Wide band gap semiconductors like gallium nitride appear to be a case where you can have your cake and eat it too. With a high breakdown voltage, and a higher switching frequency compared to silicon, the technology would lend itself to multiple applications, but GaN devices also offer higher power density and high thermal conductivity, making them uniquely adaptable to both power and signal applications.

EEworldonline.com editor-in-chief Aimee Kalnoskas explains how and why it works in conversation with engineering.com’s Jim Anderton. 

For the audio only version:

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Catch up on the latest engineering innovations with more Industry Insights & Trends videos and podcasts.

The post Why gallium nitride is the next big thing in semiconductors appeared first on Engineering.com.

This episode of Designing the Future is brought to you by New England Wire.

Imagine an electrical design engineering challenge where usual cost and time-to-market pressures co-exist with the need to build equipment on which lives depend on performance and reliability.

That’s the world that medical device designers work in, and like all electrical equipment, moving power and signals through cables is a fundamental part of the product. Safety is always a consideration, but in the medical device industry, designers must also work within a highly regulated environment. Cables must endure everything from sterilizing agents to stray RF radiation, to mechanical shock, yet the choice of cabling is often left late in the engineering design process. There are, however, good reasons to think about cable design in medical equipment early in the process.

Jim Anderton spoke with Joshua Spaulding, Design Engineering Manager with New England Wire Technologies about the challenge of cabling in medical devices, and how to spec the right product. 

* * * 
Learn more about New England Wire’s design and manufacturing of high-performance, custom cables in medical electronics.

The post Medical device design: Cables that deliver in a tough, critical environment  appeared first on Engineering.com.

AllSpice.io, a collaboration platform for electrical engineers, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. The company says that the funding will help it scale its enterprise features and bring the AllSpice AI Agent out of private beta.

Lately many engineering software developers are taking their cues from software in other domains. AllSpice was inspired by software development itself. It resembles the developer platform GitHub, offering a CAD-agnostic repository for design files with version control, branching and merging, comments and comparisons, and more.

And of course, no modern engineering software platform would be complete without some AI thrown in for good measure. AllSpice says its AI Agent is “like adding a superhuman to your team” that can analyze designs for errors, suggest improvements, and create documentation.

“By significantly building out our Gen AI capabilities, largely leveraged by the fact that we understand these design files so well, you can transform this data to present extremely impactful decisions for hardware engineering teams,” Kyle Dumont, AllSpice co-founder and CTO, said in the press release.

The Series A round, which was led by Rethink Impact, brings AllSpice’s total venture capital investments to $25 million.

Siemens introduces Design Copilot NX and other updates

Siemens has announced the latest updates to NX and NX X (now part of the Designcenter suite). Since no modern engineering software platform would be complete without some AI thrown in for good measure, Siemens has introduced the new Design Copilot NX.

“By leveraging natural language input and querying, the NX copilot capabilities enable users to find answers to technical queries, best practices and documentation quickly and efficiently,” according to the Siemens release.

In other words: another product support chatbot. Wake me up when it does something Google couldn’t ten years ago.

(To be fair, NX CAM has some interesting AI features that I learned about at Siemens Realize Live 2025 in Detroit. Stay tuned for upcoming coverage of that.)

Alongside Design Copilot NX, the latest release also includes NX Immersive Collaborator, the ability for multiple NX users to share a simultaneous session in virtual reality; NX Inspector, which extends NX’s model-based definition with characteristics for downstream quality and manufacturing processes; Design for Manufacture (DFM) Advisor, which analyzes part geometry to reveal manufacturing challenges and offer suggestions; an improved NX Mold Wizard with enhanced cooling channel simulation tools; and NX CFD Designer software, a new design simulation tool based on FLOEFD.

You can find more details on the update in Siemens’ announcement.

The engineering AI gap

It turns out there’s a pretty big gap between what engineers expect out of AI and what it can currently do, according to new research from SimScale. The cloud simulation developer commissioned a survey of 300 senior engineers about AI and published their findings in a report called The State of Engineering AI 2025.

The big takeaway is that, while engineers are reporting mild productivity gains today, they believe that the technology can offer much more. Here’s a comparison of their reality against their expectations:

The trick, of course, is how to get from here to there. I recently moderated a webinar that digs deeper into the survey results with SimScale CEO David Heiny and Nvidia distinguished CAE architect Neil Ashton. You can watch it on demand here: Mind the Engineering AI Gap: Why Engineering Teams are Struggling to Realize the AI Opportunity and How to Fix It.

Design and Simulation Week 2025

Engineering.com’s second annual Design and Simulation Week is not just any week, it’s next week.

Starting Monday, July 14, this series of expert webinars will explore the top trends in engineering software from some of the leading voices in the industry (and me). You’ll learn about AI, automation, multiphysics and how to make the most of modern tools.

Register for Design and Simulation Week now.

Quick hits

• Siemens has closed its $5.1 billion acquisition of Dotmatics. That was quick—they announced the deal back in April and didn’t expect to finalize it until at least October.
• Mastercam has released Mastercam 2026, the latest release of its CAM software. The update adds several productivity enhancements alongside a new—make sure you’re sitting down—AI product support chatbot thrown in for good measure, called Mastercam Copilot.
• Onshape just celebrated its 200^th release. Right on, Onshape.

One last link

Engineering.com editor Ian Wright writes on the history and subtypes of electric propulsion in The state of electric propulsion in aircraft.

Got news, tips, comments, or complaints? Send them my way: malba@wtwhmedia.com.

The post AllSpice.io raises $15M to scale GitHub-inspired EE platform appeared first on Engineering.com.

As modern vehicles grow more sophisticated, automakers are integrating an increasing number of electronic features inside the cabin. Infotainment systems, steering wheel controls, LED lighting arrays, heads-up displays, smart mirrors, and power-operated windows and seats all rely on compact, high-performance electronics embedded throughout the vehicle interior.

Unlike “outside-the-box” connectors—those used in safety-critical environments and governed by standards such as USCAR — “inside-the-box” connectors are installed within sealed electronic modules. These internal modules don’t face the same thermal extremes but must still operate under conditions of shock and vibration within a limited space.

To address these constraints, Molex offers a range of miniaturized connectors engineered specifically for use within automotive electronic modules. These products support flexible configurations and incorporate features that help guard against common points of failure—offering practical solutions for a wide variety of in-cabin systems.

“Although automotive standards like USCAR and LV214 aren’t required, we still design our products and test them to many of these standards just as an added layer of assurance to de-risk the connectors in these applications,” says Nathan Piette, Group Product Manager for the Power and Signal business unit at Molex.

Key Molex “Inside the Box” Products

The Micro-Fit 3.0 connector system is a longstanding option in Molex’s compact connector lineup. With a 3.0 mm pitch and current ratings up to 10.5 A per pin, it comes in a wide range of configurations, including wire-to-wire, wire-to-board, and board-to-board. Designers can choose from termination styles such as through-hole, surface-mount, and compliant pin. Most versions are rated to 105°C, with some extending to 125°C. The system supports both V-0 and V-2 resin types and offers either tin or gold terminal plating. While tin is the standard choice for cost reasons, gold offers a corrosion-resistant alternative for harsher environments.

For additional retention strength, an optional terminal position assurance (TPA) feature helps ensure terminals are fully seated during assembly, reducing the risk of intermittent connections caused by incomplete insertion. TPAs also prevent terminals from backing out if cables are tugged or bent after installation.

Micro-Fit+ builds on this platform with improved current handling—up to 13 A per pin, with a 14-gauge option in development that will raise it to 15 A. It also reduces mating force by around 40% compared to standard Micro-Fit and other comparable solutions. Added features include a connector position assurance (CPA) mechanism to reduce the risk of unmating by providing a secondary locking feature, as well as TPA for terminal retention. The entire system is rated to 125°C.

“That’s a T3 level in USCAR automotive parlance,” says Piette. “A lot of inside-the-box applications only require 85°C or 105°C temperature rating. This is a super robust system that far exceeds the performance requirements of the typical use case.”

“It’s a premium product,” adds John Crimmins, Worldwide Account Manager at Molex. “It’s foolproof. You can’t mismate it. It’s the highest power in the industry for something that small.”

Where space constraints are more pressing, the Micro-Lock Plus series offers pitches as small as 1.25 mm and 2 mm, with 1.5 mm on the way. The mated retention force — the force required to pull the connectors apart once they’re engaged — is 49 N, which is unusually high for this class of interconnects.

“When you think of small connector systems, you might think they’re flimsy or maybe delicate,” says Piette. “This is a reliable, robust micro-miniature wire-to-board system.”

The product family also supports potting, so it’s well-suited for customers who use epoxy, conformal coating, or other techniques to seal their boards against environmental ingress. The 1.25 mm version supports up to 3.6 amps per pin; the 2 mm version supports up to 4.7 amps. The series also includes TPA features.

“Molex has the broadest portfolio of micro-miniature wire-to-wire and wire-to-board products from 2 mm pitch and below on the market,” says Piette.

The Pico-Clasp family is Molex’s flagship signal connector in the micro-miniature wire-to-board category. With a 1 mm pitch, it offers one of the most compact footprints in the portfolio. The series includes a wide range of layout and termination styles, including vertical and right-angle orientations, single- and dual-row formats, and surface-mount versions. A variety of locking features are also available, including friction locks for basic retention, and both outer and inner positive locks that provide audible feedback during mating.

“Our over-80-year history of connector design and manufacturing know-how really sets us apart —especially in the power and signal space,” says Piette. “These products are core to our product portfolios overall, and so widely used and applied in the market. We have had a lot of experience and feedback in developing and optimizing these. Micro-Fit has been out for decades. The rest of the world has since copied and pasted that design because of its industry-leading quality and capabilities.”

“While some competitors have a lot of these attributes, rarely any of them have all,” adds Crimmins. “We have the most options, and they’re readily available through TTI with no lead time.”

To learn more, visit Molex at TTI.

The post Advancing automotive electronics by thinking inside the box appeared first on Engineering.com.

Electric vehicles (EVs) continue to grow in popularity and market share, and electric current is the fuel of the future. Current sensors are a critical component of today’s EVs, serving two primary applications according to Ajibola Fowowe, global offering manager at Honeywell.

“The battery management system (BMS) uses current sensors, in conjunction with other sensors such as the voltage and temperature sensors, to monitor the state of charge and overall health of the battery pack. The other use for current sensors is in motor control, where it is relied on to quickly detect and isolate a fault in the electric drive,” Fowowe told engineering.com.

Regardless of use case, there are several considerations EV engineers must understand when selecting among the many available current sensors. Here’s what you need to know.

Types of EV current sensors

There are different types of current sensors that each have advantages and disadvantages for EV applications.

Closed loop current sensors

Closed loop current sensors have a feedback system for improved measurement accuracy. A magnetic core concentrates the magnetic field generated by the flow of current and provides a proportional voltage to the amount of current detected in the core. This enables the sensor to generate a precise current measurement. Because of their high accuracy and stability, closed loop sensors are well suited for use in the BMS.

The Honeywell CSNV 500 is a closed loop current sensor rated for a primary current measurement range of ±500 amps of direct current. The CSNV 500 features a proprietary Honeywell temperature compensation algorithm with digital CAN output, to provide high accuracy readings within ±0.5% error over the temperature range of -40⁰ to 85⁰ C for robust system performance and reliability.

The Honeywell CSNV 500 closed loop current sensor. (Image: Honeywell.)

Open loop current sensors

Open loop current sensors operate on the principle of magnetic induction. They consist of a primary winding, through which the current travels, and a secondary winding that measures the induced voltage. Open loop sensors require less additional electronics and processing compared to closed loop sensors, resulting in faster response times. However, they require additional calibration because they are more prone to variations in heat and magnetic field. This means they are also less accurate — reaching approximately 2% error of the primary readings.

The fast response time of open loop current sensors makes them ideal for motor control functions. Motor control applications don’t require the same level of precision as the BMS, so the loss of accuracy compared to a closed loop or flux gate sensor isn’t critical.

The Honeywell CSHV line of open loop sensors have a range of 100 amps to 1,500 amps, and their response times are as fast as six microseconds. They are used in fault isolation and fault detection, as well as controlling motor speed. They can also be used in battery management systems that do not require very high accuracy, such as in hybrid electric vehicles. These sensors use AEC-Q100 qualified integrated circuits to meet high quality and reliability requirements.

The Honeywell CSHV series open loop sensor. (Image: Honeywell.)

Honeywell’s CSNV 1500 has both closed loop and open loop functionality. This enables the sensor to meet an accuracy requirement of 1%, and is designed for applications that require high accuracy. The CSNV 1500 is used for similar EV applications as the CSNV 500, as well as stationary energy storage systems and industrial operations.

Flux gate current sensors

Flux gate current sensors measure changes in the magnetic flux of a current as it passes through a magnetic loop, from which it can derive current measurements. The Honeywell CSNV 700 is designed for applications that fall between 500 A and 1,000 A requirements. It has a better zero-offset and higher sensing range than 500 amps sensors—but it also has higher power consumption than a closed loop sensor. The CSNV 700 has similar accuracy rating as the CSNV 500, at 0.5%, and it also uses AEC-Q100 qualified integrated circuits.

As with closed loop sensors, the flux gate sensor is best used in BMS settings that require high accuracy. When using flux gate sensors, however, engineers need to be mindful of their higher power requirements, which could consume more battery energy.

Honeywell’s CSSV 1500 is a combination open loop and flux gate sensor. It was designed to meet Automotive Safety Integrity Level C (ASIL-C) requirements for safety-critical applications where customers desire a higher level of reliability and performance. While many 1500 A sensors consume more power, the combination of open loop and flux gate technologies uses less power while still meeting the accuracy and functional safety requirements. It meets Automotive Safety Integrity Level C (ASIL C) requirements for safety critical applications. This requirement is typical of battery electric vehicles (BEV).

Shunt current sensors

A shunt current sensor measures the voltage drop across a sense resistor placed in the conduction path between a power source and a load. It is an inline current sensor connected directly to the busbar; closed loop, open loop and flux gate sensors are non-contact sensors that don’t have that direct connection.

One of the benefits of a shunt sensor is that it can provide an instantaneous measurement of current. However, it generates more heat and contributes to power loss in the circuit. This creates parasitic energy waste. Fowowe says that advancements in shunt technology is increasing its attractiveness in high voltage systems and Honeywell is actively researching additional value that can be derived from the application of shunt technology such as the potential combination of current and voltage measurements into one sensor to reduce the overall cost of the BMS.

Other key considerations for EV current sensors

In addition to considering which sensor to use in which application, engineers will also need to factor in other variables. Since the sensor needs to work properly in a magnetized environment, its capacity to handle magnetic interference is important. For BMS applications that rely on a high level of accuracy, engineers will need to consider the sensor’s zero-offset, which is the amount of deviation in output or reading from the lowest end of the measurement range.

Ease of integration is also important to consider. EVs can use either controller area network (CAN bus) standard or analog outputs. CAN communication is more common in the BMS. CAN bus communication speed is limited by the CAN protocol to 10 milliseconds, which is acceptable for the BMS. For more immediate measurements, motor control functions use analog outputs, which can respond in microseconds.

Another factor to be mindful of is the EV’s driving environment. EVs need to be able to function properly in any conditions, from a heat wave in Arizona to a snowstorm in New York. Therefore, the sensor’s operating temperature range needs to be factored in. According to Fowowe, Honeywell’s sensors are built to maintain performance in temperatures ranging from -40 to 85 degrees Celsius; the sensors feature a Honeywell patented multi-point temperature compensation algorithm to ensure the sensors can deliver very high accuracy and performance under any driving condition.

To learn more about current sensors for EVs, visit Honeywell at TTI.

The post What engineers need to know about current sensors for EV applications appeared first on Engineering.com.

High above contested airspace, a military aircraft locks onto its objective, preparing to engage. But then, systems flicker—navigation data skews, a communication signal drops out. The culprit is electromagnetic interference (EMI), disrupting key onboard functions at the worst possible time.

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) refers to a device’s capacity to operate as intended in the presence of external electromagnetic interference, while also avoiding emissions that interfere with nearby systems via conducted or radiated paths. When that balance is off, the result is non-EMC: systems that suffer malfunction, data corruption, or outright failure.

Managing EMI is becoming increasingly difficult as electronics grow more complex and densely integrated. Today’s systems rely heavily on high-speed processors, wireless technology, RF/microwave components, and compact power supplies—all of which are more sensitive to interference while simultaneously being more likely to generate it.

As the potential for EMI increases, it becomes all the more important for engineers to address it early in the design process.

How Spectrum Control Tackles EMI Challenges

Spectrum Control designs EMI solutions for a range of sectors, including military and aerospace, medical and measurement, and telecom, industrial and energy.

“It might be a control circuit for electronic warfare, or it might be an MRI machine—the problems end up being the same no matter what industry you’re in,” says Jeff Chereson, Director of Engineering at Spectrum Control.

The company produces a wide range of EMI mitigation components, including board-level filters, panel mount filters, filtered connectors, and chassis mount power line filters. “The focus is on putting our EMI solutions at the point of entry into the system, where you get maximum effectiveness,” says Chereson.

While Spectrum Control offers off-the-shelf solutions, customization plays an equally important role in their business, if not a larger one.

“A lot of our custom work is derivative of our catalog offerings,” says Matthew McAlevy, Engineering Manager at Spectrum Control. “For example, if you have a D-sub and want selective load filtering—where our catalog D-subs will have the same filter value on all lines, we can customize that and put different circuit values on individual lines. We can do mechanical customizations for different mounting configurations and higher-end sealing or ruggedization.”

These tailored solutions are shaped not just by customers’ preferences, but by their EMC requirements. “Depending on the industry, you’ll get a whole plethora of specs you have to meet,” says Chereson. “We try to get customers to meet their EMC requirements via a filter, but often there are also power, size, safety and ruggedization constraints to work within. Some of the time, we get the specification at the eleventh hour because people don’t realize they have an EMC issue.”

“Doing EMC at the tail end—now you’re trying to shoehorn in a filter, and it’s not costed in your budget,” says McAlevy. “Like with most things in design, the earlier you do it, the better.”

How to Avoid Late-Stage EMI Issues

Spectrum Control recommends taking the following steps during the initial stages of development to avoid EMI headaches down the line:

1. Know your EMI profile and specs: Understand the standards you need to meet, whether it’s MIL-STD-461 for defense, DO-160 for aerospace, FDA for medical devices, or FCC for telecom.
2. Filter at the entry point: Place filters where power or signals enter the system.
3. Design application-specific signal line filters: Tailor the filter response—i.e., the pass band and reject band.
4. Match and balance impedances: Prevent reflections and EMI by ensuring proper system impedances.
5. Apply shielding where necessary: Shield noisy or noise-sensitive modules and interfaces.
6. Use proper grounding techniques: Add low impedance ground planes—avoid large loops.
7. Wrap cables with ferrites to suppress common mode currents: Choose ferrite materials with high loss at EMI-relevant frequencies.
8. Use twisted pair wiring: Twisted pairs reduce magnetic pickup and crosstalk.
9. Limit chassis openings: Keep enclosure apertures small enough to block high-frequency emissions.
10. Use appropriate transient suppressors: Choose components based on energy level and response time: TVS diodes for fast, low-energy events; varistors for medium energy; gas discharge tubes for high-energy pulses like an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP).

Designing for Smaller, Faster Systems

As systems evolve, miniaturization is becoming an emerging trend. “When you go up in frequency, things naturally get smaller,” says Chereson. “Because things are faster, they create more EMI, and there’s a need for higher frequency filtering.”

Spectrum Control is addressing these demands with two new standout products: the dual-line coaxial filter and the power circular connector. The dual-line coaxial filter combines the functionality of two single-line filters and a common mode choke within a compact, hermetically sealed panel-mount design, while the power circular connector incorporates a traditional power filter circuit into a form factor traditionally only used for control line filtering. Both products help customers meet SWaP-C goals by reducing size, weight and complexity.

To keep pace with changing systems, Spectrum Control continues to adapt its filtering solutions. “Every year, different platforms and configurations come out,” says Chereson. “We do all kinds of unique shaped filter elements, capacitors, and inductors to fit into different connector sizes.”

To learn more, visit Spectrum Control at TTI.com.

The post How to design with EMI in mind appeared first on Engineering.com.

As industries race to automate, the machine vision market is undergoing rapid change. Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning — combined with faster processing speeds — are enabling vision systems to come closer to replicating the function of the human eye. High-resolution cameras combined with ultra-fast computing systems are working to capture images and convert them into data that machines can respond to in real time.

But as the technology evolves, so do the demands placed on it. From robotics and drones to autonomous motion equipment, new applications are pushing machine vision systems into more dynamic, high-stress environments.

“Not only is the industry driving higher speeds, but also ruggedness,” says Dave Nyberg, global portfolio manager for industrial electronics at 3M.

Consider a robot in a hospital environment, navigating hallways to deliver prescription medications while carefully avoiding staff and patients. Using machine vision, it continuously scans its surroundings, identifies obstacles, and adjusts its path accordingly. The robot experiences constant movement, and the odd bump or two.

Or it may be a drone surveying crops or delivering products, capturing visual data while experiencing endless vibration and the occasional hard landing.  These types of conditions can prove challenging for internal components, including the cables and connectors that link the vision system to processing units.

“When you think about robotic applications, a typical one is the auto assembly line,” says Nyberg. “You’ve got the big robotic arms moving big parts on the assembly line and riveting or welding the panels onto a car. That arm movement is replacing what a human arm would do; you’ve got to have a lot of range of motion with the shoulder, elbow, wrists — a lot of twisting, movement, flex. Whenever you have robotic applications with a lot of movement, the cables have to withstand that movement because they’re going out to sensors on the end of the arm.”

Similar motions are seen in agricultural automation. “There are a lot of applications now where you think of the movement of a robotic arm and hand that’s picking an apple or strawberry,” says Nyberg. “It’s moving, reaching, grabbing, twisting, turning, pulling it back.  This creates significant stressors such as torsion and flexing of the cable assembly.”

These factors are driving manufacturers to create more robust cable assemblies — and that’s where 3M’s USB3 Vision and CoaXPress solutions come into play.

“Our 3M USB vision cable assemblies are very heavy-duty, high industrial strength cables — very durable,” explains Nyberg. “3M has USB cable assemblies that are tested for over 100 million cycles. What that means is these USB cables have been on drag chain equipment being flexed over and over again, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a few years uninterrupted.”

3M’s designs include screw locks at the connector ends to help secure cables during operation. “With vibration concerns, you cannot afford these cables coming loose from a board-mount connector,” says Nyberg.

Right-angle and other connector configurations help address tight space constraints common in compact equipment like drones. Length is another area where 3M’s cable assemblies stand out, offering a level of versatility not typically associated with USB cables.

“Longer length is a real attribute and feature of our products, particularly our USB cables,” says Nyberg. “Typically, USB cables are thought of as — you go over 4 or 5 meters, and most users are thinking of a different interface. But we have passive USB cables that can transmit signals up to 5 Gbps at over 11 to 12 meters, and that’s very unusual in the market. We have a very strong long length cable in our USB product line that meets that requirement.”

Customization of these cable lengths is another key differentiator. Nyberg elaborates: “If you have a piece of equipment and you’re trying to save weight and you have space constraints, we can ship you a 2.5-meter cable, but you may have extra cable there that you can’t afford because of a weight or space issue. We can cut that down and customize to a 2.35-meter cable. You can get any of our cable assemblies customized to an individual length—right down to a fraction of a meter, to a centimeter, or whatever the requirement might be.”

3M’s CoaXPress cable assemblies provide many of the same advantages as the 3M USB cables. Like their USB counterparts, they incorporate features such as secure screw-on or quarter-turn, key-lock mechanisms. They come in various connector types, including Micro-BNC right-angle versions for tight spaces. Their dynamic bending durability is tested to 50 million cycles, a high standard for the coaxial cable industry.

In addition to the applications mentioned earlier, machine vision is transforming healthcare. Through high-resolution imaging, fast interface standards and reliable cable solutions, cameras can now capture extremely high-resolution images of blood samples and cell tissue — enabling remote diagnosis.  In surgical settings, doctors can control robotic arms from thousands of miles away, performing procedures in real time without ever being in the room.

“As this technology continues to evolve, lives will be saved,” says Nyberg. “People will be able to access the medical community that was out of reach before, due in large part through the advancements in machine vision and highly durable cable assemblies.  It’s really quite amazing.”

To learn more, visit 3M at TTI, Inc.

The post Navigating the demands of modern machine vision movement appeared first on Engineering.com.

We live in an age of rapid innovation and technological advancement driven by electronic products that are reshaping society and the world around us. At the forefront of this technological revolution, successful enterprise companies and their design organizations work vigilantly to stay ahead of the ever-growing sophistication of electronic devices, the challenges of product development and the complexities of system integration.

But that vigilance is being severely tested. The industry has crossed an inflection point as it struggles to manage and overcome crucial electronic product development deficiencies that companies must address to maintain future success.

While everyone knows this, they face several bottlenecks, especially in the electronics design domain. The first is the lack of an electronics hardware design and native lifecycle management system that can connect and manage every aspect of electronic hardware development within the electronics development domain, throughout the larger product development process and across key business systems. The second bottleneck is inadequate and inefficient approaches to regulated electronics hardware design within highly regulated industries that require high reliability, secure infrastructure and strict adherence to compliance standards.

Nowhere are these more obvious – and problematic – than in the automotive, medical and healthcare, aerospace, aviation and telecommunications industries, which must achieve product compliance while maintaining complete control throughout an electronic product’s development journey.

Unlike the electronics domain, the mechanical and software domains benefit from an array of lifecycle management tools and solutions that are fine-tuned for their design domains, development processes, lifecycle management and compliance requirements. But the electronics domain lags severely behind, relying on fragmented, patchwork solutions that are ill-equipped to handle the more pronounced intricacies and nuances of modern regulated electronics design. This ultimately hinders progress and expectations.

So knowing this, it is time — a necessity, in fact — to rethink, redefine and reimagine regulated electronic design and lifecycle management. It must be transformed from an ad-hoc, piecemeal solution for “ECAD” design into a native and fully integrated system aligned with the specific challenges of regulated industries and seamlessly integrated into and throughout the entire product development process.

Status-quo — Status-no

Looking back at the history of progress within product development environments and domains, it is obvious that the electronics domain has been left behind. Compared to its mechanical and software counterparts, electronics hardware design – especially regulated electronics hardware design – still finds itself fractured and uncoordinated, restrained by tools and methodologies that have long outgrown their ability to adapt to increasing design complexities and evolve with changing regulations and compliance processes. Ironically, in a world defined by smart devices, integrated platforms and time-saving automation, the design and lifecycle management of the very electronics hardware that enables these is hardly innovative, often disjointed and, in some cases, woefully inadequate.

The consequences of the status quo for companies and design organizations are real. As electronic products and development processes in regulated industries become more complex and product development more reliant on larger teams of people across multiple domains, their development cycles extend. Delays creep into production schedules. Costs and resources are no longer optimized. And supply chain and manufacturing teams have to grapple with mismatched or outdated information.

Couple all of that with the internal and external needs of regulated industries, including high reliability, secure infrastructure and strict adherence to compliance standards, and the electronics domain looks to be even further behind. Compliance and verification processes are slow and complicated to track, ECAD information lacks transparency and the domain is disconnected from the broader enterprise.

What should be a streamlined, collaborative, integrated and compliant process across the entire regulated product development process is an arena of inefficiencies, miscommunications, delays and risks.

Our inflection point has become a choice. Either we continue relying on incremental improvements and applying “band-aid” solutions to a system and processes that need a significant overhaul, or we adopt a proactive, compliant-centric approach and develop a native, purpose-built lifecycle management system for electronics that fully addresses the challenges and complexities of modern, regulated electronics hardware design.

The obviousness of it all

If the choice seems obvious, then why has the demand for a native, compliant-centric design and lifecycle management system for the electronics design domain remained faint? It is mainly due to the legacy of “tradition” and the inertia of “good enough.”

The economics of electronics design software have often favored short-term productivity improvements over long-term innovative solutions. Yes, ECAD design tools have been upgraded over and over. Yes, incremental improvements in integrations, data management and processes have been made. However, the entire electronics lifecycle management and compliant-centric development process are still fundamentally structured around outdated practices, unmanaged methodologies and product-centric alternatives.

Electronics engineers have little choice but to use design applications and data management tools developed in an era when the complexities of electronics data, regulated development processes and complaint data management were more or less manageable. While welcome and valuable in their time, these upgrades and improvements have failed to keep pace with the growing demands of today’s regulated industries for modern electronics hardware development.

Consider for a moment the contrast between electronics hardware development and software development. Over the past few decades, engineers in the software domain have benefited from the evolution of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solutions and Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) models. DevOps, Agile and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines have transformed how software is developed, tested, deployed and maintained. Software engineers can trace every line of code, every commit and every decision from conception to deployment with granular accuracy. They can work collaboratively across distributed teams and processes while maintaining a unified view of the entire project.

These ALM solutions are specifically designed to handle the complexities and unique needs of software development and lifecycle management while being intelligently integrated with PLM systems to ensure synchronized development, change management and traceability across the broader product development process. They streamline compliance management by providing centralized repositories, end-to-end traceability and managed workflows. They enable cross-functional collaboration, real-time visibility and audit-ready documentation, ensuring alignment with industry-specific standards that reduce risks, simplify audits and support organizations in delivering regulatory-compliant applications.

By contrast, electronics hardware designers often find themselves juggling disparate tools and collaborating across domains that rarely speak the same language, let alone integrate intelligently and seamlessly. Over the decades, the absence of a native lifecycle system and compliance management for regulated electronics has meant relying on existing product lifecycle management (PLM) systems and a mishmash of ad-hoc solutions designed primarily for physical product-level development and management.

Many companies have employed and come to rely heavily on these systems as they can be effective to a certain degree, guiding development and design teams from the initial concept and design through to the end of a product’s lifecycle. However, a fundamental disconnect exists between the capabilities of these existing product-centric systems and the unique needs and understanding of regulated electronics hardware development and electronics lifecycle management. Unlike most physical products, electronics require a level of detail and integration that existing PLM systems were never natively designed to handle. The impacts of this are increasingly profound and tangible, affecting everything from design and data integrity to process efficiency and, ultimately, product quality.

It is time to envision a future where electronics hardware designers can enjoy the same efficiency, collaboration and traceability as their mechanical and software counterparts. The future is a system built from the ground up, specifically with electronics in mind — a dedicated, native and compliant-centric electronics lifecycle management (ELM) system that can seamlessly integrate and address the complexities of electronics hardware development.

Such a system would not merely be a bolt-on solution to existing tools but a complete reimagining of how electronics products are conceived, planned, designed, managed and integrated across the entire development process and lifecycle.

Envisioning the future

A native ELM system would go beyond merely collaboration and tracking throughout the development of electronics hardware. It would be capable of understanding and managing the nuances of electronics design data, which includes not just the physical design but also the electrical characteristics, requirements and the broader system context in which it will operate. It would allow for a deeper integration of design, simulation and verification processes, enabling real-time feedback, traceability and iteration across all stages of development.

For instance, in the early stages of design, electronic engineers must make critical decisions about component selection, power distribution and signal performance. A native ELM system could provide intelligent suggestions based on historical data, industry trends and real-time supply chain information. This level of integration would help design teams avoid the costly mistakes that often arise when design decisions are made in isolation, without a complete understanding of their downstream or long-term impacts.

A native ELM system would not only track electronics hardware from its conceptualization to manufacturing; it would also serve as an intelligent, adaptive framework for the entire product lifecycle. Such a system would offer native version control for designs, component libraries updated in real-time to reflect availability and pricing fluctuations, automated checks for compliance with regulatory standards and simulations that factor in the full range of environmental and operational stresses a design might face. Most importantly, it would offer an integrated, electronics-centric platform for collaboration between product, design, verification, manufacturing and supply chain teams — breaking down the silos that currently exist between these disciplines.

Answering the hard questions

Of course, transforming the role of lifecycle management and design organizations that would adopt such a system for electronics hardware design would not be without its challenges. It will require a cultural shift within companies and organizations accustomed to working with “traditional” methodologies and “good enough” solutions. Yet the rewards far outweigh the risks.

At this point, it would be remiss not to mention that enterprise companies, regulated or not, are indeed designing, developing and getting products manufactured and out to market. But at what cost? How many problems, delays, and re-spins are avoidable? How much inefficiency and compliance risk is acceptable? How many band-aids and patchwork solutions are necessary to make “good enough” actually good enough? When it comes to existing design solutions and lifecycle management systems, are they actually ready for the future of electronics hardware design?

But the real question we should be asking ourselves is not whether we can afford to develop such a system, but whether we can afford not to.

Altium has recognized this and knows the answer — an answer that will lead to the next wave of electronics development innovation, fundamentally transforming the way we plan, design and manufacture the electronic products that are reshaping our world.

Let’s make sure we’re ready for the future – leaving nothing to chance.

To learn more, visit Altium.

About the Author

Josh Moore is currently Director of Product Marketing, Enterprise Solutions at Altium, with over 25 years of experience in the electronics and PCB design industry. Prior to joining Altium, Josh was the Portfolio Director for the PCB product line and ecosystem technologies at Dassault SOLIDWORKS and spent 14 years at Cadence Design Systems as the Product Director for the Allegro and OrCAD PCB products and technologies.

The post Reimagining regulated electronics hardware design and development appeared first on Engineering.com.

What do smartphones, e-scooters, solar inverters and IoT devices have in common? They all rely on MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors) to function. These tiny transistors are used in every device that requires a switch-mode power supply—from consumer gadgets to industrial machinery—making them one of the most essential components in modern electronics.

A MOSFET is a semiconductor device with three terminals: the source, drain, and gate. The gate, which is insulated by a thin layer of metal oxide, regulates current flow between the source and drain. When a voltage is applied to the gate, it changes the conductivity of the main circuit. Among their many uses, MOSFETs can dim lights, amplify signals, remotely control motor speeds, and automatically switch circuits on and off.

Despite their versatility, MOSFETs often face issues around balancing efficiency with thermal losses. Like most electrical components, MOSFETs generate heat during operation—and if this heat is not properly managed, it can degrade performance and shorten the lifespan of the device. The problem of heat dissipation becomes even more pressing in high-power applications.

“Today’s designs demand more power while fitting into increasingly compact devices,” says Simon Reuning, global technical marketing manager at YAGEO Group. “Engineers must navigate the complexities of efficiency, thermal management and component size — all while developing MOSFETs that can meet these growing demands.”

This article explores how YAGEO’s XSemi MOSFETs address common issues, what engineers should consider when using them, and applications where these components are most impactful.

Standout Features of YAGEO’s XSemi MOSFETs

One of the defining features of YAGEO’s XSemi MOSFETs is their ultra-low on-resistance (RDS(on)) with fast switching performance. On-resistance is the resistance between the drain and source terminals when the MOSFET is active. A lower RDS(on) minimizes conduction losses during switching, reducing the amount of energy converted into heat. This not only improves overall efficiency but also decreases the self-heating of the MOSFET, enabling it to handle higher power conditions.

“A key focus in MOSFET design is optimizing thermal dissipation,” says Reuning. “For example, we look at innovative ways to effectively channel heat away from the device.”

XSemi MOSFETs offer advanced packaging for enhancing thermal dissipation. They are also built to perform in tough conditions, such as outdoor or industrial settings where components have to withstand temperature fluctuations, moisture, and other environmental stressors. This is especially relevant in applications like e-scooters, which must maintain consistent performance when exposed to variable conditions.

Ruggedized features like enhanced avalanche energy ratings allow XSemi MOSFETs to endure high-energy events without catastrophic failure, extending the lifespan of components. These ratings improve the device’s ability to withstand energy transients caused by conditions such as voltage spikes, current surges, or load switching. This is particularly important in applications where MOSFETs operate in harsh environments, such as industrial or high-power systems.

In practical terms, avalanche capability determines how well a MOSFET can absorb excess energy without failing. When a MOSFET is exposed to a voltage that exceeds its maximum drain-source voltage, it enters the breakdown region. In most cases, this would destroy the device. However, MOSFETs with enhanced avalanche capability can handle such voltage spikes while continuing to operate within safe temperature and current limits, as defined in their datasheets.

“A high avalanche rating enhances system robustness, making power switching more reliable during transitions between different frequencies,” says Reuning.

Trade-offs Engineers Must Consider When Using MOSFETs

Engineers must navigate a delicate balance between key performance parameters when selecting the right MOSFET for their application. Whether it’s achieving lower conduction losses, faster switching speeds, or higher voltage tolerances, every decision impacts the performance of the system.

One primary consideration is the interplay between on-resistance (RDS(on)) and gate charge (Qg). Gate charge refers to the amount of charge required to activate the MOSFET by injecting charge into the gate electrode. A lower gate charge results in lower switching losses and higher switching speeds, which are particularly advantageous in high-frequency applications like motor drives or DC-DC converters. However, these designs come with higher RDS(on).

“A low gate charge enables faster switching and allows surrounding components—such as inductors and capacitors—to shrink, ultimately increasing efficiency,” explains Reuning. “However, this often comes at the cost of higher RDS(on) and reduced power-handling capabilities. Conversely, achieving low RDS(on) typically requires a larger die and a slightly higher gate charge.”

The choice of MOSFET construction further complicates the decision-making process, with each architecture bringing unique advantages and limitations. Traditional planar designs are cost-effective but may lack the advanced performance characteristics needed for high-power applications. Trench constructions optimize for low RDS(on), while double-gate designs prioritize lower gate charge and faster switching speeds. Superjunction MOSFETs offer smaller die sizes and support higher switching frequencies.

Voltage requirements also play a significant role. For instance, automotive applications increasingly demand MOSFETs capable of handling 800V systems.

“High-voltage MOSFETs inherently require higher RDS(on) and gate charge,” says Reuning. “The key challenge is determining whether the trade-off is manageable within your design constraints.”

At the end of the day, Reuning believes that the most crucial task for engineers is to carefully weigh the trade-offs and optimize their designs accordingly.

“Optimizing a MOSFET design always involves trade-offs,” says Reuning. “Low RDS(on) comes at the cost of other parameters, just as reducing gate charge requires sacrifices elsewhere. There’s no single packaging that delivers the best of everything — at least not yet. Engineers must determine which characteristics matter most for their application. For example, if high switching frequency isn’t a priority, you might tolerate a higher gate charge in exchange for improved voltage handling. Careful evaluation of these trade-offs is crucial for selecting the right components.”

Applications of XSemi MOSFETs

YAGEO’s XSemi MOSFETs have applications across many established industries and emerging markets.

“Our MOSFETs support a wide range of power applications, from EV charging stations and solar panels to battery management systems, industrial power tools, servers and telecommunications power supplies,” says Reuning. “They are also well-suited for system power, PCs, portable devices and switch-mode power supplies. With a diverse portfolio covering various case sizes — from surface mount to through-hole — and multiple voltage levels, we offer solutions tailored to different design requirements.”

As mentioned earlier, XSemi MOSFETs work well in e-scooters—not only due to their ruggedized features but also their high energy efficiency, particularly in devices like inverters and onboard chargers. The components are also integral to renewable energy systems. Solar inverters and home battery backup systems, such as battery walls, depend heavily on MOSFETs for efficient energy conversion and storage.

XSemi MOSFETs are additionally useful for IoT and edge computing applications, which involve compact, low-power solutions. The increasing miniaturization of power supplies in these fields necessitates smaller components and more energy-dense packaging.

Here too, Reuning discusses some considerations for engineers: “What trade-offs can be made for a smaller footprint? For instance, can increasing the switching frequency allow for the use of smaller components, such as inductors?”

“What trade-offs can be made for a smaller footprint? For instance, can increasing the switching frequency allow for the use of smaller components, such as inductors?”

XSemi MOSFETS have also helped manufacturers optimize power systems in real-world applications. In one case, a power supply manufacturer leveraged a 600V N-channel MOSFET with enhanced avalanche energy ratings to improve the efficiency and reliability of an inverter design. Another success story involved a motor application where a low RDS(on) MOSFET allowed for more reliable operation during high-power cycling, leading to longer operational life and improved overall performance.

YAGEO’s XSemi MOSFETs are playing a growing role in industry automation, where sensors and camera systems are being adopted to enhance productivity. As industries continue to evolve, MOSFETs will remain fundamental to meeting new power and performance demands.

To learn more, visit YAGEO at TTI.

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Chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur on February 6 announced the plan to pursue a full separation of Automation and Aerospace Technologies, adding to the previously announced plan to spin-off Advanced Materials,

The move will result in three publicly listed companies with distinct strategies and growth drivers. The company said in a press release that the separation is intended to be completed in the second half of 2026 and will be done in a manner that is tax-free to Honeywell shareholders.

“The formation of three independent, industry-leading companies builds on the powerful foundation we have created, positioning each to pursue tailored growth strategies, and unlock significant value for shareholders and customers,” said Vimal Kapur, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell. “Our simplification of Honeywell has rapidly advanced over the past year, and we will continue to shape our portfolio to create further shareholder value. We have a rich pipeline of strategic bolt-on acquisition targets, and we plan to continue deploying capital to further enhance each business as we prepare them to become leading, independent public companies.”

Honeywell says the planned separations of automation, aerospace and advanced materials will deliver a slew of benefits, including simplified strategic focus and greater financial flexibility to pursue distinct organic growth opportunities through investment.

Honeywell Automation will create the buildings and industrial infrastructure of the future, leveraging process technology, software, and AI-enabled, autonomous solutions, said Kapur. “As a standalone company with a simplified operating structure and enhanced focus, Honeywell Automation will be better able to capitalize on the global megatrends underpinning its business, from energy security and sustainability to digitalization and artificial intelligence.”

Honeywell says it’s aerospace company will see unprecedented demand in the years ahead from commercial and defense markets, making it the right time for the business to operate as a standalone, public company. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of more than a century of innovation and investment in leading technologies from Honeywell Aerospace that have revolutionized the aviation industry several times over. This next step will further enable the business to continue to lead the future of aviation.”

Here’s a look at how each of the three new companies will operate:

Honeywell Automation: Positioned for the industrial world’s transition from automation to autonomy, with a comprehensive portfolio of technologies, solutions, and software to drive customers’ productivity. Honeywell Automation will maintain its global scale, with 2024 revenue of $18 billion. Honeywell Automation will connect assets, people and processes to push digital transformation.

Honeywell Aerospace: Its technology and solutions are used on virtually every commercial and defense aircraft platform worldwide and include aircraft propulsion, cockpit and navigation systems, and auxiliary power systems. With $15 billion in annual revenue in 2024 and a large, global installed base, Honeywell Aerospace will be one of the largest publicly traded, pure play aerospace suppliers.

Advanced Materials: This business will be a sustainability-focused specialty chemicals and materials company with a focus on fluorine products, electronic materials, industrial grade fibers, and healthcare packaging. With nearly $4 billion in revenue last year, Advanced Materials offers leading technologies with premier brands, including its low global warming Solstice hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) technology.

Honeywell says it remains on pace to exceed its commitment to deploy at least $25 billion toward high-return capital expenditures, dividends, opportunistic share purchases and accretive acquisitions through 2025. The company says it will continue its portfolio transformation efforts during the separation planning process.

Since December 2023, Honeywell has announced a number of strategic actions with about $9 billion of accretive acquisitions, including the Access Solutions business from Carrier Global, Civitanavi Systems, CAES Systems, and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) business from Air Products. Honeywell will continue with its planned divestment of its Personal Protective Equipment business, which is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

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