Wayne Labs is a contributing editor with Electronic Design.
10 results found for Wayne Labs, displaying items 1 - 10
February 16, 2006[Engineering Feature] Redefining The Workstation
It's easy to picture the traditional workstation. Simply imagine a high-powered UNIX computer, somewhere between a PC and a minicomputer, that tackles power-hungry applications like computer-aided design/engineering (CAD/CAE), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), graphics, or publishing. Yet today, even the least expensive PCs can outperform the workstations of just 10 or 15 years ago. With embedded microprocessors showing up just about everywhere, the term "workstation" takes on a new...
October 20, 2005[YOUR Issue] The Shifting Design Cycle
The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village," wrote Marshall McLuhan in 1962. In the late 1960s, this University of Toronto media professor predicted that electronic communications would radically change our lives by speeding up the transfer of information, turning the world into a global village. In 1976, the film Network said that the modern world no longer comprises individual countries. Instead, it's a network of interlocking...
October 20, 2005[YOUR Issue] Engineering Specialties
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is known for its high-technology sector. Yet it has seen jobs move overseas, too. A University of Ottawa report, Ottawa Works 2?Profiling Ottawa's Work Force (2002), says the recent downturn in information and communication technology (ICT) sector jobs has produced an oversupply in many categories, particularly software-related positions, intermediate and junior engineers, and business-development positions. All these jobs tend to move overseas due to lower...
October 20, 2005[YOUR Issue] Overwhelming Complexity
What is it? Is it a cell phone? A message pad? A computer? A camera? It's all of the above. But who needs it? And why? Marketers tell us we need it. Kids seem to want it. Is this complexity elegantly packaged or complexity run amuck? Today's devices and software have become so complex that they almost defy testing. By the time all of the bugs seem to be eradicated, we're blessed with a new version we have to partially test in the field. Aren't you glad that aircraft systems are more...
October 20, 2005[YOUR Issue] Are The Tools Better?
Depending on whom you ask, you will get different opinions about the tools engineers need for their jobs. Some complain of too many tools with overlapping features. Others say the tools are never quite finished, are too complex, and above all, cost too much. It's hard to imagine, but Walter Shawlee finds that many software tools and automation techniques are only 90% finished and full of problems. Therefore, they often require more time than can be spared to get to productive work....
June 9, 2005[Engineering Feature] Do Your Homework When Outsourcing Design Services
There was a time when you developed your product from scratch. You designed the packaging and circuits, developed the board using off-the-shelf components, and programmed it in-house—and you were still competitive. Today, whether you're building a board for a cordless phone or an embedded controller for a packaging machine, design complexities and short product lifecycles are probably taxing your engineering department beyond its capabilities. If you've...
February 17, 2005[Technology Report] Latest Scopes Look To Satisfy Engineer Wish Lists
Those 6- and 8-GHz digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs) that were sufficient a year or two ago are now becoming overrun. Silicon and motherboard designers' scopes seemingly have lost the ability to handle the lightning-fast speeds of the latest and next-generation computer buses. For instance, new high-end PCs feature a Serial ATA (SATA) bus for drives and a PCI Express motherboard. As a result, they promise faster-than-ever speeds for chip-to-chip, graphics, and other I/O...
June 14, 2004[Technology Report] Inside The Industry: Alternative Energy
By 2010, competitively priced cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells should be available from General Motors. But much testing remains to prove the reliability and durability of fuel cells in automobile applications. GM has found an ideal test bed at Dow...
June 14, 2004[Technology Report] Tomorrow's Winners: Alternative Energy
With adequate funding, alternative energy will power your laptop and car and lower your home energy bill in the next 10 years. The energy crisis of the 1970s is a fading memory for aging baby boomers who once looked forward to a future...
