Looking toward 5G, autonomous vehicles, and Mars

Back in September of 2011, on the cusp of EE-Evaluation Engineering’s 50th anniversary, I had the good fortune to join the editorial team of the magazine. In March 1962, the first issue of EE-Evaluation Engineering rolled off the presses. Founder Vern Nelson (no relation) employed his electronic engineering background and editorial experience to produce what started out as a bimonthly magazine and that grew into a monthly edition. It remains a monthly print publication today but, of course, has expanded into the online world as well.

Nelson studied electronic engineering at Michigan State University, served in the U.S. Air Force, and worked at Ford Motor Co. This progression might not seem surprising for an electrical engineer today. But at the time, he found himself the only electronics engineer in a department with about 60 engineers building mechanical prototypes. His job centered on moving from a 6-V to 12-V electrical system.

According to Nelson, “When I hired in, they said, ‘You’re an EE. We’ll let you work on this project because none of the mechanical engineers want to do it.’ It was a wonderful opportunity.”

Today, of course, an automotive company must leverage electrical engineering expertise to have any hope of success, as indicated in the special report beginning on p. 6 of this issue. For example, Jeff Phillips, head of automotive marketing at National Instruments, states, “A new era of mobility is upon us.” Comments Frederic Weiller, automotive and energy solutions lead at Keysight Technologies, “The automotive industry is transitioning from a complex mobility platform into a complex IT platform.”

Adds Lawrence I. Williams, Ph.D., director of technology at ANSYS, “The two great changes in automotive are the ongoing electrification transformation and the drive toward autonomous systems.” And in the article beginning on p. 20, Williams’s colleague Sandeep Sovani, Ph.D., global director for the automotive industry at ANSYS, cites an aspect of electrification that he calls “electronification”—the integration of “smart products” into vehicles—related to augmented-reality displays, new infotainment systems, and wireless connectivity. Instead of devoting the overwhelming majority of engineers to building mechanical prototypes, automotive companies today employ software simulation tools from companies like ANSYS to optimize their designs in a virtual environment before committing to physical prototypes. And as physical prototypes roll out, companies rely on electronics test and measurement equipment as they progress from hardware-in-the-loop simulation through manufacturing test.

Back when Vern Nelson founded EE-Evaluation Engineering, President John F. Kennedy was calling for a mission to the moon; Telstar 1 was relaying telephone calls, fax images, and the first live trans-Atlantic television signal; and 90% of U.S. households had televisions.¹ Today, 95% of Americans now own a cellphone of some kind, with 77% owning smartphones²; thousands of satellites orbit the earth; and government and private organizations are envisioning human missions to Mars.

Throughout my tenure at the magazine, Kristine Russell, Vern Nelson’s daughter, has ably guided EE-Evaluation Engineering and its sibling publications. She recently transferred ownership of the magazines to Endeavor Business Media but is continuing to provide leadership as the business evolves and EE-Evaluation Engineering continues to chart progress in the electronics industry.

For my part, I’ll be moving to a new vantage point to observe and comment on the rollout of 5G, advances in vehicle electrification, the commercialization of autonomous vehicles, the shrinking of semiconductor technologies below 7 nm, more-than-Moore heterogeneous integration, and the many other advances that will occur in the electronics and related industries in the years ahead—including missions to Mars. Good luck, and keep in touch.