Industry News

June 2018
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. - Sager Electronics announced it was the recipient of RAFI’s first Distributor of the Year award. RAFI announced the honor at the 2018 Electronics Distribution Show (EDS) held May 15-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "We are excited to recognize Sager Electronics as our Distributor of the Ye
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/29/2018
How Smart Technology Gadgets Can Avoid Speed Limits

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have discovered why there is a speed limit on how fast the properties of light can be changed with the help of specially designed materials. This new understanding can point the way forward for the next generation of consumer electronics, such as smart watches, screens and glasses.

Speed limits apply not only to traffic. There are limitations on the control of light as well, in optical switches for internet traffic, for example. Physicists at Chalmers University of Technology now understand why it is not possible to increase the speed beyond a certain limit - and know the circumstances in
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/28/2018
Brighton: Advanced Material Development (AMD) has raised a total of £750,000 in funding, as the company launches its plan to exploit the commercial potential of applications for graphene and other 2D nanomaterials. The company will contribute £600,000 to fund several distinct research projects conducted by th
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/28/2018
Generating more electricity from solar cells and conducting further research into so-called singlet fission. This is what scientists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) are currently working on as part of a joint research project conducted in collaboration with Argonne-Northwestern Solar En
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/28/2018
Amsterdam, The Netherlands - XALT Energy’s XPAND Battery system has been certified as acceptable for installation on all marine vessels classified by DNV GL.  XALT Energy is a leading U.S. manufacturer of lithium-ion cells and battery systems. They announced today at the Electric & Hybrid Marine World Ex
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/27/2018
Clean Power is Not Enough

Due to residual fossil fuel emissions that would remain even with very stringent climate policies enacted from 2020 on, so-called negative emission technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be necessary to comply with the 1.5°C limit.

Coal power versus wind and solar energy - debates about the Paris climate targets often centre around electricity supply. Yet, even in a world of stringent climate policies and a clean power generation, the remaining use of fossil fuels in industry, transport and heating in buildings could still cause enough CO
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/27/2018
BNAs Improve Performance of Li-ion Batteries

Fig. (a) are the galvanostatic charge-discharge curves of BNAs integrated electrode at a current density of 25 μA cm-2 . The 1st, 2nd discharge capacities of BNAs integrated electrode are 2471.5, 2311.7 μAh·cm-2 (1861.8, 1741.4 mAh g-1). Fig. (b) reveals the rate capability of BNAs integrated electrode at current densities of 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 μAh·cm-2 respectively. The discharge capacities are 1219, 1128, 972, 678, 430 μAh·cm-2 (918.2, 849.7, 732.2, 510.7, 323.9 mAh g-1), respectively. Fig. (c) shows the cycling stability of BNAs integrated electrodes. Reversible capacity of BNAs integrated electrodes can maintain a capacity of 410 μAh·cm-2 (308.8 mAh g-1, at a current density of 320 μAh·cm-2) after 600 cycles. When the current density was 75 μAh·cm-2, the electrode exhibits a high capacity of 600 μAh·cm-2 (451.9 mAh g-1) after 500 cycles. The above results show that the integration of active material and current collector can greatly improve the capacity, rate ability and cyclical stability of the battery.

Recent research published in a paper in NANO by a group of researchers from Northeastern University investigate the effect of hierarchical Bi2MoO6 nanosheet arrays growing on three-dimensional Ni foam synthesized by one-step template-free route. The obtained BNAs used directly as binder-free integrated electrod
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/27/2018
FREMONT, Calif. – The OpenFog Consortium’s OpenFog Reference Architecture for fog computing has been adopted as an official standard by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA). The new standard, known as IEEE 1934, relies on the reference architecture as a universal technical framework that enables the da
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/26/2018
Des Plaines, IL— A new industry-led collaborative research consortium will work to advance methane science to better understand global methane emissions and the need for additional solutions. The Collaboratory for Advancing Methane Science (CAMS) will pursue scientific studies addressing methane emissions fro
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/26/2018
A New Design For Ultra-Thin Capacitive Sensors

Binghamton University, State University at New York. This is distinguished Professor Ron Miles.

BINGHAMTON, NY - As part of ongoing acoustic research at Binghamton University, State University at New York Distinguished Professor Ron Miles has created a workable sensor with the least possible resistance to motion. The thin and flexible sensor is ideal for sensing sounds because it can move with the airflow ma
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/26/2018
DOE Funds Field Test of Rice's Solar Desalination Technology

A scaled-up NESMD test bed during a 2017 demonstration at NEWT, an NSF-funded engineering research center at Rice University. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

HOUSTON -- The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $1.7 million to a Rice University-led team for further development and field testing of an innovative desalination technology that uses nanoparticles and sunlight to treat water. Rice's "nanophotonics-enabled solar membrane distillation" technology
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/26/2018
Vassilis Kekatos Receives Award to Diagnose Power Grid

Vassilis Kekatos

The U.S. power grid, after faithfully delivering electricity to our neighborhoods for generations, is facing significant change to how it operates — thanks to solar-panel installations, wind farms, new energy storage systems, and even electric cars. As utilities meet the challenges of incorp
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/25/2018
Cosel announces it acquires The Powerbox Group

From left to right:
Mr. Martin Sjöstrand, CEO of Powerbox ; Mr. Masato Tanikawa, Cosel President and CEO

Cosel Co, Ltd has announced that it has acquired The Powerbox Group. The Powerbox Group and its subsidiaries employ 120 people, with a consolidated turnover of more than €40m throughout 15 countries. With design centers in Sweden (HQ), Germany & Netherlands as well as offices throughout Europe, USA, China an
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/25/2018
Artificial Vision Enables Solar Field Calibration Overnight

A digital camera mounted experimentally on a sample heliostat 'sees' the infrared light on the tower

Researchers have developed a prototype for calibrating an entire solar field in a single night, shaving months off the current calibration system for large size Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) tower plants. In tower CSP, an encircling solar field of thousands of heliostats (specialized mirrors) must continuously and precisel
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/22/2018
Office of Naval Research Invests in Purdue Battery Safety Technology

Purdue students have conducted battery safety research that industry partners and research organizations are helping to translate into the larger batteries of naval warfare.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Fundamental Purdue University research on making batteries safer has been targeted by the U.S. Office of Naval Research for translation into prototypes of larger batteries used in technologies such as submarines and naval missile systems. The prototype development process, supported
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/22/2018
Graphene Film Shows Higher Conductivity Than Graphite Film

In the graphene film, phonons -- quantum particles that describe thermal conductivity -- can move faster in the graphene layers rather than interact between the layers, thereby leading to higher thermal conductivity.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a graphene assembled film that has over 60 percent higher thermal conductivity than graphite film - despite the fact that graphite simply consists of many layers of graphene. The graphene film shows great potential as a novel heat spreading ma
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/21/2018
Evaluation Method for the Impact of Wind Power Fluctuation on Power System Quality

The left figure is an example of time series of fluctuation of power generation outputs. The right figure shows the histogram of the frequency of corresponding power fluctuation. When we can assume mild fluctuation as illustrated by the red line, modeling with normal distribution is acceptable. However, wind power generation fluctuation contains abrupt changes as illustrated by the blue line. Consequently, the corresponding histogram has slowly-decaying heavy tails, which represents the extremal outliers.

Abrupt changes of wind power generation output are a source of severe damage to power systems. Researchers at Kyoto University developed a stochastic modeling method that enables to evaluate the impact of such phenomena. The feature of the method lies in its significant computational effectiveness in comparison to
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/20/2018
Electron Sandwich Doubles Thermoelectric Performance

Conceptual drawing of the superlattice in which spread electrons are confined to a narrow space to enhance thermoelectric conversion.

Researchers more than doubled the ability of a material to convert heat into electricity, which could help reduce the amount of wasted heat, and thus wasted fossil fuel, in daily activities and industries. Researchers from Hokkaido University and their colleagues in Japan and Taiwan have improved the abili
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/20/2018
Ground-Breaking Discoveries Could Create Superior Alloys With Many Applications

This is a sample holder inside a focus ion beam (FIB) milling microscope used to create thin foils for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies.

Many current and future technologies require alloys that can withstand high temperatures without corroding. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have hailed a major breakthrough in understanding how alloys behave at high temperatures, pointing the way to significant improvements in ma
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/19/2018
TDK Named a Clarivate Analytics Top 100 Global Innovator

Shigenao Ishiguro, President and CEO of TDK Corporation, and Yoshiko Tanahashi, Director of Clarivate Analytics Japan

TDK Corporation announced that it has been selected as one of the 2017 Top 100 Global Innovators (http://top100innovators.clarivate.com/content/tdk) by Clarivate Analytics (formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters). This is the fourth time TDK has been named to the prestigious lis
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/19/2018
Could This Material Enable Autonomous Vehicles to Come to Market Sooner?

Artist's rendering of light interacting with BaTiS3 crystals.

One of the leading challenges for autonomous vehicles is to ensure that they can detect and sense objects--even through dense fog. Compared to the current visible light-based cameras, infrared cameras can offer much better visibility through the fog, smoke or tiny particles that can scatter the visible light. Within the air,
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/19/2018
XP Power announced that it has acquired the business and assets of Glassman High Voltage Inc., a US-based designer and manufacturer of high voltage, high power, power supplies.   The $44.5 million deal expands XP Power's product offering into standard, modified and custom high voltage, high power conversio
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/18/2018
DOE to cut Solar Tower Costs by Pairing Novel Techs With sCO2 Loop

Three new solar thermal technologies, solid (particles), liquid (molten salts), and gas (sCO2) are to be combined with a Brayton power loop to bring down costs of solar towers; the future of 24-hour solar.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $72 million in funding of three novel pathways aimed at raising temperature and efficiency in order to lower costs for three Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) tower technologies over the next five years. The three technology pathways, comprising solid (particle
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/15/2018
Is The Energy-Storing Solar Cell Soon to be Reality?
How to store solar energy is the central challenge facing the energy reform. Alongside traditional solutions - such as solar cells or batteries - creative chemical concepts for storing energy are paving the way for entirely new opportunities. Intramolecular reactions are making it possible for solar energy to be
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/15/2018
MENDHAM, NJ— The Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) is pleased to announce that the second biennial International Symposium on 3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing (3D-PEIM-18) will be held June 25-27, 2018, on the campus of the University of Maryland. Following on the success of th
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/13/2018
Tempel Changzhou Opens State-of-the-Art Automotive Focus Factory

Tempel Changzhou Automotive Focus Factory located in Changzhou, China.

CHICAGO, IL – Tempel Steel Co. has announced a new dedicated state-of-the-art facility on the Tempel Changzhou campus that specializes in high-technology, complex automotive laminations and motor cores. The approximately 30,000 square foot facility will be operational by Fall 2018. Facility highlights:
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/13/2018
Omron Automation Americas Announces FY17 Distributor of the Year Award Winners
Hoffman Estates, IL.  –  Industrial automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas recently announced the 2017 fiscal year’s winners of the prestigious Distributor of the Year award at its FY18 Sales Conference during the week of May 21st. Over 650 persons representing Omron and its channel pa
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/12/2018
Taipei, Taiwan– ADLINK Technology has joined forces with Fair Friend Group (FFG) to develop the new ROS2 toward Converged 5G for Factories of the Future project. The collaboration integrates wireless 5G network technologies with ROS2 (Robot Operating System 2) platforms to provide system architecture enabling real-time
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/12/2018
New 28-GHz Transceiver Paves The Way For Future 5G Devices

The fabricated transceiver only measures 3 mm × 4 mm and consists of four transmitting and receiving elements. The subcomponents of TRX1 are displayed.

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have designed and fabricated a tiny, but incredibly fast, reliable, and accurate 28-GHz transceiver meant for stable high-speed 5G communications. The fabricated transceiver trumps previous designs in various regards by taking a new approach for beam steering. The importanc
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/11/2018
Rutgers Physicists Create New Class of 2D Artificial Materials

This image shows the positions of atoms in a ferroelectric-like metal that contains barium titanate, strontium titanate and lanthanum titanate.

In 1965, a renowned Princeton University physicist theorized that ferroelectric metals could conduct electricity despite not existing in nature. For decades, scientists thought it would be impossible to prove the theory by Philip W. Anderson, who shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in physics. It was like trying to
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/11/2018
New Wind Turbines Are Even Efficient in Low Winds
VTT Research Centre of Technology (VTT) has explored the potential and economic benefits of new wind power technology. The technology would greatly increase the benefits of wind energy and enable the competitive utilisation of wind power in Finland. Heavy investments are being made in wind power, which hig
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/11/2018
AVX Joins the Electronics Representatives Association
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. – AVX Corporation has joined the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) as a manufacturer member. “AVX is proud to become a member of the ERA,” said Alex Schenkel, vice president of global sales, AVX. “The ERA is one of the most respected international trade organizations in the gl
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/08/2018
Acopian Announces 2018 Power Supply Engineering Scholarship Winner

Mr. Ian Templeton, 2018 Acopian Power Supply Engineering Scholarship Winner

Easton, PA... Acopian Power Supplies announced that Ian Templeton of Ewing, New Jersey has been named the recipient of the annual Acopian Power Supply Engineering Scholarship.  The scholarship program was established to help talented engineering students, enrolled full-time in an undergraduate United States col
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/07/2018
As Solar Wind Blows, our Heliosphere Balloons
What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon outward -- and an analysis of particles rebounding off of its edges will reveal its new shape. In late 2014, NASA spacecraft detected a substanti
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/07/2018
Flexible Solar Cells: Will They Someday Power Your Devices?
Will you ever be able to charge your mobile device, car and even clothing with flexible solar cells? Researchers at Aalto University in Finland and Université de Montréal are studying whether the now-experimental technology could someday be mass-produced and commercialized, and some of the issues that have to
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/06/2018
Vermont Start-Up's Small Packets a Big Deal For Energy Industry

Energetic growth. The UVM spinoff company Packetized Energy is on a roll, adding staff, customers and business partners at an impressive clip. Surrounded by full and part-time staff in the company's new offices in Chace Mill are (left to right) faculty founders Mads Almassalkhi, Jeff Frolik and Paul Hines and new company CEO Scott Johnstone. The company's clever algorithms help utilities tap the potential of renewables like solar and wind.

It's been a whirlwind few months for Packetized Energy, the energy sector start-up spun off from a large Department of Energy project in 2016 by three University of Vermont electrical engineering faculty, Paul Hines, Jeff Frolik and Mads Almassalkhi. Since late last year, the firm completed a pilot with the B
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/06/2018
Rockford Systems Announces Partnership with Unitrol Electronics to Distribute Soft Touch Pinch-Point Safety System
ROCKFORD, IL -- Rockford Systems, LLC. announced a distribution partnership with Unitrol Electronics, Inc. As a distribution partner, Rockford Systems will provide sales, installation and technical support on the revolutionary Soft Touch Pinch-Point Safety System for spot welder and pneumatic riveter customers, de
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/04/2018
Atomically Thin Nanowires Convert Heat to Electricity More Efficiently

This is a diagram showing one-dimensional nanowires conducting waste heat to electricity.

Waste heat can be converted to electricity more efficiently using one-dimensional nanoscale materials as thin as an atom - ushering a new way of generating sustainable energy - thanks to new research by the University of Warwick. Led by Drs Andrij Vasylenko, Samuel Marks, Jeremy Sloan and David Quigley from Warw
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/04/2018
In Nearly Zero Energy Buildings Special Attention Must be Paid to Window Design
When analysing the different impact of static and dynamic solar shading on nZEBs, the research group developed a tool that the architects and engineers can easily use in software programs in order to facilitate reduction of heat losses already in the designing phase. Dynamic solar shadings (which, unlike static sh
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/04/2018
Designer Materials With Completely Random Structures Might Enable Quantum Computing

Randomly sprinkled magnetic atoms (red arrows) on a superconducting surface may give rise to a topological superconducting phase. Inset: The onset of the topological phase is signaled by the appearance of so-called Majorana edge mode encircling the system.

Topological randomness may be the answer for lossless electronics and making the nuts and bolts of quantum computers. Complete randomness in the structures of superconductors and insulators could lower the requirements of pristine crystalline ordering - and make them more accessible to industry. Designing quantum m
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/04/2018
KYOTO, Japan and OTTAWA, Canada –  ROHM and GaN Systems announced their collaboration in the GaN (gallium nitride) Power Semiconductor business, with the goal of contributing to the continuing evolution of power electronics. This strategic partnership leverages GaN Systems’ industry leading capabilit
. . . Learn More
Date:
06/04/2018
Archives

 


-->