Editor Blogs

September 2021

Infineon Opens New 300mm Thin Wafer Chip Plant

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Last week, Infineon opened a new 1.6 billion euro chip fab that will create 400 new jobs in Villach, Austria. The 60,000 m² plant will be one of the most advanced in the world, especially in the field of power electronics. It is located beside the German company’s global centre of expertise for power electronics

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09/29/2021

Wind Energy - Not in my Backyard?

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

The biggest challenge for wind power isn’t energy density, dead birds, or even legislation. It’s the NIMBY phenomenon (or “Not in my backyard”), as a recent Forbes article makes clear – since 2015, there’ve been 317 wind energy rejections, many of them in towns and locales that might otherwise hold fa

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09/28/2021

The Heat is on

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

One of those persistent problems that has never fully been overcome in electronics is thermal management. At the moment the best we can do is try design more efficient products that give out less heat in combination with trying dissipate any heat generated effectively. These methods can range from a simple vent in a

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09/22/2021

Honor CEO Zhao Ming. His company faces a possible U.S. blacklist over their former association with Huawei.

U.S. Split on Whether to Blacklist Former Huawei Smartphone Company

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

It’s been awhile since we talked about Huawei, but it seems they’re back in the news – tangentially this time. According to The Verge, the U.S. Government is apparently split on whether to blacklist Honor, formerly of Huawei. That “former” is important – in November of last year, the smartp

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09/21/2021

Chip Shortage Expected to Last for a While

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

It’s coming on two years now that we have had to live under pandemic conditions. At first the whole world basically shut down apart from those doing front line work in our hospitals and our food supply chains. Now, most of the developed world is coming out of lockdowns and trying to get back to normality. This is bei

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09/15/2021

Teslas wouldn't be eligible for an EV tax credit under the proposed budget reconciliation bill.

New EV Tax Credit in Budget Proposal Favors Domestic Production

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

If the proposed budget reconciliation bill passes, it would include a huge electric vehicle tax credit, though it’s not without some stipulations. The $3.5 trillion “Budget Reconciliation Legislative Recommendations Relating to Infrastructure Financing, Green Energy, Social Safety Net, and Prescription Drug P

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09/14/2021

CHRIS RICHARDS / UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Autonomous robot swarms being developed to mine lunar resources

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

It’s funny how often life mirrors art at times. A few years ago, I used to play a computer game called Eve Online. It was a fascinating game that was set in space. It had an economy almost like the real world, and at one stage the developers, CCP, hired a real economist to study the game economy. All the spaceships in

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09/08/2021

The mini LED-backlit MacBook Pros could be delayed by the global semiconductor shortage.

Global Chip Shortage Could Delay Apple Product(s)

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Apparently, no one is safe from the global semiconductor shortage – including one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable consumer brands. DigiTimesAsia is reporting that the chip shortage could delay the launch of Apple’s mini LED-backlit MacBook Pros. The consensus seems to be that it’ll launch in October or November, though all of this seems uncertain and contingent on a number of factors (like no more COVID-related work stoppage

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09/05/2021

Blown Away by Wind Power

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Last weekend I had to take a trip from the south west of Scotland to the north west of England. It is a fairly unpopulated area along the M6 motorway for most of that distance. One thing that did surprise me was the amount of wind turbine installations. I had read a lot of news articles on installations, but it

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Date:

09/01/2021