Visit Res-net in Paris!

What's the occasion? It's European Microwave Week 2015 starting Sunday, September 6 at the Palais Des Congres, in Paris. The event is actually made up of three separate but closely related conferences: the European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC), the European Microwave Conference (EuMC), and the European Radar Conference (EuRAD). In addition, there will be a Defence, Security and Space Forum.

Res-net Microwave will participate in the EuMW Trade and Technology Exhibition, to be held Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, September 8th, 9th, and 10th. They'll be providing information on Res-net RF & microwave attenuators, RF & microwave terminations, RF & microwave resistors, and diode detectors for commercial, military, and space applications.

Also highlighted will be Res-net's CVD diamond products, which handle both high frequency and high power in miniature product packages. For example, a Res-net 40 by 20 mil CVD diamond resistor operates up to 35 GHz at 20 watts; a miniature Res-net termination is specified at 26.5 GHz, 50 watts.

ETI Microwave Group companies Star Microwave (ferrite isolators and circulators for telecommunications) and Nova Microwave (high quality passive RF and microwave circulators and isolators) will also be represented.

Come see us at Booth # 144.

Feeling "Corrected?"

Over Thursday and Friday of last week, major stock indexes fell more than 10% from their recent peak. Commentators (calmly) urged investors to remain calm, that "corrections" such as these occur periodically. While additional factors were at work -- including a prevailing concern of a worldwide economic slowdown, China's decision to devalue its currency in the hope of making its products more price competitive appears to have triggered the quick decline.

Over the next few days, it will be interesting to see whether Vietnam, Indonesia, and other Far East countries follow suit and devalue their currencies in order to preserve their competitive positions with China -- which could make this all an exercise in ring-around-the-rosie. An actual correction could be still in the making.

Thankfully, ETI investor relations people aren't burning the midnight oil over this -- because we don't have any investor relations people. We have no stock. We're privately held.

If we have any "safe haven," it's in the confidence of our people, the true value of our products, and the strength of our relationships with our customers.

We like it that way.

Bright Lights And A Low Profile Technology.

50 years ago this fall, GE physicist Nick Holonyak built the world's first LED. Holonyak's diode emitted only red light. (see note 1)

Besides off/on indicator lights in electronics front panels, we haven't seen that much of the LED, until recently. Then strange applications began to pop up, like tiny blinking lights in children's shoes, and blinkers and decorative lighting on high-end cars. Then a big one -- LED flashlights that stayed bright a long long time.

Today, multi-colored LEDs illuminate homes and cities, the latest iPad “retina” screens, and flat-screen TVs. You can even buy a 750+ lumen (very bright) LED bicycle headlight to train at night (during winter) for your next bike race. People are doing it!

Of course, advances in LED technology have made this all possible, such as much greater brightness per watt, multiple colors, dimming, and improved multi LED packaging. Benefits of energy savings (75-80% over incandescent), brightness without halogen heat, ruggedness, and a 10-year bulb life put LED way ahead of incandescent and (more recent) florescent.

We like to see improvements in a technology that enable it to leap to the forefront. Everybody benefits.

30 years ago, people predicted that magnetics for signal conditioning would become obsolete for applications above 35 Mhz, because of increasing parasitic capacitance with increasing frequency. We're going way past that these days, because of improvements in our own design and manufacturing techniques.

How far past? The answer keeps changing. Ask our people at Raycom Electronics (http://www.raycomelectronics.com/).

Note 1: http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/emea/news-and-media/news/First-LED-by-the-GE-engineer-Nick-Holonyak.jsp#sthash.R2GAmWxc.dpuf)

What's That Up There?

Recently, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained on CBS's 60 Minutes TV show that the company is considering the use of drones to deliver packages of 5 pounds or less at some point in the future. The planned program is called "Prime Air."

National Geographic recently listed 5 other (non-military) uses for drones currently or expected in the near future: hurricane hunting, 3D mapping, protecting wildlife (poachers in Africa), farming including precision applications of pesticides, water, or fertilizers (widely done in Japan already), and search and rescue for missing persons. Forest-fire fighters in California could probably provide an additional application or two.

Of course, we're in the electronics business and we're enthusiastic about new technologies that utilize the rf and microwave and other electronic components made by Electro Technik companies. But has technology managed to jump ahead of good sense when it comes to drones? Are drone-flying paparazzi just the beginning?

Just last week, two commercial passengers reported a drone flying within the protected airspace at JFK International Airport -- one sighting within 100 ft of the jet! And on August 7, CNN and several other news sources reported on an Ohio prison "free for all," after a drone dropped drugs into its prison yard.

"Free for all" is right!

The FAA currently does not issue Certificates Of Authorization to private citizens or civilian businesses. However, The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires that the FAA establish rules for drone operation by September 30, 2015.

Let's hope they make the deadline.

China, The TPP, And A Dash Of Irony.

This week we watched China's stock markets tumble over worry that the Chinese government is curbing its support, estimated in the hundreds of billions of yuan thus far, and that it may now be "testing whether the market can support itself" (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shanghai-plunges-8-on-worries-beijing-is-ratcheting-down-inflows-2015-07-27).

Meanwhile, after eight years of effort leading up to a hopeful conclusion, talks failed and no general agreement was reached in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the US (http://news.yahoo.com/no-final-deal-pacific-trade-talks-negotiators-033653500.html).

China is not included among the would-be TPP partners.
Sticking points in the troubled TPP talks involved agricultural markets, auto manufacturing and trade, protection for drug-makers, copyright protection, workers rights and environmental protections.

Also written into the Trade Pact agreement is a mechanism to provide temporary credit for companies in member countries to make major purchases, such as capital equipment for manufacturing. The intent is to provide credit and funding for transactions more quickly than can often be accomplished in certain member countries, and then be reimbursed when normal credit is acquired.

Some opponents of the agreement explain that this can put a government entity into the position of picking winners and losers -- which should not be the case.
So there we have it. China picking stocks (winners and losers) in a large-scale effort to prop up its stock market while the U.S. and its TPP partners get bogged down in ideologies while seeking to expedite transactions for free trade.
What's wrong with this picture?

Engineering Talent Supply and Demand -- What's your opinion?

Is there and engineering shortage -- or not? Should U.S. companies try to hire domestically, or just "go global?" Is there a moral stand to take, or should we allow the matter to become laissez faire?

So many complexities; so point-of-view dependent!

(I'm a U.S. parent) "Throughout their school years we've emphasized the importance of STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and math) courses to our children. We wanted them to have technical minds and aptitudes, and degrees that would prove a certain mental acuity that would improve their chances for a great career -- even better than their parents. We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to this end!

(I'm a non-U.S. parent) "We've done the same, and spent even more -- much more -- sending our children to U.S. universities.

(I'm a corporate hiring officer) "We can't find good engineering talent, and have a hard time keeping it when we do. U.S. candidates have such high expectations: security, flexibility, and excellent wages, too."

(I'm a U.S. engineering graduate, recent) "I need to build my project portfolio (and not maroon myself into a long-term project or position early on) in order to increase my value in a volatile job market where I can either float to the top or sink as a replaceable commodity."

NOW SOME INFORMATION:

1) At the 2014 Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) 16th Annual Outlook Conference, Carl Camden, CEO of Kelly Services, pointed out that 600,000 manufacturing jobs went unfilled last year because managers said they couldn’t find qualified talent (OESA’s own research shows that three out of four North American automotive suppliers are having trouble finding engineering candidates). He went on to recommend analysis techniques to forecast and manage a company's "talent supply chain" and to embrace the concept of just-in-time talent acquisition for skill-specific positions.
Of course, his point of view comes as CEO of Kelly Services...temporary employment services.
(http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=278096&cid=nl.dn14.20150714&dfpPParams=ind_182,kw_8,aid_278096&dfpLayout=blog)

2) The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 2009 only 54% of recently graduating engineers found employment in their field, and only 61.3% found employment in their field or a closely-related one. The rest? Among math and computer science recent grads, 61.9% found employment in their field or a closely related one.
(https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_505.50.asp?current=yes)

3) For FY2015, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received about 172,500 H-1B petitions (for temporary visas to fill engineering and/or technical positions in for-profit non-university positions) during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On 2015 April 13, the USCIS reported receipt of almost 233,000 H1B petitions, well in excess of the limits of 65,000 for the regular cap and 20,000 advanced-degree exemption. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa)

QUESTION AND ONGOING DEBATE: Should the H1-B cap be raised in view of reported shortages? Is there a shortage at all? Should recent U.S. STEM-related college grads be "protected" in the U.S. job market? Should we just go to a "global" talent supply chain?

Like so many issues, it depends on your point of view. Let's hear yours.

Wireless Charging -- Wave of the future?

In 1893 Nikola Tesla used wireless power to illuminate light bulbs at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. But compared to direct wiring through various connection types, relatively few applications have utilized electromagnetic or radio frequency energy for the purpose of power supply or transfer since that time.

As we all know, efficiency is the issue. Placed together closely and positioned correctly, two coils can transfer power via magnetic induction quite efficiently. Increase the distance or jiggle a coil and efficiency drops significantly. This was recognized early on (certainly by 1893), has not changed, and won't.

But what has changed is the decreased power levels that our everyday (electronic) devices operate at, and our ability to modulate with tuned resonant-frequency circuits that can optimize power-transfer efficiency with changes in distance and position. Also changing is our much improved battery technology and our increased dependence on battery-powered devices.
 

In effect, we need less power, can store more power better, and can inductively transfer it from source to battery better than ever.

Thinking big, one can envision electric trains without 12,000 volt overhead catenary wires, electric cars with drive-up non-contact charging stations, drones that can charge up during flight. Thinking small, any handheld power device becomes a candidate for wireless charging (LED lighting, phones, cameras, tablets, etc.), simply out of greater convenience. Thinking safety, anyplace an electrical device is used in a wet area (countertops), or where a cord gets in the way (power saws and other tools in a cluttered garage -- my favorite) comes to mind.

Of course, much of this is happening or in development right now. Three sets of standards, Qi, PMA, and A4wP, are competing to provide compatibility through uniformity of design and implementation.

Three ETI companies manufacture transformers, inductors and other magnetics-related products. They include Raycom Electronics, Hytronics, and Winatic. Naturally, we like to keep our eyes on "all things magnetic," and the future of our industry.
For years, the electronics industry has wrestled with connectivity issues as circuits have miniaturized. Wireless data transfer is solving much of the problem. But power charging through USB, mini USB, and micro USB has become bulky and even "iffy" as circuits and devices shrink. The connectors aren't made for hundreds and thousands of couplings and decouplings. They just break.

So bring on the type of charging that's kept our electric toothbrushes running for 15 years or more! Let's add some design preventions against vampire (always "on") power usage, and just go for it. To borrow (most of) Dupont's a old advertising slogan, it's time to leap ahead with "better living through magnetics."