Liz Allan

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Liz Allan is managing editor at Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Security Threats Converge On IoT, Industrial ICs, Physical AI
By Liz Allan - 08 Jan, 2026 - Comments: 0

Devices in a broad range of edge AI applications are increasingly at risk of hacking or tampering, with the stakes varying greatly depending on how much the device can impact and interact with human life. Design methods and protection techniques must now be included up front in the design cycle for optimal protection of consumers and companies as the quantum threat looms. In today’s factor... » read more

Annual Global IC Fabs And Facilities Report
By Liz Allan - 07 Jan, 2026 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor companies announced a significant number of facilities in 2025 as global onshoring efforts continued across manufacturing, materials, packaging, design, and R&D. Investments came from both industry and government sources. Organizations worked together to solve current technology challenges, including soaring demand for AI chips and advanced memory, as well as complex applic... » read more

Programmable Chips Evolve For Shifting Needs
By Liz Allan - 23 Dec, 2025 - Comments: 0

ICs and SoCs are utilizing a range of processing elements that allow them to optimize current workloads while hedging their bets for the future. What used to be a simple choice between an ASIC, FPGA, or DSP, has evolved into a mix of processor types and architectures, including varying levels of programmability and customization. Speed is essential, but technology is evolving so quickly that... » read more

Environmental Sensors Catch More Data For A Greener World
By Liz Allan - 15 Dec, 2025 - Comments: 0

Sensors to detect temperature, pressure, and gases, such as CO2, have been around for centuries. However, the latest devices can measure a growing list of substances and process the data in real-time. Likewise, single-use sensors to measure pH levels in water are well established, but the latest water sensors can be deployed all along the pipeline from source to processing to outlet or tap, sav... » read more

Physical AI Takes Functional Safety Cues From Automotive
By Liz Allan - 04 Dec, 2025 - Comments: 0

Robots are becoming smarter, more capable, and more pervasive, setting the stage for a whole new round of growth that will touch nearly every part of the semiconductor and software industries for decades to come. Robots are at the core of physical AI, a broad segment of edge AI systems that interact with the world through artificial intelligence and sensors. This includes everything from hum... » read more

FPGAs Find New Workloads In The High-Speed AI Era
By Liz Allan - 25 Nov, 2025 - Comments: 0

FPGAs are finding new applications in the age of artificial intelligence, high-speed wireless communications, medical and life science technology, and in complex chip architectures where they can improve the flow of data. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) enable designers to reprogram or reconfigure digital logic after the chips have been deployed, which is essential in the AI world, wher... » read more

Edge AI Is Starting To Transform Industrial IoT
By Liz Allan - 17 Nov, 2025 - Comments: 0

A slew of wireless and increasingly multi-modal sensors is being targeted at the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), setting the stage for significant improvements in efficiency, higher yield, and reduced downtime. Wired IIoT devices, such as smart energy meters and breakers, industrial network gateways, and environmental sensors already are well established in factory settings. They have ... » read more

LLMs Add Safety Risks To Physical AI
By Liz Allan - 06 Nov, 2025 - Comments: 0

Humanoid robots with artificial general intelligence are some years from entering our daily life, but application-specific robotics are already here. From Amazon’s fleet of fulfillment center robots to robotic surgical systems in operating rooms, search and rescue robo-dogs, autonomous drones, and last-mile delivery robots, all the way down to the humble Roomba vacuum cleaner, physical AI sys... » read more

Even With AI Inroads, Human Chip Designers Still Essential
By Liz Allan - 30 Oct, 2025 - Comments: 0

The proliferation of AI tools seems perfectly matched to fill a talent shortage, but a closer look shows the skills do not entirely overlap. Certain parts of the EDA pipeline require human engineers, and it seems likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. The dark art of analog design, the final word on safety-critical functional safety, high-level architectural decisions, product i... » read more

Startup Tips To Get From Seed Funding To Series A, B, C
By Liz Allan - 16 Oct, 2025 - Comments: 0

Startups are often created by experienced engineers who figure out how to solve a technical problem they are dealing with at work, or by PhD candidates in research labs before they have even started their first full-time job. Either way, getting seed money to the tune of a few million dollars is relatively easy compared to securing further rounds of funding and achieving the company’s exit go... » read more

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