Germany needs more engineers in circuit design! To motivate students for circuit design and to summarise the key properties of the three basis circuits, Prof. Ellinger, and his two students Andres Seidel and Felix Schwarze (the PARTYPROFs) from the Chair for Circuit Design and Network Theory have composed the “Circuit Song”.
There are three important circuits: 1. Common-source, 2. Common-gate and 3. Common-drain each of them having three parameters: A. Transfer function (voltage gain), B. Input impedance, and C. Output impedance. In the following table, the corresponding 3 × 3 knowledge matrix is illustrated. This knowledge matrix is summarised in the song text shown below.

Together with 120 students (from more than 10 nations), the PARTYPROFs have produced the Circuit Song Video which was published on Youtube . In 6 months the video was watched more than 50 000 times. There were many articles in newspapers (e.g. the Bildzeitung ). The song was played several times on radio stations (e.g. MDR jump). Prof. Elinger was invited to TV shows to talk about circuit design and the circuit song (e.g. for the MDR Friday afternoon show “MDR um 4”, see here).

Refrain – you will be a star!
If you learn circuit design
Your life will be so fine
You will be a star
Drinking champagne at the bar
No tie like a snob
You have a great job
You will have greater flirts
Than all the other nerds
College was a fart
Now study very hard
Learn all the things
Giving you the wings

Strophe 2- Common Gate
If you put the gate on the ground
A common gate circuit is found
With one over gm you catch
A low ohmic input match
This will be your champ
For a broadband input amp
A high ohmic output is preached
High positive voltage gain is reached

Strophe 1- Common Source
If you put the source on the ground
A common source circuit is found
With large gm and load
High negative voltage gain is showed
At the input a capacitor acts
At the output a current source hacks
High frequency efficiency is the pillar
But the Miller effect is the bandwidth killer

Strophe 3- Common Drain
If you put the drain on the ground
A common drain circuit is found
A low distortion is reached
A high ohmic input is preached
With one over gm you catch
A low ohmic output match
This will be your champ
As a broadband buffer amp

– Got it?