What is it like to be a Field Applications Engineer working with Power Electronics? In 2023, John DeFiore shared the answer to this based on his experience working for Texas Instruments. John has remained with Texas Instruments and is based in California.

An Update in 2026

How do you think working styles and the work environment have changed since before Covid?

Here in Silicon Valley, there seems to be a slow push toward returning to pre-COVID norms. This is very company-dependent, with some companies still embracing remote work or partial remote work and others insisting on 5 days in the office. Corporate travel is recovering but still seems below pre-COVID levels due to Webex or other remote conferencing platforms becoming the standard for meetings during the pandemic.

How much of an impact has AI had on what you do? What changes do you envisage for the future?

AI is improving exponentially with time, and it’s amazing at coding tasks. For those of us in specialised fields like power electronics engineering, it hasn’t made as big an impact. It’s often wrong or ineffective, probably because it’s trained on huge amounts of freely available source code, which doesn’t have a parallel for power electronics. Still, it’s useful for tasks like finding components, spec comparisons, reports, and similar tasks. I expect it will eventually become more useful for a wider variety of technical tasks.

After working from home during the Covid pandemic, you are now back in the office 5 days per week when not on site with customers. With hindsight, what do you think are the benefits for a field engineer of being home based versus office based? And the disadvantages? Is there an ideal system?

There’s certainly a benefit to some office time to share experiences and ideas. It’s impossible for new graduate hires to come up to speed while working from home (as we discovered during the pandemic). There are also obvious benefits to working from home part of the time. For me, the ideal system is a hybrid one, but of course different companies have different ideas.

In the current geopolitical situation, how much are companies having to adapt how they manage their global field engineering teams?

As bad as the geopolitical situation is, from my admittedly limited (US based) perspective I don’t see much impact on field engineering teams. Obviously, those who must travel to conflict zones like the Middle East would be impacted most. Other business areas are impacted due to things like tariffs and export restrictions.

About John DeFiore, Field Applications Engineer

John DeFiore graduated in electrical engineering and has specialised in power and analogue electronics. Before, Texas Instruments, he worked for ON Semiconductor, SOMA Networks, Micro Linear and Adept Technology.
John is based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

John DeFiore – a Field Applications Engineer for Texas Instruments in California

Background

Could you give a brief description of your background and what led you to study electrical engineering?

I decided I wanted to be an engineer at about the age of four.
My maternal grandfather was a mechanical engineer, but he worked in electronics, which I thought was the most amazing thing ever. I studied electrical engineering at Lehigh University where I learned the fundamentals, and also where I could get 10 cent beers on Tuesday nights.

Were there any childhood interests which were a factor?

My childhood interests involved taking apart vital home appliances and electronics in order to see how they worked (when my parents weren’t home). Sometimes I could even put them back together.

Has there been a particular person who inspired you in your early career?

I was always interested in analogue electronics. In my first job the company’s analogue mastermind was a guy named Jerry Atwater. He never went to university, but he was one of the best engineers around, and an inspiration to many. Sadly, I believe he passed away recently.

Field Applications Engineer

What then attracted you to working as a Field Applications Engineer?

The FAE (Field Applications Engineer) role is for me the best job I’ve ever had. The fast pace, the variation in work, the problem-solving challenges and the interaction with people both at customer sites and internally keep the job interesting. After working in other roles that required design work in front of a desk, all day, every day, the FAE (Field Applications Engineer) role was a very welcome change.

Typical day as a Field Applications Engineer

What exactly does your role include and what’s your typical day like?

In my current role as a Field Applications Engineer I support one very large customer. There aren’t many “typical” days.
A day might consist of up to 50 emailed technical questions about our products. It could also be:
a long day debugging circuits in the customer’s lab
schematic or layout reviews
all-day meetings
trips to design sites
customer presentations on new products
taking data that the customer requested
defining potential new parts
writing application notes
training and mentoring newer employees
delivering samples and evaluation boards
and all the other things that I’ve forgotten to list here.

Which devices do you support (high, low voltage, or both)?

I support all power conversion products, high and low voltage.

Which industries do you work with?

Currently the personal electronics industry.

Which other people/departments give you support?

I get great support from design, quality, marketing, and factory apps.

Travel as a Field Applications Engineer

How much travel do you do, and how do you maintain a work life balance?

Since I support only one customer and I’m based in Silicon Valley, non-local travel is minimal.
As an FAE, workload seems to go in cycles, so I take advantage of slower times as appropriate.
Also, my employer has a great vacation policy which allows time off for “decompression”.

Commercial part of the role

How commercial do you need to be?

As a Field Applications Engineer, we are incentivised to “win sockets” and grow revenue.
A good part of it is prioritising time and effort toward the places that will accomplish those goals. So, it’s certainly more commercial than a pure R&D position.

Most challenging part of the job

What do you find most challenging when you are working?

The most challenging situations are where a bug or failure in our product causes significant issues at a customer.

What has been your most challenging issue to date?

There was an issue early on in my latest role that required several weeks straight of 12-hour days at our customer site (OK, 10 hours on Sundays). I was working to help solve a problem with our device that was due to an incorrect spec by another vendor. In the end it worked out, but it was a complete “*”.

What do you do when a problem seems unsolvable?

Brainstorming with colleagues or taking a break and coming back to it often helps.

Have you arrived and found an issue unbelievably easy to fix?

This is pretty common.
For example: wrong component values, wrong probing technique, bad soldering, nut loose by the circuit board, etc.

New Field Applications Engineers

What makes a good Field Applications Engineer (FAE)?

This is pretty easy.There are three main things:
Good technical skills
Excellent time management and multi-tasking ability
Good communication and people skills
How important are communication skills?
Vital.

Further reading

My 3 Reasons I’m A Field Applications Engineer (FAE) Now.

Why become a Field Applications Engineer (FAE) now

Working as an Embedded Systems FAE in the automotive sector

Life of an Automotive Field Applications Engineer Manager

Meet a passionate new onsemi Field Application Engineer