New CMOS Design Planned
Acco Semiconductor plans to debut a low-cost complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) power amplifier for 3G cell phones in 2009 that can operate with the power efficiency and robustness of a gallium-arsenide (GaAs) power amplifier. The difference between GaAs-based technologies and CMOS technology for power amplifiers is the breakdown voltage of the devices and impedance mismatch from the antenna on the devices that can produce a large voltage across the device. The new technology, according to Acco, will solve the breakdown issue for all CMOS technologies, from 180 to 65 nanometers. Industry observers question whether Acco’s technology can deliver as promised and if the issue of CMOS power amplifiers for 3G will still be relevant as more front-end modules housing power amplifiers with filtering and a CMOS controller appear in the coming years. Read more
Automated Technique Paves Way for Nanofactories
By adapting a longstanding computer aided design and manufacturing process, engineers at Duke University in North Carolina, USA, say they have reproduced nanosize structures with features on the order of single molecules, allowing the manufacture of nanostructures to move from one-off, scientific demonstrations to repetitively engineered surface features. By using the traditional computing language of macroscale milling machines to guide an atomic force microscope (AFM), researchers say they reliably produced 3-D, nanometer-scale silicon oxide nanostructures through anodization nanolithography, in which oxides are built on semiconducting and metallic surfaces by applying an electric field in the presence of tiny amounts of water. Researchers say the new automated technique for nanomanufacturing suggests that the emerging nanotechnology industry might capitalize on the current skills of the engineering workforce. Read more
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IEEE-USA Seeks Award Nominations
The IEEE-USA Awards and Recognition Committee is seeking nominations for its 2007 awards in professionalism, technical achievement, and literary contributions to public awareness and understanding of the engineering profession. The deadline for nominations has been extended to 14 September 2007. Examples of activities that would qualify individuals for nomination include promoting science and math education in pre-college education, promoting professional awareness with college students, educating members on non-technical skills to advance and maintain their careers, and educating the public on the positive impact of the professions served by the IEEE.
IEEE-USA awards include:
Robert S. Walleigh Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award
Award for Distinguished Public Service
Citation of Honor
Pre-college Education Committee Teacher-Engineer Partnership Award
Regional/Divisional Professional Leadership Award
Professional Achievement Award for Individuals
Professional Achievement Award for Organizations
Harry Diamond Memorial Award
Electrotechnology Transfer Award
Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Public Understanding of the Profession
Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism
For a detailed description of each award and nomination forms, click here.
For more information about the IEEE-USA Awards and Recognition Committee, please visit the IEEE-USA Awards website or contact Sandra Kim via email at s.kim@ieee.org or phone at (202) 530-8330.
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Cyberkinetics Participates in NIH Grant
Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc., Brown University, and the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center at the Case Western Reserve University will form a consortium in a five-year, $6.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the development of Cyberkinetics’ BrainGate Neural Interface System, according to the participants. The goal of BrainGate is to provide a reliable, fully implantable and wireless neuroprosthesis that enables paralyzed people to use their own limbs to perform tasks such as eating, drinking, and controlled breathing. BrainGate is a brain-computer interface consisting of an internal sensor that detects brain cell activity and external processors that convert brain signals into a computer-mediated output under the person's own control. Read more
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Notre Dame Professor Receives IEEE Award
Dr. Rueywen Liu, a leader in the electrical engineering field, has been named the 2007 recipient of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society’s Mac Van Valkenburg Award. The medal honors Liu for his role in the development of a new multiple access system for wireless communication, in addition to his research in circuits and systems, signal processing, and communication. Liu joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1960 and has earned bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois. He is an IEEE Life Fellow and a winner of the IEEE Society Technical Achievement Award (2001), the IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000), the IEEE Society Golden Jubilee Medal (1999), the Alexander Von Humboldt Senior Research Award (1999), and the IEEE Society Meritorious Service Award (1998). Read more
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Call for Papers: ISQED 2008
The 9th International Symposium & Exhibits on Quality Electronic Design will be held in San Jose, California, USA, 17-19 March 2008. ISQED is the leading international conference dealing with design-for-manufacturability and quality issues in electronics. The conference will feature nearly 100 technical presentations, six keynote speakers, two three-panel discussions, workshops, tutorials, and other informal meetings. Authors are invited to submit papers in the various disciplines of high level design, circuit design, test & verification, design automation tools, processes, flows, device modeling, semiconductor technology, and advance packaging. The first paper submission deadline is 30 September 2007. Accepted authors will be notified by 23 November 2007; final papers are due 3 January 2008. Learn more
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Generating Power from Body Heat
Electronic devices powered by human body heat have been made possible by combining components in a new way, according to scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, who say they have created circuits that can operate on 200 millivolts. The technology uses thermoelectric generators (TEGs) made from semiconductor elements that extract electrical energy from the several-degree difference in temperature between the human body and its surrounding environment. Many electronic devices previously required between one and two volts. Scientists predict future devices may run on temperature differences of just 0.5 degrees. The scientists believe the new technology will have many medical applications, doing away with the cluster of wires that often surround patients attached to monitoring equipment. Read more
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Study Group on VSI Alliance Technology Formed
To investigate the creation of IEEE standards based on work done at the VSI Alliance (VSIA), the IEEE has formed two study groups to evaluate VSIA’s existing Quality IP Metric standard and encryption activities. Both groups, sponsored by the IEEE Design Automation Standards Committee, were created after the announcement that VSIA will cease operations and donate its technology to the IEEE. The study groups will make recommendations on whether or not to proceed with formal standards development after exploring each possible standard for market potential, compatibility with related standards, differences from other projects, and whether a viable pool of volunteer leadership and participants exists. Learn more
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45-Nanometer Chip Designs Could Cause Technology Crisis
As chip designs move to the 45-nanometer process, more will be pad-limited and die sizes will be directly affected by how efficiently inputs/outputs are placed and sequenced, experts say, calling the issue an impending technology crisis. With migration to 45-nanometer cores, optimized inputs/outputs planning and placement will become even more critical, according to experts, who say the industry must decide who should take charge of a chip's inputs/outputs plan. Although 45-nanometer cores have smaller geometries and can operate at lower voltages, inputs/outputs must deal with other devices in the system that are not 45-nanometer designs and require higher voltages. Read more
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Evolutionary Algorithms Challenge Intelligent Designers
Computer scientists and designers are squaring off over evolution versus intelligent design – this time in engineering. The debate centers on the use of evolutionary algorithms (EAs), which mimic the process of natural selection by “breeding”. The automobile and aerospace industries have been using EAs to design vehicles since the late 1980s, but the applications require ultra-fast computers, both to breed the thousands, or even billions, of generations and to simulate the results to select the offspring fit for re-breeding, which limited their usefulness, according to experts. With the availability of more powerful computers, however, distributed computing grids and multicore chips, designs can now be evolved in days rather than months or years, allowing the use of EAs to spread. Read more
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IEEE Foundation Grants Awarded for 2007
Thanks to the generosity of donors who understand the importance of unrestricted giving, and in keeping with the mission of the IEEE Foundation to further the scientific and educational purposes of the IEEE, the IEEE Foundation was able to award grants to a variety of initiatives in 2007. Highlights include the creation of a new exhibit at the Women at Work Museum in Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA, to showcase the achievements of women engineers throughout history; the production of the pilot episode of “Nerd Girls”, a television documentary aimed at encouraging a young female audience to consider entering engineering related fields; the creation of the “Museum of the Future”, a non-profit organization that aims to promote science and engineering among the public, especially those that are victims of the digital divide in Portuguese-speaking countries around the world; and providing resources to launch a Turkey-wide Pre-College website contest in which pre-college students will compete to design and develop the best school website. In total, nearly $250,000 was presented to support initiatives from IEEE branches around the world. Read more
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Call for Nominations: IEEE AdCom
The IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) is looking for candidates for election to its Administrative Committee (AdCom), the Society's governing body. The IEEE-EDS AdCom has 22 elected members and meets twice a year. There are seven seats open for this year's election and self-nominations are allowed. The deadline for submission is 15 October 2007. Learn more
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IEEE Spectrum Tech Insider Webinar Series
Take advantage of experts from ANSYS, Inc., with the IEEE Webinar “Leveraging Multiphysics Solutions for Cost-Effective and Successful Electronic Design”. Scheduled for 20 September 2007, the presentation will focus on the critical simulation issues that are facing engineers designing semiconductors, MEMS, power electronics, and PCB boards. Important takeaways will include how to reduce engineering costs through process compression, increase efficiency by using fewer physical prototypes, obtain an increased ROI due to reduced development time, and more. The webinar will feature a demonstration of ANSYS® Multiphysics (TM) to evaluate the thermal performance of a printed circuit board within a unified Multiphysics simulation environment along with a live Q&A period with the experts to address specific questions. Learn more
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