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EDITOR’S LETTER

Wanted: Embedded Systems Engineers

Undergraduate and graduate engineering program, students will realize the importance of embedded systems
students, it’s time to build or refine your design to cope with space constraints in smart glasses, severe environ-
resume! Business leaders, it’s time to adjust mental conditions in space, functional safety requirements in cars and
your job descriptions! This year’s embedded battery longevity needs in pacemakers.
world conference will seek to inspire young Business leaders, give them a chance and engage in discussions with
talent for embedded systems design. these curious, self-motivated, enthusiastic young people. The students
Embedded systems are becoming won’t be there just to fill their branded tote bags with goodies and
ubiquitous. As these systems permeate grab snacks from your booths. They sometimes travel long distances to
our factories, cars, hospitals and home learn about the industry, find internships or job opportunities, create
appliances, more critical features will be implemented to ensure their business connections and see if they align with companies’ values and
performance, power efficiency, security, safety and reliability over time. goals.
Expectations are growing, but their realization will depend on our abil- Traditional recruitment methods are no longer enough. A sense
ity to find the right talent to sustain the required level of innovation. of purpose has become one of the strongest arguments for attracting
And currently, embedded systems engineers are in short supply. talent. Young people indeed value a company with solid sustainability
In January, the MicroElectronics Training, Industry and Skills commitments, a leadership team with a clear and compelling vision
(METIS) consortium released the 2022 update of its “METIS Skills and a culture that encourages career development.
Strategy” report. From the beginning of 2021 through 2022, the most This year’s embedded world has initiated #women4ew, a network-
sought-after job profiles in the European microelectronics industry ing event for women in the embedded systems industry. I believe the
were in software and design engineering—system design engineers, organizers have gotten it right. Instead of offering soporific and clichéd
digital design engineers and analog design engineers. The demand keynotes on gender equality, the event will allow participants to con-
for and shortage of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity nect and collect ideas on how to become more visible and esteemed.
experts and application engineers rose sharply in two years. It’s all about networking and building a community.
The embedded world conference has always been an atrium where Is talent natural or nurtured? Europe has traditionally been strong
opportunities for planned or impromptu encounters abound, and a in engineering, and it is our duty to continuously develop our talent
career forum where supply and demand intersect. This year’s three- pool to drive innovation and growth. ■
day conference, taking place March 14–16, will allow more than
18,000 international embedded experts and 1,000 students to take the
pulse of emerging technology trends and share a sense of belonging to
this ever-growing community.
The Student Day is not new, but workforce scarcity is such that it
has become strategically important to prepare the ground today for
the talent pool of tomorrow. Making the impact of embedded systems
more tangible and demonstrating real-world use cases will be import- —Anne-Françoise Pelé,
ant steps in attracting more skilled people to the industry. Through the editor-in-chief of EE Times Europe

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

www.eetimes.eu | MARCH 2023