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Tuesday, April 24, 2018

VOLUME - NUMBER

Wearables for Health: Hybrid Electronics with Medical Sensors

By Agnieszka Kurylo, Dr. -Ing., Thomas Knieling, and Lars Blohm, Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology
In an effort to meet the growing demand for hybrid electronics production, a team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology in Germany has been developing prototypes of hybrid electronics systems. The focus is on the combination of both silicon and flexible electronics manufacturing ...

A Solution for Press-Fit Pin and Receptacle Applications

By Stephen Capitelli, Manager of Product Engineering, Mill-Max Mfg.
Press-fit pins and receptacles are among the most versatile types of interconnection components for electrical and electronic applications. As with other types of pins and fasteners, they play an integral role in product quality, but are easily taken for granted. For example, the fasteners ...

Demystifying the Magic of Plasma Treatment

By Demetrius Chrysostomou, Ph.D., Director of Technology, PVA TePla
Plasma is a state of matter, differing from the gaseous state in that it can conduct electricity. When sufficient energy is added to a gas, some atoms and molecules eject an electron, ionizing the gas into an electrically conductive state. The energizing source is normally an oscillating ...

Infrared Technology Brings the Heat

By Ed Sullivan
Infrared heating technology has become prevalent among the industrial ovens, dryers and heaters used by a multitude of manufacturers. The OEMs that manufacture these ovens and heaters use infrared heating elements, which are more energy efficient, cheaper to operate, provide controllable ...

JTAG and Boundary-Scan — Past, Present and Future

By Peter van den Eijnden, Managing Director, JTAG Technologies
Almost 30 years ago, the change in device packaging from through-hole to surface-mount prompted a group of production test engineers to consider the impact of these parts on the testing of their assemblies. They called themselves the Joint European Test Action Group (JETAG) and were ...

Next Generation Product Designs Incorporate Capacitive Force Sensors

By Jeff Elliott
Design engineers now have an option to evaluate and integrate into their products a new breed of capacitive technology-based sensor that can accurately, and with high repeatability, measure forces as low as 1 gram.

Product Highlight: Hasco's Critical Relays

By Wayne Hauser, President, Hasco Relays & Electronics Int'l Corp.
Electromechanical relays, which had been widely used in the past by the telecom industry, today have a wide range of applications in high-reliability industries like aerospace, automotive and defense. They are used in fire safety devices, lighting controls, sensors, HVAC, and all sorts ...

The Advantages of Digital Signal Processing in Power Converters

By Jeff Elliott
The power electronics industry is increasingly moving from analog to digital power converters, particularly when high-density power output is required. Many mission-critical operations in aerospace and defense, as well as in some industrial applications, require output power in the ...

Surface-Mount Components Help Shrink Circuit Dimensions

By Jeffrey Paulownia
Surface-mount components have earned their places in today's electronic circuits, saving a great deal of printed-circuit-board (PCB) space without sacrificing the performance of much larger components. Components now available in SMT housings include basic "building-block:" components ...

The Benefits of Using Aluminum as a Conductor

By Uwe Schenk, Global Segment Manager, Wind Div., Helukabel
Choosing conductive metals for different industries and applications is often a challenge. Copper is often used in cables and wires for its excellent conductivity and malleability. But it is relatively heavy and expensive compared to aluminum. Switching to aluminum, which is lighter ...

Unwired Switches Are Wireless Without Batteries

By Ryan Eder, Product Marketing Manager, ZF Electronic Systems Pleasant Prairie, LLC, Pleasant Prairie, WI
Switches that operate without wired connections or batteries are now available from Cherry, a brand of ZF Electronic Systems Pleasant Prairie, LLC. The switches use the physical actuation of the switch as the source of power, harvesting energy through an innovative penny-size micro ...

Vibration Testing: Exposing the Weak Link

By Jason Tynes, STI Electronics, Inc., Madison, AL
Weak links exist in all electronic designs. Over time, and in the right conditions, they will manifest themselves. Vibration testing attempts to uncover those weak links in advance by imposing realistic operating conditions. By developing a circuit card assembly (CCA) for testing, it is ...

When to Use Litz Wire

By Kevin G. McGivern, DSEE, Rubadue Wire, Greeley, CO
Throughout the electronic design process, involving anything from inductors and transformers through systems, optimizing efficiency and minimizing heat rise are major concerns. A decision on the type of wire to use can impact the thermal performance of a design, with choices including ...

"Made in USA" — Building the American Dream

John Ciangiulli, President, American Component Exchange
The American Dream has long been an elusive goal for many Americans. According to James Truslow Adams, who coined the term "American Dream" in 1931, "Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." Of course, ...

Advanced Housings Protect Latest High-Quality Devices

By Anke Beck, Housing Technology Specialist, Business Unit Housing, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg, Germany, and Joel Boone, Product Marketing Manager, Housings & Value-Add Connectors, Device Connectors, Phoenix Contact USA, Inc.
Electronic housings at one time might have been considered simply packages. But now, they themselves are often sophisticated electronic components, and today's housing systems must be adaptable to meet many requirements. When the housing manufacturer becomes a project partner, the result ...

Efficiency Means Tuning Your Power Supply

By Marie Dawson, Product Director, Allied Electronics, Fort Worth, TX
Energy efficiency, with good reason, is at the forefront of concerns for many system designers. Many voluntary and mandatory standards have emerged over the past few years aimed at reducing energy waste in electronic systems. Initiatives such as Energy Star 80 Plus Bronze, Silver, Gold ...

Growth in America: US Firms Partner for Success

By the Staff of SisTech Manufacturing, Bend, OR
A strong relationship between two companies ultimately helps their customers. One of the companies, SisTech Manufacturing headquartered in Bend, OR, is a woman-owned, minority-owned business that provides contract electronic manufacturing and mechanical assembly services to high-technology ...

Issues in Solvent Testing for Counterfeits

By Joseph Federico, Vice-President and Director of Operations, NJ MET, Inc., Clifton, NJ
Fighting against counterfeit electronic components requires many tools, including multiple test methods to identify the counterfeits. Use of improper or incorrect testing procedures can lead to incorrect or misleading results, at times identifying authentic parts as being counterfeit ...

Materials Minimize Effects Of EMI/RFI

By Jeffrey Paulownia
Electromagnetic (EM) energy surrounds almost every electronic device, whether generated from within or outside of the device, and EM interference (EMI) produced by one or more electronic devices can degrade the performance of various other electronics; EMI from countless electronic ...

Crimp Force Monitoring Improves Crimp Quality

By Ralph Tischer
Crimp connection technology is widely used in the electrical and electronics industry. Compared to alternative means of making interconnections, advantages include excellent electrical performance and high mechanical reliability, assuming that the crimping operation is carried out correctly ...