacent disciplines.

  d) To make your team successful – In university, you could do your research topic by yourself. In a company, a project completion normally needs to have multiple functions to accomplish. Therefore, we need to resolve the conflicti and collaborate with various groups to reach consensus. You should be ready to play the right role in the team for the team successful.

  e) Enjoy your work – You should love your daily jobs. Engineering jobs have a lot of exciting and challenging opportunities. However, if you are not enjoying it, you should change your job and move on!

• 3. What has been a project that you have worked on that you are proud of or that has been most interesting to you?
  I am proud of every project which create new products to the markets under my leadership. VLR series is the lowest temperature pPTC protection product for battery protection. LVRH series is the highest power withstand capable pPTC device for line voltage protection. RTP series is the 1st reflowable thermal fuse in the market. MHP-TA105 series is the thinnest micro-breaker in our current MHP product line.

• 4. What is your favorite part about your job? Why?
  The favorite part of my jobs is to lead my team and work with other functions to launch new products for new applications and markets. I love to see our products make peoples lives easier. The best part of engineering is to take our knowledge in design, physics, math and chemistry to create something real. Engineering makes me have a chance to work with new technology, understand how it works and how to improve it.