# An Interview with Tom Lee

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2019-09-23
- Length: 1h 14m
- Episode: 459
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/459-an-interview-with-tom-lee/

## Summary

Tom Lee, a Stanford University professor and author of 'Planar Microwave Engineering', discusses his journey from fixing TVs as a child to designing the world's first CMOS radio during his PhD at MIT. He shares insights on the evolution of RF design, the importance of intuition over pure simulation, and his current research into millimeter-wave wireless power and printed electronics. Lee also reveals details about his upcoming book on instrumentation secrets and a dramatic story involving a chip-scale atomic clock that caught fire on the International Space Station.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=0) Introduction and Scope Collection
- [16:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=967) Early Electronics and TV Repair
- [23:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=1391) CMOS Radio Thesis and Mentorship
- [35:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=2147) Industry Experience at Analog Devices and Rambus
- [40:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=2417) Teaching RF and the First CMOS GPS Receiver
- [47:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=2853) Maxwell's Equations and Teaching Philosophy
- [58:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=3509) Millimeter-Wave Wireless Power and Printed Electronics
- [1:05:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee#t=3923) Instrumentation Secrets and Atomic Clocks

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Analog & power electronics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/analog-and-power-electronics)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Test & measurement](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/test-and-measurement)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Roden Schwartz (company)
- Tektronix (company)
- Heath Kit (company)
- WaveTech (company)
- Analog Devices (company)
- Rambus (company)
- Symmetricom (company)
- Keysight (company)
- HP (company)
- Agilent (company)
- Xilinx (company)
- Planar Microwave Engineering (product)
- Magic (tool)
- SPICE (tool)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [76: Entropy Is for Wimps](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-11-12-76-entropy-is-for-wimps) (Embedded.fm)
- [Ray Kampmeier | The Humble Transistor](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2022-10-07-ray-kampmeier-the-humble-transistor) (Being an Engineer)
- [Ep 222: VCF East Special Edition](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2023-06-09-ep-222-vcf-east-special-edition) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [154: Physics Is a Big Pain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-06-02-154-physics-is-a-big-pain) (Embedded.fm)
- [057 - I Did Not Expect Sharks!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2022-05-09-057-i-did-not-expect-sharks) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-09-23-an-interview-with-tom-lee. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.