For many engineers, the ideal workspace is safely tucked away behind the scenes, far from the glare of consumer spotlights and public presentations. The work is deeply technical, requiring long hours of simulation, rigorous layout verification, and meticulous attention to device physics. Yet, stepping out of the traditional mold has become a defining characteristic for Preethi Ashwath, an integrated circuit designer in the consumer electronics division at Analog Devices in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
Ashwath has successfully transitioned from the quiet intensity of the chip design lab to center stage, articulating the complex engineering behind the "hearables" and wearable devices she helps build. As an IEEE member operating in a specialized and traditionally male-dominated field—where career platform Zippia estimates that women comprise only about 11 percent of analog design engineers—she represents a vital, visible voice for diversity and technical excellence in the semiconductor industry.
Her public-facing journey took a major leap last year when she stepped out from behind the lab bench to engage directly with attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There, she provided live demonstrations of Analog Devices’ cutting-edge earbuds, which utilize advanced internal sensors to track a user’s heart and lung health through subtle physiological vibrations in the ear canal. Having demonstrated an innate talent for breaking down intricate semiconductor physics into clear, accessible terms for everyday consumers, company leadership quickly recognized her potential to serve as a key technical ambassador across a variety of high-profile industry events.
Rather than viewing public speaking as a distraction from her core responsibilities, Ashwath has embraced it as an extension of her professional duty. She notes that she has come to see public speaking as an integral part of contributing to the field rather than something entirely separate from day-to-day technical work. Alongside product demonstrations, she frequently delivers technical talks focusing on various aspects of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection and related semiconductor topics, while also participating in industry panel discussions that allow her to reach engineers well beyond her immediate team.
Discovering Circuit Design at Intel
Ashwath’s path to the forefront of integrated circuit design began far from the manufacturing floors of Massachusetts or California. Growing up in Bengaluru, India, she first encountered the world of electronics engineering through her high school physics tutor. That foundational introduction inspired her to select electronics as one of her core academic courses during her final years of secondary education. At the time, her older sister was already pursuing an engineering degree, providing a close-up look at what a technical career could entail.
Between her growing personal fascination with electronics and seeing her sister successfully navigate that professional path, it became clear to Ashwath that engineering was the right direction for her future. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering at the SJB Institute of Technology in Bengaluru, initially harboring ambitions of specializing in very-large-scale integration.
However, her career trajectory shifted profoundly after she relocated to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of California, Irvine. During an internship at Intel in Santa Clara, California, she discovered an enduring passion for circuits and devices. Immersed in the corporate research and development environment, she gained hands-on exposure to circuit design, package development, and reliability verification tools such as Ansys Totem.
Seeing every layer of the chip development process gave her a much more complete picture of what goes into building a functional semiconductor product. Through that pivotal experience, she realized she felt most connected to design. It was the hard work and creativity that ultimately drew her in, noting that the entire cycle—starting with a specification, building a circuit, running simulations, and waiting for the physical chip to return from fabrication—teaches valuable lessons in patience and perseverance, culminating in a profound sense of satisfaction when a design finally functions as intended.
Following the completion of her master’s degree, Intel hired her as an analog design engineer. During her time there, she gained deep experience in mixed-signal circuit design before eventually transitioning to Analog Devices. In her current role within the consumer electronics division, she focuses on consumer hearables such as advanced wireless earbuds, as well as wearable health monitors and fitness trackers.
Much of her day-to-day work centers on designing ESD pad rings. These are specialized protective circuits built around the outermost edge of a microchip to shield internal pathways from electrostatic discharge, which can cause immediate physical damage or introduce latent defects capable of triggering failures later in the chip’s operational lifecycle. On a modern chip featuring multiple voltage domains, engineers must carefully plan how these protective structures are placed and interconnected across the entire pad ring. A single oversight can lead to field failures that are notoriously difficult to debug afterward, making it intricate work that requires a deep mastery of both device physics and system-level architecture.
Her responsibilities extend to designing and creating the foundational building blocks of integrated circuits, including mixed-signal blocks and dedicated ESD protection frameworks. Before any component is integrated into a larger chip, Ashwath conducts rigorous verification checks to ensure it performs flawlessly under simulated conditions. This work requires close collaboration across functional silos, working alongside ESD advisors, physical layout designers, and the digital teams responsible for the chip’s logic. By coordinating closely with her peers to ensure analog circuits and digital blocks interface correctly, she helps maintain a dynamic workflow where no two workdays look alike. Her exceptional contributions were formally recognized in 2024 when she received the company’s Impact Award for her exceptional work on a critical project with significant cross-functional business impact.
Presenting the Final Product
Ashwath’s emergence as a public-facing representative for Analog Devices began when a senior leader encouraged her to actively pursue high-visibility opportunities outside her standard job description. While the vast majority of her professional hours remain dedicated to circuit design and simulation software, stepping onto exhibition floors has fundamentally broadened her perspective on the semiconductor industry.
At CES, she stood directly in front of customers, industry engineers, and members of the press to explain complex microchip functionalities and field spontaneous questions. The earbuds she showcased are engineered to monitor microscopic vibrations generated by a user’s heart and lungs—data that can potentially help detect medical conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias, leaky heart valves, or fluid accumulation in the lungs.
Explainable technological evolution is rapidly reshaping the market, with hearables transforming from simple audio playback devices into sophisticated health-monitoring platforms. The human ear turns out to be an exceptionally strategic location for capturing physiological signals, allowing these modern devices to discreetly record vital signs during routine daily wear.
However, achieving high signal quality in such a consumer-friendly form factor presents formidable engineering obstacles. The physiological signals under observation are exceptionally faint and easily masked by ambient noise from body movements and the surrounding environment. Overcoming this hurdle is where analog front-end design becomes mission-critical, as extracting a meaningful signal from a chaotic real-world environment remains fundamentally an analog problem.
Engaging directly with conference attendees offered Ashwath a fresh vantage point on her craft. When designing an internal circuit block, the primary focus naturally remains constrained to strict technical specifications and performance margins. Standing face-to-face with users at CES allowed her to witness firsthand how people emotionally and practically react to the technology, providing a deeper understanding of why her microscopic designs matter in the real world. That vital bridge connecting abstract circuit design to a tangible final product is something engineers do not always witness from behind a laboratory desk.
Following her appearance at CES, Ashwath expanded her public speaking engagements to other prominent industry gatherings. At the annual National Association of Music Merchants show in Anaheim, California, she demonstrated the A2B Automotive Audio Bus technology to audio industry professionals. The specialized bus system leverages low-cost unshielded twisted-pair cable infrastructure to transmit multichannel digital audio, control data, synchronized clock signals, and power simultaneously within a latency of under 50 microseconds.
Later, at the company’s internal Global Technology Conference in Boston—an event that convenes engineers from more than 50 Analog Devices sites worldwide—she led a live technical demonstration highlighting the firm’s specialized solutions for augmented reality smart glasses. Navigating these diverse venues has taught her how to effectively tailor complex technical narratives to vastly different audiences, transforming public speaking into a refined professional skill.
Ultimately, the most deeply rewarding aspect of her career remains witnessing the physical culmination of her efforts. Spending months refining a design entails a long, uncertain waiting period before verifying whether theoretical calculations hold true in silicon. When physical laboratory measurements match pre-production simulations, it provides one of the most satisfying moments an engineer can experience, reinforced by the knowledge that her custom circuits ultimately end up inside functional consumer devices used by people every day.
Giving Back to the Community
Like many practicing engineers, Ashwath initially joined IEEE primarily for research access to the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, using the platform to stay abreast of rapid advancements in a fast-moving technical landscape. However, during her first full year of membership in 2021, she quickly discovered a broader ecosystem of professional networking and educational opportunities.
IEEE serves as a vital bridge connecting professionals to a wider community outside their immediate corporate walls. Attending lectures and specialized technical talks exposes practitioners to unique problem-solving methodologies and architectural approaches that rarely surface within the confines of a single company’s daily product cycle. Seeking out active volunteer roles with IEEE conferences and journals became a natural extension of that engagement, providing an indispensable mechanism for staying current with broader developments across circuits and systems.
As an analog designer, staying anchored to that wider professional community is essential. Because the field continually evolves, engineers require structured avenues to maintain active learning habits. IEEE also fosters essential dialogue between industry professionals and academic researchers, offering exposure to exploratory academic work that often approaches engineering problems from entirely different perspectives than a commercial product development cycle.
As part of her volunteer commitments, Ashwath serves as an active peer reviewer for technical papers submitted to prominent industry gatherings, including the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)—the flagship conference of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society—and the IEEE International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS), the oldest ongoing conference of its kind in the United States. Evaluating whether submitted research is technically sound and worthy of public presentation requires dedicated time from practicing engineers working on the front lines of the industry.
By balancing continuous professional learning with active community contribution through peer review and technical speaking engagements, Ashwath exemplifies the modern engineer who looks beyond the immediate boundaries of the chip lab. Analog design remains a field defined by lifelong education, where mastering one circuit architecture simply paves the way for the next challenge, and engagement with professional networks continues to support that ongoing technical evolution.
