Casey Alvarado, Sr. Analog IC Design Engineer, Allegro MicroSystems
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (BSEE)
Imperial College, London (MSEE)
Casey Alvarado is currently a Sr. Analog IC Design Engineer for the Magnetic Position Sensing team at Allegro MicroSystems. Casey is a graduate from Imperial College, London (MSEE) and Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (BSEE). She comes to Allegro with nearly 4 years of professional experience at SRI International where she was an analog team lead and was a chip-lead for 4+ analog ASIC products from definition to validation. In her current role at Allegro, Casey is responsible for block-level and chip-level design development in our burgeoning Inductive Interface IC portfolio. Casey enjoys exploring new places and cultures, watching movies, and running long distances.
What makes your company inclusive or supportive of diversity in engineering?
I’ve only been with Allegro for a short time, but one of the big things that has stood out to me is the multiple ways Allegro celebrates women around the globe whether it’s various events, ERGs, and employee recognition and support. Another is the meritocratic approach that is taken to pitching ideas and discussing solutions. Everyone’s voice and input are valued equally regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity. It feels great to work for a company that values their employees and provides the tools and support needed to succeed.
Describe a recent company project (in which you were involved) that went particularly well. How did you and your team go about ensuring success?
So far at Allegro I’ve completed one design block for a power management unit that is going to be used in multiple Allegro products across multiple product families. From a design standpoint, there is a fair amount of difficulty in creating
these types of blocks because it’s hard to predict what you’re going to need in the future. My team and I did a great job of considering and detailing requirements for the current and future parts this particular block will go into. I was also able to lean on the more experienced engineers on my team and ask questions as needed.
What first drew you to engineering and the automation industry?
From a young age my parents worked long hours, which meant that I was in virtually every after-school program available. The one that stuck with me was the robotics club. We did everything from building robots out of Legos to writing code and programming the robots, and it was at this point that I realized I wanted to be an engineer. When it comes to automation, I’ve always known that I wanted to use my engineering skills to help better the world in some way. I love that my work contributes to the advancement of electric vehicles and ultimately driving the world towards a cleaner greener future via Allegro’s tech.
Describe your biggest career challenge and how you solved it.
At a previous job, I got a part back that did not come anywhere close to the simulation performance we expected during the design and testing stages. As the designer, it was my responsibility to find the problem and fix it. I immediately began debugging the part and was able to help our model professionals improve their current practices and resolve the problem. It felt great to leave a lasting impact and positive legacy and to walk away with immense technical skills.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
I would go back and tell my younger self that it’s ok to take a deep breath and to not panic. It’s so easy to overlook or miss something when you start to get nervous or anxious about something, and sometimes it’s ok to get up and walk away to give yourself time to think.
Filed Under: Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
