Design Tools
The Lead
Top 5 Design Tools of the Week
May 17, 2013 9:05 am | by Melissa Fassbender, Associate Editor, PD&D | Articles | Comments
Your Top 5 Design Tools of the Week include a new add on for your Raspberry Pi, a DIY USB device, and an activity board that allows you to do more with 8 cores.
Iron-Platinum Alloys Could be New-Generation Hard Drives
May 21, 2013 8:55 am | by University of California - Davis | News | Comments
Meeting the demand for more data storage in smaller volumes means using materials made up of...
Is It Possible to Bring Manufacturing Back to the U.S.?
May 17, 2013 9:33 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | News | Comments
Several factors come into play when manufacturers make the decision to move or reshore (see...
Open Innovation Spurs Ultimate American Success
May 1, 2013 10:06 am | by Louise Rainone, Vice President of Marketing, PCDworks | Blogs | Comments
Under Armour is always a great example of innovation as a whole. The company began with an idea...
Lenze Americas’ FAST Engineering Tool Simplifies Modular Machine Programming
May 23, 2013 4:27 pm | by Lenze Americas | News | CommentsLenze Americas has simplified efficient machine programming with the recent launch of its FAST application template and ready-made standard software modules. Machine designers and programmers can use the FAST software tool to quickly and reliably handle a majority of the software engineering requirements for standardized machine modules.
Photonics Societies Unite to Announce the National Photonics Initiative
May 23, 2013 4:19 pm | by National Photonics Initiative | News | CommentsThe American Physical Society (APS), IEEE Photonics Society, Laser Institute of America (LIA), the Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the International Society of Optics and Photonics, have announced the launch of the National Photonics Initiative (NPI), a collaborative alliance seeking to unite industry, academia and government experts to identify and advance areas of photonics critical to maintaining US competitiveness and national security.
Medical Approved, 400W AC/DC Power Supplies
May 23, 2013 3:01 pm | by PD&D Staff | Micropower Direct | Product Releases | CommentsThe MPU-400M series, available now from MicroPower Direct (Stoughton, MA), is a family of compact 400W AC/DC power supplies that are certified to EN 60601 3RD edition. These power supplies offer a unique combination of high power, safety features, robust performance and compact construction.
Sensorless, Brushless DC Motor Driver
May 23, 2013 2:37 pm | by PD&D Staff | Texas Instruments, Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsTexas Instruments Incorporated (Dallas, TX) has expanded its sensorless, brushless DC (BLDC) motor driver portfolio with a new device designed for high efficiency and low noise, which requires a low external component count of only one capacitor.
Researchers Forward Quest for Quantum Computing
May 23, 2013 1:24 pm | by Caron Lett, University of York | News | CommentsResearch teams from UW-Milwaukee and the University of York investigating the properties of ultra-thin films of new materials are helping bring quantum computing one step closer to reality. An on-going collaboration between physicists from York and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA, is focusing on understanding, tailoring, and tuning the electronic properties of topological insulators at the nanoscale.
Weidlinger Launches PZFlexCloud Using CliQr Technologies to Set New Standard for Finite Element Software-as-a-Service
May 23, 2013 10:48 am | by Weidlinger Associates, Inc. | News | CommentsWeidlinger Associates, Inc., the developer of PZFlex, the popular 3D virtual-prototyping and wave-propagation analysis software, and CliQr Technologies, a leader in cloud application management software, announced the launch of PZFlexCloud on CliQr’s CloudCenter platform.
EWI Expands Additive Manufacturing Capabilities via Direct Metal Laser-Sintering Technology
May 23, 2013 10:33 am | by EWI | News | CommentsWith the recent addition of a high-performance EOS direct metal laser-sintering DMLS system at its technology facility, EWI now offers manufacturers a unique package of 3D metal printing services supported by the company’s technical expertise in materials joining.
Maple Global Optimization Toolbox Offers Greater Problem-Solving Capabilities
May 23, 2013 10:01 am | by Maplesoft | Maplesoft | News | CommentsMaplesoft has announced a major new release of the Maple Global Optimization Toolbox for solving a wide variety of optimization problems in mathematics, engineering, and the sciences. For this new release, Maplesoft has partnered with Noesis Solutions to develop a new version of the Maple Global Optimization Toolbox that is powered by Optimus technology.
Hack a Banana, Make a Keyboard!
May 23, 2013 9:22 am | by TED | Videos | CommentsWhy can't two slices of pizza be used as a slide clicker? Why shouldn't you make music with ketchup? In this charming talk, inventor Jay Silver talks about the urge to play with the world around you. He shares some of his messiest inventions, and demos MaKey MaKey, a kit for hacking everyday objects.
Teardown: JBC CD-2BB Soldering Station
May 23, 2013 9:04 am | by EEVblog | Videos | CommentsIn this EEVblog Teardown, what's inside the JBC CD-2BB soldering station?
Pro-Motion Software for Easy Setup of Embedded Motion Controllers
May 22, 2013 5:20 pm | by Performance Motion Devices, Inc. | Performance Motion Devices, Inc. | News | CommentsPerformance Motion Devices has announced a major new release of its Pro-Motion software for Windows-based environments. Pro-Motion 5.0 adds a number of key capabilities including an upgraded axis setup wizard, support for SPI-based motion amplifiers including PMD's ATLAS digital amplifier products, and support for all-in-one embedded motion cards and systems.
Discovering the Mathematics-Based Gömböc Shape
May 22, 2013 1:39 pm | by Maplesoft | Maplesoft | Articles | CommentsWhen the existence of the Gömböc shape was discovered in 2007 by Hungarian scientists Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, it solved a long standing mystery. For years mathematicians had discussed, debated and tried to prove its existence using mathematical equations.
A Programmable Fly’s Eye
May 22, 2013 1:28 pm | by CNRS (Délégation Paris Michel-Ange) | News | CommentsA novel curved artificial compound eye (CurvACE) has been conceived by a collaboration implying researchers from CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, EPFL at Lausanne, Fraunhofer Institute at Jena and Université de Tuebingen. Compared to single-lens eyes, compound eyes offer lower resolution, but significantly larger fields of view, thin package, and with negligible distortion.
Magnetic Fingerprints of Superfluid Helium-3
May 22, 2013 1:25 pm | by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) | News | CommentsSuperconducting sensors of PTB allow highly sensitive measurements of the nuclear magnetic resonance of thin helium-3 layers. With their SQUIDs, low-temperature specialists of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have made it possible for the magnetic moments of atoms of the rare isotope 3He (helium-3) to be measured with extreme sensitivity.
Studying Arrangement of Ordered Materials in Non-spherical Spaces
May 22, 2013 1:23 pm | by John Toon, Georgia Tech | News | CommentsA fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.
Research to Create Failure-Resistant Systems and Circuits
May 22, 2013 1:14 pm | by National Science Foundation | News | CommentsLeaders of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world's leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, today announced 18 new projects funded through a joint initiative to address research challenges in the design of failure-resistant circuits and systems.
Mouser Electronics’ President & CEO Glenn Smith Celebrates 40 Years of Service
May 21, 2013 1:30 pm | by Mouser Electronics, Inc. | Mouser Electronics | News | CommentsMouser Electronics, Inc. has announced the 40th company anniversary milestone of Glenn Smith, Mouser’s President and Chief Executive Officer. With strategic vision, Smith has built the company into a global corporation that today - four decades later - has 1,200 employees, 400,000 customers, more than $600 million in annual revenue, and 19 offices on three continents.
Rice Unveils Method for Tailoring Optical Processors
May 21, 2013 1:30 pm | by Jade Boyd, Rice University | News | CommentsRice University researchers have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color. The breakthrough by a team of theoretical and applied physicists and engineers at Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Opening Doors to Foldable Electronics with Inkjet-Printed Graphene
May 21, 2013 1:26 pm | by Sarah Ostman, Northwestern University | News | CommentsImagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. The technology for these devices may not be so far off. Northwestern University researchers have recently developed a graphene-based ink that is highly conductive and tolerant to bending, and they have used it to inkjet-print graphene patterns that could be used for extremely detailed, conductive electrodes.
Industry Leading Cloud & Mobile CAD Apps Reach New Heights
May 21, 2013 1:24 pm | by Autodesk, Inc. | Autodesk Inc | News | CommentsAutodesk, Inc. is expanding AutoCAD 360 (formerly AutoCAD WS), a line of easy-to-use web and mobile drafting and documentation applications that let users view, create, edit and share drawings—anytime, anywhere.
Making Quantum Encryption Practical
May 21, 2013 1:23 pm | by Larry Hardesty, MIT | News | CommentsOne of the many promising applications of quantum mechanics in the information sciences is quantum key distribution (QKD), in which the counterintuitive behavior of quantum particles guarantees that no one can eavesdrop on a private exchange of data without detection.
Kohler Ordered to Pay $9.6M in Patent Suit
May 21, 2013 1:06 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Kohler Co. has been ordered to pay $9.6 million to a marine engine and generator manufacturer in Massachusetts for infringing on two of its patents. A jury in U.S. District Court in Boston found Kohler willfully infringed on patents owned by the Westerbeke Corp. which cover components that reduce exhaust emissions in its generators.
Interpreting the Human Genome
May 21, 2013 11:44 am | by Silicon Mechanics | Articles | CommentsWhen Knome needed a turnkey hardware platform for its knoSOFT genome interpretation application and kGAP informatics engine, it turned to Seattle-based solutions provider Silicon Mechanics. The result was the knoSYS100, which is a combination of Knome’s software and a hardware platform configured by Silicon Mechanics.
North Star Imaging Releases efX-CT 1.6 & efX-DR 1.0
May 21, 2013 11:12 am | by North Star Imaging | News | CommentsNorth Star Imaging has unveiled its latest versions of Computed Tomography and Digital Radiography software – efX-CT 1.6 and efX-DR 1.0. These releases feature many new capabilities that are industry firsts and not available anywhere else in the marketplace. The new software releases focus heavily on speed, automation, and image quality.
New Coilcraft CPS Short Form
May 21, 2013 10:25 am | by Coilcraft CPS | News | CommentsThe Coilcraft CPS Short Form Catalog is a comprehensive reference to the company’s four lines of RF and power magnetics for critical applications. This 24-page catalog presents detailed specifications on magnetic components for a wide range of applications, including signal generation and processing, RF, power, impedance matching, LED drivers, timing and much more.
