Non-Traditional Chips Gaining Steam


Flexible hybrid electronics are beginning to roll out in the form of medical devices, wearable electronics and even near-field communications tags in retail, setting the stage for a whole new wave of circuit design, manufacturing and packaging that reaches well beyond traditional chips. FHE devices begin with substrates made of ceramics, glass, plastic, polyimide, polymers, polysilicon, stai... » read more

The Week In Review: IoT


Finance NXP Semiconductors reported its Secure Connected Devices group posted revenue of $569 million in the fourth quarter, a gain of 10% from a year earlier. NXP CEO Richard Clemmer said in a statement, “All major product lines contributed to a seasonally solid quarter.” The chip company reported Q4 revenue of $2.44 billion and 2016 revenue of nearly $9.5 billion. Consortia Bosch, C... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 29


Printing hair Using a low-cost, 3D printing technique, Carnegie Mellon University has found a way to produce hair-like strands and fibers. The printer produces plastic hair strand by strand. It takes about 20-25 minutes to generate hair on 10 square millimeters. A video can be seen here. [caption id="attachment_24544" align="alignleft" width="300"] 3D printed hair (Photo: Carnegie Mellon... » read more

System Bits: Aug. 25


Quantum computer building block In a finding that could ultimately be used to produce key components of quantum computers in the future, a team of researchers led by MIT have analyzed an exotic kind of magnetic behavior, driven by the mere proximity of two materials, using a technique called spin-polarized neutron reflectometry. This discovery could also be used to probe a variety of exotic... » read more

Do Students Need More Formal Education?


A few weeks ago, some of the top researchers and practitioners in the area of formal methods converged on Portland, Oregon. The event was the annual Formal Methods in Computer-Aided Design (FMCAD) conference and Semiconductor Engineering attended the panel titled “Teaching Formal Methods: Needs, Challenges, Experiences, and Opportunities.” Panelists included: Jason Baumgartner, formal verif... » read more

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