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Design News

Details: Written by Administrator; Category: Design News; Published: 08 July 2009

LONDON -- Electronics distributor Premier Farnell is accepting scholarship applications from students worldwide who are registered in a full-time electrical and electronics engineering course in the 2009 entry year.

The $30,000 in scholarship funds come from prize money that remained after a student division winner was not named for the 2008 Live EDGE Electronic Design Global Environment challenge. The scholarship awards will be evenly distributed between Asia, Europe and the Americas, allotting $10,000 for each region or four $2,500 individual scholarships per region.

Scholarship information, including the application form and terms and conditions, are available on the element14 website. Applications will be accepted through Aug. 31 and winners will be announced Oct. 1.

Applicants will be required to answer one of three questions. They can explain the importance of their electrical engineering degree in today and tomorrow’s society and how they plan in using it to better the environment. Alternatively, they can either explain how they feel electronics design will change in the coming years or what new technology will have the biggest impact on electronics in the near future.

“Encouraging innovation and forward thinking among engineering students is paramount to the development and sustainability of future generations of design engineers,” said Harriet Green, chief executive of Premier Farnell. “The Live EDGE scholarship fund will help to encourage and develop 12 students enabling them to continue or start their education for the year to come. We are excited that through these scholarships we are able to support students as they strive to become leaders in critical environmental design practices.”

Premier Farnell is the parent company of Farnell, Newark, Premier Electronics, Farnell-Newark CPC and MCM.

Details: Written by Administrator; Category: Design News; Published: 07 July 2009

HERNDON, VA -- Jim McElroy, the chief executive of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, is set to retire. A search for a successor has been launched.
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Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 01 July 2009

SOUTHPOINTE, PA – ANSYS Inc. introduces Icepak 12.0 software, providing robust and powerful fluid dynamics technology for electronics thermal management.

The latest version contains several advancements, including technology for meshing complex geometry and physical modeling capabilities.

The software quickens product development by accurately simulating dissipation of thermal energy in electronic devices at the component, board or system level. Users can improve design performance, reduce the need for a physical prototype and shorten time to market.

ANSYS Iceboard and Icechip capabilities are integrated into this latest version, and ECAD designs can be directly imported. Additional features include enhanced fan modeling, parallel processing, post-processing and expanded libraries.

In addition, a PCB trace Joule heating modeling capability, together with the import of DC power distribution profiles from Ansoft SIwaveT software enhances accurate PCB thermal simulation.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 30 June 2009

SAN JOSE, CA and TOKYO – As part of its companywide initiative to reduce design cycle time and improve efficiency, Hitachi Ltd. has employed Cadence Design Systems’ Global Route Environment (GRE) technology for Allegro PCB design.

Hitachi reports the measure has reduced PCB place-and-route design time by 40% for high-speed communication products.

The company used the GRE technology on its PCB place-and-route from interconnect planning to complete routing, with full constraints for high-speed digital signals where automation had not been previously available.

Hitachi feels the technology will also be effective for other PCB design challenges, such as engineering changes and routing estimation. It plans to use GRE as a standard solution throughout the design environment.

GRE technology provides automaton for various stages of interconnect planning and routing where no automation has been available.

GHENT, BELGIUM – Ucamco introduces UCAM v 8.4.1, the latest version of its PCB CAM software.

UCAM v 8.4.1 supports multitasking 64-bit Windows software, and users can simultaneously run several programs on the same workstation.

Features include a faster, more intuitive link the Integr8tor, the company’s sales tool, and menu-driven automation provides complete control and single-click operation without the need for special programming.

Support for ODB++ v7 allows UCAM to link seamlessly to other CAM and assembly programs. One-click functions allow users to remove unused innerlayer pads, set special clearances for fiducial pads and optimize track runs on flexible circuits.

For more information, visit www.ucamco.com

SAN JOSE, CA and BANGALORE, INDIA – Magma Design Automation Inc. named Vivek Raghavan managing director of the company’s operations in India. He will report to Roy Jewell, president and COO.

Raghavan joined Magma in 2004 when it acquired Mojave Design, where he was the co-founder and CEO. He has also held senior engineering management positions with Synopsys and Avant Corp.

In addition to his position, Raghavan will continue to serve as vice president of Magma’s custom design business unit, where he oversees the development of physical verification products.