These days are challenging times for many reasons, including COVID-19. We were lucky enough to have some humorous and insightful cartoons from Dr. Ray Ridley, CEO of Ridley Engineering, creators of the RidleyBox and RidleyWorks design tools. Ohm Confinement is now a regular weekly series on Electronic Design. We had a short chart with Dr. Ridley about his cartoon series.
Why a cartoon?
At the beginning of the COVID lockdown in March, my wife and I shuttled our work necessities to the house to set up shop. Our employees did the same. Knowing that it could be weeks or months in a home-based work environment, we adapted as quickly as possible. Memories of raising our four children while working from home in the early days (1990s) kept us laughing through the trauma. These fun memories soon evolved into a cartoon series.
How did it get started?
It started as Ohm Confinement with our main character, power electronics engineer Georg Ohm, attempting to work from home with three children (Meg, Mic, and Milli) to supervise. Meanwhile his wife, Dr. Tera Ohm, is quarantined in her hospital office. The cartoon series became Adventures of Ohm as the lockdown eased. Ohm and his family experience many triumphs and setbacks together—achievement, praise, creative mastery, unemployment, devastation, peace, and ultimately, unexpected laughter and quality time with family.
Where do you get your material from?
Much of the material is based on real experiences, whether ours or engineers we know. The growing menagerie of animals reflect the realities of the Ridley household. Although it seems like an oxymoron—Engineers and Humor—we find fellow engineers to be quite a comedic bunch. They just think differently.
Do you work with anyone to create the series?
My wife and business partner, Denise Ridley, who is COO of Ridley Engineering Inc., works with me as well as Aya Shaheen, a young and talented artist, who is the illustrator.
