As the industry weighs the answer, this is a good time for both companies and individual engineers to ask what they can do to keep building for the future. While the boom times won't last forever, the expanding role of electronics means that there should be continued growth in jobs for engineers for quite some time. And when times are good, companies and employees have the luxury to look beyond the next quarterly statement or paycheck and think about giving something back to the engineering community.

Granted, everyone's busy just keeping up now; but it's usually easier to think about building for the future during a boom cycle than when times are bad. When contracts and cash are tight, you're best off keeping your nose to the grindstone.

Some companies are already thinking about the future. They're helping to improve the grade schools and high schools in their communities by bolstering math and science programs. Others are doing their part to improve college engineering programs. Often, that means donating money and setting up some solid guidelines for its use. Anyone in business these days knows that money is a necessity for any entity attempting to keep pace with changes in the electronics industry.

But there's also plenty of room for old-fashioned volunteerism. In grade schools and to some degree in high schools, there aren't enough trained personnel to maintain systems or to teach individuals how to make the most of the available equipment. Helping out here takes an effort from each engineer, but such efforts can also be supported by companies. One of the simplest suggestions is to offer a day or even half a day off each month to engineers who donate time to schools.

That small effort could provide a big benefit to many schools. On both the personal and corporate side, this little effort isn't a big deal. But if a few employees at a few companies step up, it can make a big difference in a community. And the obvious payoff to companies and volunteers, beyond personal satisfaction, is a more qualified technical work force down the road.

There really isn't much of a downside for companies and employees who make some effort to build for the future. You don't have to be an optimist to appreciate the wisdom of such investments.