The EEcosystem Podcast

How to Become a Full-Stack Hardware Engineer

Eli Hughes is Entrepreneur, Principal Engineer, Consultant, and Content creator for NXP semiconductors. Hughes has decades of experience in acoustics, hardware design, embedded, PCB design, and much more. In this conversation, we talk about how he developed both the philosophy and skills that have led to his successful, diverse and interesting engineering career.

Dr. Alex Lidow: The Mind Behind the Power MOSFET and the rise of eGaN©

In this episode of The EEcosystem Podcast, our guest is Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion and the co-inventor of the HEXFET, power MOSFET, and eGaN. Lidow holds degrees from Caltech and Stanford. He earned a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University in 1977 as a Hertz Foundation Fellow. In this episode, we will find out more about Alex and learn about MOSFETs and the rise of GaN. How did MOSFETs grow so quickly? What technologies are driving GaN adoptions and why. We will also discuss the potential obstacles to GaN adoption. This and many more questions will be answered as we go along! Listen to this episode to learn more!
 
 
TIMESTAMP
00:00 - Introduction
01:51 - Who is Dr. Alex Lidow
05:25 - Learn more about MOSFETs
08:07 - Where is MOSFET technology today?
15:38 – GaN trajectory in 2023
21:04 - The reason for the growth
28:56 - Did the technology have a supporting ecosystem?
31:08 – Adoption barriers that were encountered
33:19 - How does the team support engineers onboarding GaN?
35:57 - Dr. Alex’s thoughts about education and advice for students.
45:13 - Where can you learn more?
 
EPC Website
 
GaN Design Support
 
GaN talk support forum
 
Text books and Publications
 
Connect with Alex Lidow on LinkedIn
Connect with Judy Warner on LinkedIn
 
 
#ecosystem #growth #electronic #engineering #MOSFET #GaN #AlexLidow #electromagnetism #electromechanical
 
Sponsor Resource Links:
 
Visit The EEcosystem Website For a Free Download of a sample chapter of Ken Wyatt’s EMC  troubleshooting and receive a free 90-day subscription to all of Eric Bogatin's training at The Signal Integrity Academy
 
For SI/PI/EMI News and Technical Resources and to register for a free subscription visit the Signal Integrity Journal today.
 
For free Technical Resources and to Learn more about Keysight Pathwave EDA Software Solutions visit the homepage now.
 
For all of your high-speed and RF connectors visit the Samtec website and access excellent engineering resources while you there. 
 
For high complexity EDA solutions visit SIEMENS EDA Website
 
Visit the SIGLENT website to learn more about their test and measurement solutions For Every Bench. Every Engineer. Every Day. 
 
Picotest specializes in high-fidelity testing and measurement tools, primarily for power-related applications. Visit their website for more product information and excellent training materials from expert Steve Sandler.
For Custom RF and MW PCBs visit the Transline Technology Website to learn more. Visit Summit Interconnect for all your PCB manufacturing needs.
 
For PCB stack-up modeling solutions visit Avishtech.com
 

Systems Engineering with an Aviators ”Mission” Mindset (Pt 1)

Military Prime Technical Fellow and Air Force Pilot, Ben Dannan, discusses his unique perspective on engineering. Both his time in the air and his time on the bench have worked together to make him a more effective systems engineer. (This is part 1 of a 3-part series)
 
2:30 Ben’s current role and work at NGC, and his career path that included his formal education, to engineering complex mil/aero systems and ultimately led him to join the Air Force active reserves while he continued to concurrently work as an EE.
6:15 Flight experience in peace and combat, what planes he was trained on and how that ultimately lead to his role as Air Commando that supports special operations teams.
9:42 How Ben became a Technical Fellow at NGC (he didn’t ask for it!) and how he thinks all of his outside projects helped to qualify him for this honor. In short, it takes a lot of hard work and Grit.
11:46 Background in his first DesignCon paper and the value of excellent mentors.
13:39 How and why Ben became a Keysight ADS Certified Expert. The importance of hard work and the value of having the ability to do end-to-end simulation.
15:30 How working on the ground as a civilian engineer in Iraq (with BAE) inspired him to join the Air Force Reserves in order to become an operator and gain tactical awareness that informed his engineering work. 20:50 Working with Lee Ritchey on an incredibly hard EMC problem. The problem of delineations of engineering disciplines and how the “gap” often causes unintended consequences.
24:36 The problem of ignoring board effects on your system, and why whole system simulation is critical
 
Links: Link to Ben’s publications page on his website
Signal Integrity Journal page for Ben's publications 
Ben Dannan LinkedIn Profile
Steve Sandler’s Presentation “The Unfortunate State of Power Integrity in Space Systems”
Slide Deck  YouTube video presentation  
Additional Links:
Visit The EEcosystem Website For a Free Download of a Sample Chapter from Ken Wyatt's EMI Troubleshooting book, and get a free 90-day subscription for Eric’s Bogatin's online training at The Signal Integrity Academy 
For SI/PI/EMI News and Technical Resources and to register for a free subscription visit the Signal Integrity Journal today. 
For free Technical Resources on modeling and simulation visit Keysight’s Pathwave EDA Software Solutions homepage
For Custom RF and MW PCBs visit the Transline Technology Website to learn more 

Cracking the EMC Code: Troubleshooting Tips from the Workbench

Ken Wyatt discusses EMC tips and tricks he's developed over decades to help engineers diagnose and troubleshoot EMC issues right from their workbench. He's published his knowledge in a popular book trilogy we talk about in this episode.
 
Links from the Show
Amazon Author’s Page:
Web Site: http://www.emc-seminars.com/index.html
LinkedIn Profile:
Free Excerpt, Volume 1 Chapter 3, Near Field Probes:
 
Sponsor Resource Links
Visit The EEcosystem Website to subscribe to our newsletter and receive a Free Download of Ken Wyatt's EMC book sample chapter. You will also receive a free 90-day subscription to all of Eric Bogatin's training at The Signal Integrity Academy 
For SI/PI/EMI News and Technical Resources--register for a free subscription visit the Signal Integrity Journal today. 
For free Technical Resources and to Learn more about Keysight Pathwave EDA Software Solutions visit the homepage now. 
For Custom RF and MW PCBs visit the Transline Technology Website to learn more.  Visit Summit Interconnect for all your PCB manufacturing needs. https://summitinterconnect.com/
For all of your high-speed and RF connectors visit the Samtec website and access excellent engineering resources while you are there. 
Visit the SIGLENT website to learn more about their test and measurement solutions For Every Bench. Every Engineer. Every Day. 
For high-complexity EDA solutions visit SIEMENS EDA Website 
Picotest specializes in high-fidelity testing and measurement tools, primarily for power-related applications. Visit their website for more product information and excellent training materials from expert Steve Sandler. 

Hardware and Signal Integrity Efficient Design Flow

Dr. Tim Wang-Lee, SI/PI Applications Scientist of Keysight shares the challenges that exist between hardware and SI Engineers. We discuss industry trends and how EDA companies, including Keysight, are creating software solutions that enable engineers to collaborate seamlessly and create "virtual" prototypes that dramatically improve workflow and resource efficiencies.
 
Pathwaves Page: https://keysight.com/find/hsd-apps 
EP Scan Page: https://www.keysight.com/find/ep-scan-downloads 
Tim’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwanglee/ 
 
Application note: https://www.keysight.com/us/en/assets/3123-1002/application-notes/How-to-Maximize-Your-Printed-Circuit-Board-Design-Productivity.pdf

Navigating the Pitfalls of RF/MW and mmWave PCB Design, Fab and Assembly

Chris Savalia and Madhur Chawla join us to discuss how to successfully navigate the various unique challenges of RF/MW and mmWave PCB Design, Fab, and Assembly.
 
Visit Transline Technology
https://translinetech.com
 
Subscribe to The EEcosystem for technical content and to connect with fellow engineers and the guests from our shows.
https://theeecosystem.com

Lee Ritchey & Avishtech Founders on Simulation-Based Design Stack Up

High-Speed Design Expert Lee Ritchey is joined by Avishtech executives Tarun and Keshav Amla to discuss the need for stack-up simulation that goes far beyond basic impedance measurement. They explain how engineers can dramatically cut down on multiple board spins and get products to market in a fraction of the time through the breakthrough stack-up software they've developed.
 
Avishtech Gauss SI Pro

Ben Dannan: The Value of Investing in Your Career at DesignCon

Technical Fellow, Ben Dannan discusses the impact and value of DesignCon on his thriving career. He discusses his first DesignCon, the role of highly skilled mentors, and how writing, publishing, and presenting have accelerated his skill and taken his career heights. Ben has also started his own consultancy Signal Edge Solutions helping others with signal and power integrity challenges.
 
Links
Signal Edge Solutions
Ben Dannan on LinkedIn

Advancements in Memory, Virtual Simulation, and Enabling Design for Context from Keysight

Niels Fache, VP of Keysight EDA, and Stephen Slater, Product Manager of Keysight discuss the advancement in DDR5 and beyond from the DesignCon exhibit floor. They also talk about the "democratization" of SI/PI/EMI simulation, "virtual" simulation, and enabling engineers to Design for Context.
 
Keysight Pathwave Solutions Website
New EP-Scan Software
Pathwave Memory Designer Software
Keysight Pathwave Resources

Boston Dynamics Keynote Inspires with Insight, Passion, and His Robot Dog ”Spot” at DesignCon 2023

Devin Billings, Associate Director of Electrical Engineering Research and Development from Boston Dynamics discusses the complexities and challenges of realizing the world's most complex and lifelike Robots. Billings also discusses the challenges ahead and encourages other passionate and driven electrical engineers to consider pursuing a career in robotics.
 
Subscribe to The EEcosystem for curated technical resources and join our growing community of professional engineers. 
Show Links
Boston Dynamics Website https://www.bostondynamics.com
Margarita Spot https://www.bostondynamics.com/resources/blog/margaritas-mars-interview-spots-custom-payloads
Boston Dynamics YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@BostonDynamics
Houston Mechatronics Aquabot https://youtu.be/cdc5mQcJlqY
Dilbert Video: The Knack https://youtu.be/cdc5mQcJlqY
 
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