A somewhat justified concern about damaging a complex system can also intimidate you from a basic investigation into a system problem. OK, I admit it: I avoided checking for an obvious problem due to my fear of making things worse in a high-risk situation. Fortunately, the only cost, in this case, was to my pride. […]
Industry Experts
Why I was scared by a technical article
Sometimes what you think you know just isn’t so, and the reality is more than you care to accept. To keep up with new components, architectures, materials, design techniques, and various developments, I read a lot of technical articles written by credible authors. Usually, they are both informative and straightforward. But I recently can across […]
The top ten “green” programming languages
Software with the fastest execution time isn’t necessarily the greenest. There once was an assumption among computer programmers that a faster program is also an energy efficient program. The idea transmuted over to software programming languages—surely a faster language was a greener one, the logic went. That all changed in 2017 thanks to a group […]
Be wary when they say, “That change should be no big deal“
It’s easy to assume that implementing a small design change will be trivial when the actual impact is often more extensive and more painful than unanticipated. At its core, engineering design is finding the right balance among tradeoffs, driven by product objectives while, at the same time, being bounded by constraints. If it weren’t for […]
AC/DC power supply testing and qualification – Virtual Roundtable, Part 2
Welcome to the second part of EEWorld’s two-part “virtual roundtable” discussion on ac/dc power supply testing and qualification. Today, we will be focused on power factor correction, leakage currents, and electromagnetic compliance assurance testing. Our panelists are: Yogesh Pai (YP), Tektronix Product and Marketing Manager for Power; Bill Griffith (BG), Power Products Marketing, with Keysight […]
Engineering and inclusivity: a safe incubator for diversity
By Asem Elshimi, RF Design Engineer The recent developments in the American culture and policy regarding race, gender, and immigration have triggered a new form of national awareness regarding diversity. Like American society, the semiconductor industry is diverse. A good proportion of immigrants enter the country on a STEM student visa and then join the […]
Supercapacitor specifications and lifetimes – Virtual Roundtable (part 2 of 2)
Moderated by Jeff Shepard EE World has organized this “virtual roundtable” bringing together three experts in supercapacitor technology to share with you their experience and practical insights into these important devices. Joining us for this virtual roundtable are: Chad Hall (CH), Co-Founder / Sr. Vice President Sales & Operations, with Ioxus; Eric DeRose (ED), Global […]
How to create energy-efficient IIoT sensor nodes
by Noel O’Riordan and Tommy Mullane, S3 Semiconductors When you’re designing sensor node devices destined for the industrial internet of things (IIoT), chances are they need to be battery-powered. And given the number of these expected to be deployed, and their often-remote locations, changing or charging a battery frequently isn’t an option. Your device, therefore, needs […]
PM Champion to receive award for helping advance technology applications
Chad Spore, staff engineer, Enterprise Materials Engineering, John Deere Waterloo Works Drivetrain Operations, Waterloo, IA, has been selected to receive the Vanguard Award from the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF). The award recognizes powder metallurgy (PM) industry champions from the end-user community whose long-time promotion of the technology has contributed to the expansion of powder […]
Early warning for EMC problems
Engineers who wait until the end of the design phase to check for unwanted electromagnetic emissions run the risk of incurring big delays. Bruce Rose | CUI Inc. One design activity often left to the end of a project is the verification a product meets electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) emissions requirements. Considering EMC compliance earlier in […]