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November 16, 2009
[Editorial]
MEMS Inertial Sensor Combines Breakthroughs In Performance And Cost
A recent request from Hewlett-Packard piqued my interest, as company representatives wanted to talk to me about a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensor it had developed. At the end of these briefings, I typically ask for pricing and availability information, so readers will know when the part will be ready to purchase and how much it will cost. But selling this new MEMS sensor as a component directly to design engineers is not what the...
October 23, 2009
[Web Exclusive]
An Interview With IMEC CEO Luc Van den hove
October 23, 2009
[Editorial]
Medical Devices Take Center Stage At IMEC Technology Forum
Back in early October, I headed to Leuven, Belgium, to attend the IMEC Technology Forum. IMEC specializes in nanotechnology research in information and communication technologies (ICT), healthcare, and energy. The presentations ran the gamut of research at the facility, but the most impressive concerned the communication between cells and electronics at the nano scale.
October 22, 2009
[Editorial]
Salary Aside, Engineering Remains A Great Profession
There has been a lot of bad economic news for engineers and almost everyone else since the financial meltdown of 2008. Hiring and salary freezes have become the order of the day, and benefits like 401(k) matches have been taken away. Add unprecedented reductions in salaries, whether as a flat percentage pullback or a via a shorter workweek, and employees are really feeling the pinch. Many of these occurrences are documented in this year’s salary survey,...
October 1, 2009
[Editorial]
Where There's Smoke, There's Fire? Not Necessarily...
While the sensitivity of smoke alarms can save lives, they often go off when there isn't any actual fire. That's why most alarms have switches that easily turn them off when there's no real emergency. You just have to climb up on a chair to reach them. SmokeSign.com and GreenPeak offer a couple of alternatives.
October 1, 2009
[Editorial]
Engineering Students Take Home A Prize For Their Design Idea
WELCOME TO THE SECOND annual Ideas for Design issue, celebrating one of our most popular departments. This issue includes additional IFDs, written by readers like you, and feature stories by staff and industry contributors alike. All of these authors got their start as engineering students, learning how to put together their first designs. Today, students still have to complete senior projects as part of their initiation into the real world of...
September 10, 2009
[Editorial]
New Wireless Devices Keep Coming At Me
When we started planning this Wireless Everywhere issue, I naturally began to think of the wireless devices I’ve been using more and more in my own life. Strangely enough, I haven’t purchased any of my latest gadgets myself. I’ve obtained them either from my company, Penton Media, or through review units sent by enterprising public relations people. 3G GADGETS ARE PILING UP For me, 3G started with a Motorola Q that I...
September 8, 2009
[Editorial]
Cameras Catch Traffic Violations Around The World
Editor in Chief Joe Desposito describes the traffic camera systems he has encountered in his travels, from Gallatin, Tenn., to Cardiff, Wales, as well as the time one new system caught him running a red light.
August 12, 2009
[Editorial]
At NI Week, Innovation Always Takes Center Stage
Anyone who has attended NI Week comes to expect a certain level of innovation to be on display, based on products such as LabVIEW. NI Week is, of course, the annual pilgrimage of LabVIEW users to a three-day conference, hosted by National Instruments, that’s filled with education, motivation, excitement, and just plain fun. This year did not disappoint.
August 11, 2009
[Editorial]
Auto Electronics Web Site Sheds Its Print Heritage
One of the casualties of this recession is Electronic Design’s sister publication, Auto Electronics. Are design engineers no longer interested in the subject matter? That’s not the case, for sure. For an industry that is suffering so mightily right now, enormous innovation is occurring. Like many defunct print publications, content lives on and will continue to grow in cyberspace—on the Auto Electronics ...
July 23, 2009
[Editorial]
Talking Electronics For A Few Days In Sunny Wales
Just recently, I was invited by International Business Wales (IBW) to visit several electronics companies operating in Wales, U.K., as well as attend the S2K conference. Leaving JFK airport late on a sunny day, I expected rain and gloom during my stay. Surprisingly, the weather was as nice in Wales as it was when I left the U.S., and it remained that way for the duration of the trip. IBW PLANS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY We...
July 21, 2009
[Web Exclusive]
S2K Conference Delights This U.S. Editor
Editor-in-Chief, Joe Desposito, writes a wrap-up of the 2009 S2K semiconductor conference in Cardiff, Wales.
July 9, 2009
[Editorial]
’Tis The Season For Seeing And Playing With New Electronic Gadgets
Every year around this time, I get invited to press conferences or events touting the newest electronic gadgets coming to market now or during the holiday season. I rather enjoy these functions, since I get to view the latest and most innovative devices. Sometimes companies will send gizmos right to my door so I can play with them for a while in the comfort of my own home. MAKING A POINT One such gadget I recently got a...
June 25, 2009
[Editorial]
Web 3.0 Promises New Ways To Analyze And Share Data
Just when you thought it was safe to navigate the social media seas of the Web, along comes the next big wave. Dubbed Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web, these ideas promise new ways to create, massage, analyze, and share data. At the recent Web 3.0 Conference in New York City, I got a taste of what’s to come and thought about how some of these ideas might be useful to the design engineering community. VISITING CALAIS During his...
June 18, 2009
[Editorial]
How Do We Get Out Of This Mess? Try New Ideas
Life if full of unassailable assumed truths, and it’s an often disturbing but always constructive exercise to challenge them. Let’s start by questioning an easy one from everyday life: are you a good driver? Your instinctive answer is undoubtedly yes, and you would receive the same answer from anyone else you ask. But there are obviously loads of hopeless drivers on the roads. It just so happens that you, or anyone that’s asked, isn’t one of...
June 11, 2009
[Editorial]
Prototyping Electronic Circuits The EZ Way
SchmartBoard has announced that patent 7,511,228 has been granted for the company’s “EZ” technology for hand-soldering surface-mount technology (SMT) electronic components (see the figure). This brought to mind a SchmartBoard demo I once participated in at an EDS trade show. The company was betting that anyone could solder a tiny chip to a board in a matter of seconds with its new technique. I’m...
May 21, 2009
[Editorial]
The E-mail “Bag” Offers Some Interesting Components Tidbits
To commemorate our second annual Top 101 Components report, I read through some of the hundreds of e-mails I get on a daily basis for information related to the kinds of components we typically cover in the Electronic Design Products section, which appears every other issue. Let’s start with resistors. Vishay recently introduced streaming video comparisons of different types of resistors on its Web site....
May 21, 2009
[Engineering Feature]
Choosing The Top 101
If semiconductors are the heart of most electronic designs, then components like resistors, capacitors, inductors, interconnects, switches, sensors, LEDs, and displays represent many of the other body parts needed to complete the design. Each of these components comes in a wide variety of flavors. Last year, we covered components in our “EEPN in Electronic Design” department, while this year we changed the name of the section to “Electronic Design Products.” During the past...
May 21, 2009
[Engineering Feature]
The Top 101 Components Take Center Stage
WWhen designers create new devices, they need info about the latest electronic components to hit the market. One of the ways to gather this information is via Products of the Week. This e-newsletter is sent to more than 60,000 subscribers each Monday and covers innovative new products and technologies in the semiconductor, components and assemblies, boards and modules, and design, assembly, and test sectors, with direct links to the manufacturers’...
May 7, 2009
[Editorial]
Building A Science Park South Of The Border Down Mexico Way
I remember listening to a catchy tune when I was a youngster called “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way).” It told the tale of a cowboy who fell in love with a Mexican gal. This song came to mind recently when I interviewed D.J. Hill, CEO of Silicon Border. D. J. is passionate about something in Mexico as well, but not a girl. He envisions manufacturing in North America, just south of the border, in a place called Mexicali in Baja California,...
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