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Your Most Important Issue Of The Year 2006
- In This Issue
[Engineering Feature]
Is There A Shortage Of Analog Engineers?
Is there a shortage of analog engineers? Some industry data suggests there is. But when Electronic Design asked its readers earlier this year if their organization is having difficulty finding qualified analog engineers, more than half said they do not. In fact, 1620 of the 2354 readers (69%) said that they perceived no shortage. So while there may be a shortage, it clearly doesn't affect all companies equally. Possibly, that's because most engineers today deal exclusively with the...
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Don Tuite
[Engineering Feature]
Finally, Salaries Are Rising Again
Few issues generate more passion these days than the controversy surrounding H1-B visas. Many U.S.-born engineers, including those who already have been displaced or consider themselves vulnerable to displacement, say the program costs countless American engineering jobs. Yet corporate OEM executives say their businesses, and the competitiveness of the American technology industry as a whole, depend on a deep pool of engineering talent, including workers from other...
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Jay McSherry
[Engineering Feature]
Are You Satisfied? Mixed Feelings Mark The Industry
Engineers truly are a conflicted bunch. Only 40% of the respondents to our 2006 survey feel strongly secure in their job, and fewer than half (47%) believe that a career path in engineering and the potential for salary advancement are as promising as they were five years ago. Yet 80% would recommend engineering as a career path to a young person looking to choose a profession. Similarly, most respondents say their company outsources engineering work. A majority...
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Jay McSherry
[Engineering Feature]
The Future Of Engineering
You name it, and electronics has changed it in some capacity—personal and business communications, healthcare, energy conservation, entertainment, education, photography, even voting. And there'll be no letup in its landscape-altering effect. Coupled with its seeming omnipresence, though, are various issues that the industry must contend with: trade, environmental and intellectual property issues, the growth of China's electronics industry, India's expanding...
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Ron Schneiderman
[Engineering Feature]
A Day In The Life Of An Electronics Engineer
Based on your submissions, designers everywhere face the same challenges— producing more functionality-while maintaining an elegant design. The latest project at Intelix, the Audisey Series Athena, exemplifies these demands. Available later this year, the Athena provides microphone preamplification, input DSP, true matrix mixing, output DSP, and amplification all in a 3U chassis. It uses a DSP/Class D amplification module, which is the heart of the project. ...
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Richard Gawel
[Engineering Feature]
EEs At Work: What You Make And What You Think
In their professional lives, engineers always strive to come up with optimal, elegant solutions to complex problems. The engineering profession itself, however, doesn't lend itself easily to such solutions. The influx of H-1B workers and a continued trend toward offshore outsourcing have made many readers of Electronic Design cynical and pessimistic. Yet the rewards of successfully fulfilling a need and getting reasonably well compensated for it instill in many a...
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Jay McSherry
[Engineering Feature]
The Changing Face Of Engineering
More than 2500 readers took time from their busy schedules to take our 2006 Reader Survey. And we're not surprised so many of you responded, since this year's study tackled so many issues that hit close to home—including outsourcing and the future. The face of engineering is changing, and more than ever our readership crosses ethnic,-age, and gender barriers. The profession is evolving, and many of you are ready to evolve with it. You haven't lost all of your...
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Richard Gawel
[Editorial]
An Issue Devoted To Understanding Your World
Is this your "most important issue of the year"? Well, "staying current with new and emerging technologies" is your top concern and the main reason you read Electronic Design. But we do believe in the value of this annual special issue, as we step back from technology to look at the bigger picture of the profession and the career concerns of our readers. It's a chance to consider the non-technical factors that have a huge impact on the state of electronic design—your job...
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Mark David
[Design FAQs]
High-Voltage Integrated Circuits
What are HVICs? High-voltage integrated circuits (HVICs) translate low-voltage control signals to levels that are suitable for driving power switches in high-voltage applications. HVICs also can translate signals from high voltage levels to lower voltage levels. A basic HVIC might provide simple-up or shift-down capability, while a more advanced one might provide half- or full-bridge drive capabilities. Yet another might be...
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Don Tuite
[Hall Of Fame]
Edward Weston: A Dynamic Electrical Engineer
From the time he took his first job in America at a metal plating factory in 1870 until his death in 1937, Edward Weston strove for perfection. "The fact is that Weston never did and never could relax mentally," wrote David Woodbury in his book, A Measure of Greatness: A Short Biography of Edward Weston. "His preoccupation with whatever he happened to be doing was vast and devastating... His drive to accomplishment was grim and sometimes...
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Christine Hintze
[Hall Of Fame]
Gordon Gould: The Long Battle For The Laser Patent
From the moment that Gordon Gould first conceived of the laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), he knew his invention would have a lasting effect on every aspect of the world around him. The realization was so great that the young physicist worked feverishly for three days to document his ideas, which would eventually become the source of one of the longest and most bitter patent lawsuits in American history. "When the coffee was made,...
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Christine Hintze
[Hall Of Fame]
Arthur A. Collins: A Hero Among Hams
Throughout history, seemingly ordinary men and women have achieved extraordinary things. One such person was Arthur A. Collins. While a select few may have realized his potential at the time, the young Collins appeared to be no different from the other boys who grew up in his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "We sensed that Arthur was different, but we did not know that he was a genius," a former neighbor told The New York Times in 1962. "When the rest of ...
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Christine Hintze
[Hall Of Fame]
Ray Kurzweil: Inventor, Futurist, Life Changer
He successfully predicted the emergence of the World Wide Web and a computer beating a chess champion. He invented the first print-tospeech reading machine for the blind, the first music synthesizer that could realistically recreate the grand piano, and omni-font optical character recognition (OCR). Now, Ray Kurzweil says we'll be able to eliminate fossil fuels in the next 20 years. And within the next several decades, mankind will live indefinitely. "We will...
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Doris Kilbane
[Hall Of Fame]
Andrew Viterbi: The Key To Communications, 40 Years Early
Andrew Viterbi simply wanted to fill in the blanks in several theories when he developed the Viterbi Algorithm. Little did he anticipate its widespread applicability in error-correcting codes in 2 billion cell phones, magnetic recording, most satellite TV receivers, a variety of cable TV systems, voice recognition, and even analyses of DNA sequencing. "When a machine understands your voice, some aspect of my algorithm is in there, improving the accuracy," he says....
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Doris Kilbane
[Hall Of Fame]
Charles Proteus Steinmetz: Genius, Forethinker
Charles Proteus Steinmetz was both an electrical engineering genius and a great forward thinker in educational and social issues. In the scientific field, Steinmetz is remembered for many electrically related inventions. He invented a commercially successful alternating-current motor, identified and explained the Law of Hysteresis governing power losses, developed a user-friendly method to manage and calculate values for alternating current, and invented...
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Doris Kilbane
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