It’s been a long journey from transistor physics to system-level enablement, and over the years I’ve seen more than my fair share of technical puzzles, late-night lab marathons, and quietly tense boardroom conversations. But none of those quite prepared me for writing FA Confidential — a story that blends fiction with reality, engineered complexity with personal stakes, and the invisible currents of power that swirl through the semiconductor industry.
Yes, FA Confidential is fiction. But like any good fiction, it’s laced with truths.
The Plot Beneath the Plot
At its surface, the story follows a failure analysis (FA) engineer — someone not unlike myself in earlier years — who stumbles upon an anomaly. But what begins as a straightforward trace of failure data quickly unfolds into something more sinister: secrets buried in silicon, competing corporate interests, and the ethical grey zones we all like to pretend don’t exist in engineering.
The idea came from a question I’ve wrestled with many times in my career: What happens when the people responsible for advancing technology are also the ones responsible for containing its consequences?
Here is my interview with Logan Crawford:
Why Fiction?
Over the years, I’ve worked on almost every level of the design stack — from transistor-level interactions to 3D IC packaging, system-level modeling, and advanced R&D initiatives. I’ve watched as companies pushed boundaries faster than policy could keep up. I’ve seen brilliant people make questionable decisions under pressure. And I’ve seen moments of quiet heroism too — engineers who chose integrity over convenience, and clarity over career advancement.
But I also knew I couldn’t talk about those stories directly.
So I chose fiction.
In FA Confidential, I tried to capture the tone of those moments: the tension, the technical subtlety, the creeping sense that something’s not right. It’s not just a whodunnit — it’s a “what-did-we-let-happen,” and a “how-do-we-move-forward?”
The Broader Conversation
My goal isn’t just to entertain — though I hope the story does that. It’s to open up a dialogue. As our industry moves into realms like AI, autonomous systems, and increasingly opaque supply chains, the need for ethical, grounded engineering becomes critical.
So let this be the start of something. If you’re an engineer, a technologist, or simply someone who wonders what lies beneath the sleek surfaces of modern devices, I invite you to read FA Confidential not just as a story — but as a thought experiment.
Stay Curious, Stay Ethical
In the end, what defines us isn’t just the tech we create — it’s the responsibility we bring to its design. Whether you’re debugging a thermal issue or navigating the geopolitics of a global supply chain, the decisions we make matter.
And sometimes, those decisions are best explored — and questioned — through story.
