As moisture-sensitive components become more prevalent in the supply chain, low- and mid-volume manufacturers need to adjust their materials handling and manufacturing processes to prevent manufacturing defects and early-life failures. With smaller package sizes becoming mainstream in all levels of product design, more mid-volume and low-volume manufacturers are encountering moisture-sensitive parts. We are seeing ICs,…
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As an engineer, you know that air safety has never been better. As a passenger, you may think, in the deep recesses of your mind, otherwise. Fortunately, there are companies like Droplet Measurement Technologies, which are in the business of engineering even safer skies and calmer passengers. Droplet, founded 25 years ago by two engineers…
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I have seen very few major breakthroughs in medical technology over the last decade when it comes to clinical diagnosis and patient treatment. It's not because there are not huge efforts and brilliant ideas in play, but as an electronic engineer, and also in my work as a doctor, I am acutely aware of the…
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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Big data analytics may both mimic the human brain and replace it, according to presentations at an IBM symposium here. Veteran venture capitalist Vinod Khosla called for advances that reduce human error by putting more healthcare decisions into the hands of smart systems. Separately, cognitive computing researcher Jeff Hawkins showed advances…
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In a design world that sometimes seems focused on operating from supposedly tightly bounded sources such as nominal 12 V and 24 V battery packs, it's nice to know that there is still plenty of need for regulators that can handle wider input swings. This became clear when I saw a recent blog (“Why Wide…
DetailsIn conjunction with coverage of California’s major new regulatory program aimed at reducing or eliminating many toxic chemicals in consumer products, here is a link to an issue brief from Michael Kirschner of ENVIRON, California’s Safer Consumer Products Regulations: Near-Term Actions and Priorities. Mr. Kirschner discusses a number of important topics including: The regulatory time…
DetailsTTI, Inc., global distributor of interconnect, passive, electromechanical and discrete components, today announced that Kevin Sink, TTI Vice President Total Quality, is slated to speak at the upcoming SAE Counterfeit Parts Avoidance Symposium – South (CPAS). The symposium is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10, 2013 in Irving, Texas. Recognized as a top industry thought leader…
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Apple Inc. doesn’t have a copyright on innovation but this point seems to be lost on Philip Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at the company. All the comments I’ve seen on Schiller’s presentation to a jury in its court case against rival Samsung Electronics Inc., tells me many observers – just like Apple…
DetailsNothing has polarized the supply chain like counterfeiting. It has pitted segments of the industry against one another (distributors versus brokers) and more recently divided the channel into two camps: Pro-DNA and anti-DNA. Both of these debates center around proposed solutions to the counterfeit problem in the channel and both have spurred action. But these…
DetailsPremier Farnell, a leading high-service distributor of electronic components, has today announced the appointment of Tom Hudak to president of Chicago-based Newark element14, its North American distribution business, with immediate effect, succeeding Paul Buckley who will be retiring at the end of December. For the last five years Tom has been president of Akron Brass,…
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