This Week in PowerBites: Passives/Packaging Advances Share the Spotlight with Barnstorming “UFOs”

A plethora of passives and packaging technologies and elevated electric aviation share the spotlight with yet another debate about hydrogen power in this edition of PowerBites.
Related To: 
July 25, 2025
Tony Vitolo/Electronic Design
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What you’ll learn:

  • Recent sightings of strange aircraft across 28 states proved to be of terrestrial origin, and provided observers with a preview of the future of electric aviation
  • Is hydrogen fuel derived from seawater and scrap aluminum as “green” as its advocates claim? Explore both sides of the issue in our timely report.
  • Advanced passive components and packaging technologies hold the key to more efficient, cost-effective power applications.
  • APEC 2026 is inviting proposals for technical sessions at America’s leading power conference.

ProductBites

This edition of ProductBites focuses on advanced packaging and passive components that have become essential building blocks for a sustainable, low-carbon, electrified economy. Drivers and smart power options are also in this diverse mix.

Technology Features

BETA Technologies
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After over two years and 22,000+ hours of flight testing on two continents, one of the world’s first electric commuter aircraft hopes to earn FAA commercial certification by year...
MIT
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Can deriving clean-burning fuel from scrap aluminum be used to help kick-start a green hydrogen economy? Or are the optimistic promises simply a matter of sloppy bookkeeping? ...
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The Applied Power Electronics Conference is accepting proposals for Technical Sessions for its 41st annual event that will take place March 22-26, 2026.

Powerful Packaging

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The low figure of merit and enhanced packaging of Toshiba’s new MOSFETs contribute to higher efficiency in high-voltage power system designs.
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Vishay’s space-saving device offers low thermal impedance of 0.36°C/W and wettable flanks to improve thermal performance and solderability in industrial applications.
Asahi Kasei Microdevices
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A power-module architecture developed by Asahi Kasei and Silicon Austria Labs features Hall-effect sensors, delivering higher accuracy in a compact form factor.

Power Drivers

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STMicroelectronics’ integrated gate drivers for three-phase brushless motors offer performance and efficiency in consumer and industrial equipment.
ID 8086645 © Stuart Key | Dreamstime.com
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Navitas’ fully integrated and protected GaN ICs with bidirectional, lossless current sensing deliver 4% higher efficiency, 15% lower system cost, and 40% smaller footprint.

Powerful Passives

Bourns
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Bourns’ latest current transformer provides high permeability and low energy losses, delivering high-frequency current sensing to power systems.
Bourns
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A new series of high-power fuses from Bourns offers enhanced voltage and current ratings that comply with the gPV protection UL 248-19 standard.
TDK
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TDK’s rugged DC contactor handles battery connect/disconnect at up to 1,500 V in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and megawatt charging systems.
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Stackpole’s rugged RPCQ form-factor chip resistors withstand extreme power pulse levels in automotive applications.

Solutions for Smarter Power

Infineon Technologies
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A real-time development and test environment of xEV powertrain systems was built based on Infineon’s AURIX TC3x/TC4x automotive MCUs.
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ABLIC’s single-chip, battery-level sensor/display driver saves power and simplifies the design of cordless tools and other portable products.

More PowerBites

Lee Goldberg © Endeavor Business Media
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Check out the latest from power technology expert Lee Goldberg.
Tony Vitolo/Electronic Design
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Top trends this month: Bidirectional power conversion is now “a thing,” power innovations accelerate the evolution of EV body electronics, and Nixie Tubes are cool again.

About the Author

Lee Goldberg
Email

Lee Goldberg

Contributing Editor

Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.

Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.

Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.

Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.

Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series. 

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