Editor Blogs

March 2023

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President Biden Invokes Defense Production Act for PCB Production

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

When President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law on August 9, 2022, the industry was generally happy about the new legislation. Plans went into place quickly to invest in new fabs using grants from the roughly $280 billion in new funding that had been allocated to boost domestic research and manufa

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Date:

03/29/2023

RS adds paid features to DesignSpark PCB software

RS Gives More Information on DesignSpark Access Levels

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Earlier this year, RS announced that it was changing the way that users had access to the company’s Designspark community. It now has three subscription levels for members - ‘DesignSpark Explorer’, ‘DesignSpark Creator’ and ‘DesignSpark Engineer’, with each level offering different levels of access

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Date:

03/28/2023

New Polymer Coating Could Extend Lifetime of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Lithium-ion batteries are becoming the lifeblood of our new electrified future – especially on the automotive side – and a new conductive polymer coating -- called HOS-PFM -- could enable longer lasting, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. It’s hard to sneeze these days without running in

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Date:

03/27/2023

Fuel Cells from Honda's Retired Hydrogen Vehicle, Seen Here, Could be Repurposed for Data Center

Fuel Cells from Honda's Retired Hydrogen Vehicle Could be Repurposed for Data Center

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Honda fuel cells are about to get a new lease on life. While hydrogen won’t be taking over the automotive world anytime soon, the Japanese automaker has found an interesting way to repurpose the only retail example of a hydrogen fuel cell car. They’ll be using the car’s fuel cells backup power for the

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Date:

03/20/2023

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A mixed response to UK budget

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

Wednesday was budget day for the UK. That is the occasion when the Chancellor of the Exchequer lays out the funding priorities for the next year on behalf of the government. It is a big day for both individuals and companies and forms the basis for financial plans. This year was no different, one of the big p

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Date:

03/16/2023

BMW will Invest Nearly $860 in Mexico Battery Plant to Help Build its NEUE KLASSE EV.

BMW will Invest Nearly $860 in Mexico Battery Plant

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

BMW is going south of the border to help with its goal of making 50% of its car sales EVs by 2030 – the German automaker announced an $858 million investment to build out its EV/battery factory in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Specifically, the plant will help produce the EV version of BMW’s NEUE KLASSE (“new class”), based on the fa

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Date:

03/13/2023

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UK Government Urged to Help Secure Supply Chain

Ally Winning, European Editor, PSD

The COVID-19 pandemic damaged the global supply chain, maybe beyond repair. The semiconductor shortage that the pandemic caused provided the incentive that some countries needed to try to build more localised regional supply chains. The US cited national security, and to ‘build back better’ US industry,

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Date:

03/08/2023

Oxford Bus Company Places Huge Electric Bus Order

Jason Lomberg, North American Editor, PSD

Heavy duty and commercial vehicles — plus aviation — are the last frontier for electrification. But even buses are gradually moving away from fossil fuels, like for example, Oxford Bus Company, which just ordered 104 Wrightbus electric buses. The industry, itself, has been booming as of late, seeing exponential grow

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Date:

03/06/2023