Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Andrew,
Lies, Dam lies and statistics?This use and expense is congruent because
White papers: 69%
Engineering/technology publications: 68%
Webcasts: 63%
Engineering videos: 57%
Engineering/technology websites: 56%Don’t normally have reimbursable expenses (and I bet they read them on company time as well as their own). The next in the list is
Seminars: 55%
And while all the things in the first list are great (and have enhanced the rate at which we do things) – I need to get out of the office too.
We do find Linked In useful. Not so much for the personal career promotion side (which they seem to be pushing – which is not what we want from it).
Once we identify a company that we think we might be able to offer value to we use linked in to try to find the right person to talk to and see if they know someone who could refer us to them.
I like to think of Linked in as the more serious flip side to facebook – but not that serious.It was an interesting show – I caught up with some members there. I remade some connections and found a couple of interesting parts. Unfortunately time did not allow me to attend the conference section which I am a little sad about.
What a great night – with 70 Guests.
For those that went to watch the Crows instead – sorry but it seems you double missed out.
For those who requested Prof Goran Roos slides they can be found at the link below. You will need to be registered for the forums and logged in to access them. You can also search Prof Goran Roos on Youtube to find some of his other Adelaide lectures.
For those who love a good photo – check them out on the same link. You will need to be registered for the forums and logged in to access them.
We are looking to put together a slide show of companies in the Adelaide Electronics Industry for this event (and any others). Each company is invited to submit a single slide power point (4:3) for this. We find it is the best way to explain to those not in the industry what the industry is about. – you get your company exposed at evens even when you are not there. Typically a slide would be a single full frame product image, your company name and logo and a short catch phrase – “Delivering clean water to the world”. Please email them to donald@donalan.com.au as soon as possible.
Andrew,
You are driving me to distraction. I recall playing with valve radios as a kid. They were retro technology then. I wanted to show off with my esoteric knowledge of the ‘eniode’ with its nine electrodes (7 grids) but just couldn’t find it in google. I was sure I was not dreaming. I’d long since thrown the data books away but I found a book online and it was there. I had the spelling wrong which would come as no surprise to any of my teachers over the years. It is an enneode or nonode.
It produces an output proportional to the phase difference between two of the grids and as such was used for FM radio detection.
I never had one as a kid – but I wanted one. Now I can buy one on Ebay for eight euro’s but I don’t want one. It’s marked new – if a part that was made in the 1960 can be called new.
Take care with those tektronix CRO’s though – they’d have anode voltages of some thousands of volts and my one an only substantial experiment which involved using my body as an electrical conductor was picking up a CRO display tube by the socket while the system was still powered up.
It was a good show last night. Was able to catch up with every one there and had some quite insightful questions come my way. You can follow the groups activities here http://www.meetup.com/Adelaide-Lean-Start-Up/
I, for one, will be looking to find out why all that education still leaves them fit only for jobs in cafes and warehouses.
Any intern that can make me a good coffee is likely to get twice as much of my time and have me in a better mood. So it may be an essential career developing skill.
We have been taking on interns a lot lately. Initially we did not – we wanted to help but had no idea what we would do with an intern once it had arrived. The big thing I have learned is that it is better to take on interns in areas where you company is not so strong. We have had no end of joy from accounting interns for example. Now I’ve run a business for 24 years so my accounting skill can’t be too lean. But they are nothing compared to my teams engineering skills. The interns add real value in addressing projects that we are not especially skilled for (or interested in).
But I am not sure of the prospects for an Electronic Engineer at an accounting firm – but maybe in importer that sees themselves more as sales/accounting in nature could be mutually beneficial.
I share the frustration – and I don’t know the answer. But universities are not (in my humble opinion) vocational education institutions. Truth be known – I think they should be research institutions – that teach some bright people on the side. Maybe the bench ready student should be coming from TAFE – maybe there are not enough benches left.
Andrew,
I agree – simulation can be frustrating (read poorer value for effort than expected). In this regard it reminds me of my off quipped line abut innovation. Innovation is great but it is also very expensive and risky – so better make sure it is applied where the returns are highest.
So I simulate stuff – not every week. I normally use nutmeg (which is a distro of Spice with some extra’s around it) or our schematic capture tool ISIS (not the political outfit). I also generally use it for discrete circuits – if you simulate IC’s better check the model is based on the actual circuit for the IC rather than a ‘macro’ model.
Generally the problems you get with IC’s are less likely to be picked up in simulation.
Where the simulation comes into its own is that once a model of a circuit is made (and accurate) the testing is really quick. I designed a simple over-temperature shutdown for a battery recently. Being simple and cheap it was also a bit sloppy. The trip temperature varied with battery voltage and so did the hysteresis. It was only 2 transistors and some resistors. I was able to plot the cut out and recovery temperatures v battery voltage v value of set resistor in a matter of minutes (ok hours if you include setting up the model).
My earliest mentor was an IC designer – there everything was 100% simulated even in the 80s. These days it is a tool that is called for in some situations. I am glad I had the simulation impressed on me at an early age – it is not easy – and it is often expensive – but can also be very valuable.
Andrew,
I recently added this book to my cart on Amazon so next time I order some books it will be included.
Occasionally some exceptional books come by. But not often.
I still refer to my copy of Terman (Electronic and radio engineering (McGraw-Hill electrical and electronic engineering series)) occasionally. If you want to know the capacitance of an object in free space or the optimal aspect ratio for a air core inductor or the inductance of a square coil this is the book. Sadly you have to work in imperial units. Also this valuable hard to find stuff was removed after the first edition. So check the edition you plan to buy. From memory mine is 1934. Its not a fun read but often has bits nothing else has.
For fun and educational reads I can recommend “Planar Microwave Engineering: A Practical Guide to Theory, Measurement, and Circuits” by Thomas H Lee. Don’t let the planar part put you off – its not really about IC design.
Another standout for me is a book on connectors published by Wurth (they make parts and publish only 3 books I think). There is so much folklore about connectors and they give so much problem but when did you last read through an authoritative reference on the subject. This it it. Very approachable.
Finally Noise (Prentice-Hall electrical engineering series), Aldert Van der Ziel, Publ. Prentice-Hall (1954). Noise is often the missed piece in peoples design. This wont make it easy but it will make it possible.
The meeting is Monday 26th of October.
Submission deadline has been extended to 16 November.
This link provides more info without registration
From the email I received just now
About the program:
The program encourages collaboration between SMEs and research providers to develop solutions and products to meet a Government agency’s needs and ultimately commercialise the solution more broadly. The program will support up to six months of research and development, with contracts being up to a maximum of $100,000 per company. At the end of this stage it is expected that the contracted company will have developed their concept and will have demonstrated the feasibility of the technology.
This event is proving to be very popular. We have been able to arrange a few more places. The high attendance also means the networking opportunity is greater – this is a great chance to catch up with colleagues in the industry as well seeing first hand the Ellex facility.
Each person of course will have there own view. But it needs to be made clear that people have worked within TIA of a considerable time to raise the profile of Electronics within the TIA and outside of it. And that work continues both in Eida and TIA.
I think the time has gone when companies could be neatly pidgeon holed. Is Google a media company or publisher or cloud data company or operating system developer? So I think it is inevitable that companies will work with multiple associations?
When I attended the SA trade delegation to Shandong it was clear that the companies that benefited most were part of group and that group had a focussed industry association.
The overall perception is that the electronics industry did not have any representation. True or not it is the perception that matters.
But its up to the industry to do it. Forget hand outs and association politics the members have to have an energy and passion for it. Ironically that passion and pride is reinforced by the profile and perception of the industry.
EIDA to me is a focal point for that passion that is unhindered by other imperetives.
I think it is clear EIDA will work with many other associations. Water – biotech – TIA – AIG – Business SA. SMT Assoc. Embedded Systems user Group. And that is just in Australia.
My company is also a member of TIA.
