The think-it-through crowd (consultants) and the git-r-done crowd (engineers) have long been partners, creating opportunity for themselves and businesses through a synergy of plans and action. Now, the two are moving to better wed those with electrical engineering and semi-conductor expertise and business development experts to break the logjam of joblessness in high-tech skilled trades.
That is the idea behind the launching of the Engineering Consultant Services Group (ECS) in conjunction with the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center Inc. (HVTDC) in Fishkill.
ECS provides engineering expertise with their team of experienced professionals to serve companies with projects on the drawing board or in the pipeline, but lacking the resources to hire an in-house engineering department to bring the product to production.
“In today”™s unique economic environment it is more important than ever to find innovative ways to utilize the talented unemployed professional workforce of the Hudson Valley” said Tom Philips, executive director of the HVTDC. ”We think we”™ve found one. On a lot of fronts this makes a lot of sense.”
The Hudson Valley has a wealth of talent in engineering for computers and electronics, Phillips said, especially after the closure last year of NXP Semiconductors in Fishkill.
Phillips said many of the professionals who lost jobs when NXP closed are longtime residents of the area who do not want to move elsewhere for employment and who have decided to create their own jobs here, doing work that could benefit companies anywhere in the seven counties of the Hudson Valley, New York, the Northeast or even nationally.
“We are advocating outsourcing to the Hudson Valley,” said Phillips.
HVTDC will handle the business end of the project, arranging contracts for ECS through its client base and providing administrative services from office space and invoices as needed. The engineers from ECS will travel to where they are needed to complete projects for clients with ideas needing production.
The idea was originated by Bob Incerto, now principal engineer for the HVTDC ECS, with several colleagues let go from NXP and the staff at HVTDC.
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“Let”™s call it a joint idea,” said Incerto. “We had this idea we wanted to pursue and thought it would work well through association with HVTDC, who have been  getting a lot of calls seeking engineering consulting type services. So ideas and needs were pretty much in line and we agreed, why don”™t we see if we can work this together.”
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A  core group of founders at ECS, Incerto said, will try and make it a full time occupation and they can call on a network of expertise gathered during forty years in the semiconductor field. Incerto cited himself as a case in point, he started with IBM and worked his way up to management and the executive suite when Micrus replaced IBM at the Fishkill facility and he continued on as Dutch-based Philips Electronics took over about five years ago and  spun off NXP. But in September 2008 they announced they were seeking to sell the facility and last summer announced they were unable to find a buyer and closed it in 2009, tossing some 700 employees out of work.
“So if you add that all up, in my case it comes to about 38 years in the semiconductor field in various roles, including ten years or so as executive management,” said Incerto.
And he said his team has available expertise including design, mechanical engineering , materials science and other disciplines. “They are all available as needed,” he said.
ECS will provide services in Semiconductor Electronics Integrated System Architecture and Design, Alternative Energy and Power Management Systems Development and General Electro/Mechanical Engineering Applications. Specific services include: Analog Design Engineering, Electronic Integration and Packaging, Prototype Product Development and testing, System Application Development, Manufacturing Process Development and Optimization, Integrated Supply Chain Development and Management and Application and Embedded Software Development.
“This is fun because it gets you back to the hands on, helping people design something as opposed to being in the  management offices,” said Incerto.
Phillips said the partnership allows the HVTDC to further their mission. “This project provides benefits to our clients to HVTDC and to the engineers of ECS,” Phillips said “Clients will have a cadre of highly skilled engineers working for them without the burdren of recruiting and paying full time staff during these unsure economic times.”
For more information on the services provided by the Engineering Consultant Services Group, contact Bob Incerto at 845-797-6671 or via email at bob.incerto@hvtdc.org. HVTDC can be reached at 845-896-6934.
