Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive The New York Auto Show has been canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 Delta variant. The show, which usually occurs in April, was scheduled for August 20 through 29th. Semiconductor company Qualcomm has offered to acquire Veoneer, an ADAS company, for $37 per share in cash. Automotive Tier 1 Magna International already has a definitive merger agreement to acquire Veoneer, wh... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 17


NVMe controller for research Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) controller for storage devices and made it freely available to universities and research institutions in a bid to reduce research costs. Poor accessibility of NVMe controller IP is hampering academic and industrial research, the team argue... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 11


Measuring molecules The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new metrology technique that determines the properties of individual molecules. The technique, called single-molecule excitation–emission spectroscopy, improves upon the traditional methods to explore molecules. The traditional method, dubbed single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS), is not new and is used to analyze f... » read more

System Bits: Feb. 19


Eco-friendly material for wireless IoT sensors Researchers at Canada’s Simon Fraser University and in Switzerland collaborated on developing a wood-derived cellulose material that could be used in a 3D printer, instead of the customary plastic and polymeric materials for electronics. With 3D printing, the material can offer flexibility to add or embed functions onto 3D shapes or fabrics, the... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 9


Super atoms The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has devised what it calls a super atom, a technology that could one day enable a new class of catalysts. TUM developed a cluster made up of 55 copper and aluminum atoms. The cluster looks like a crystal, but it actually has the properties of an atom or a heterometallic super atom. The super atom could one day be used to develop more cost-... » read more

System Bits: Dec. 10


Lasers From Nano Wires A few weeks ago, Semiconductor Engineering published a special report about silicon photonics and concentrated on the integration of the laser onto the silicon surface. Growing III-V materials on silicon is problematic because of the lattice mismatch, but researchers at the Technische Universität München (TUM) may have found a way around that problem. Thread-like semic... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 26


Arctic Neutrinos From Space Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) has observed high-energy neutrinos stemming from outside the solar system, an event that could provide some clues about the universe. Researchers observed the sub-atomic particles at IceCube, a huge neutrino detector in Antarctica. TUM has observed 28 neutrinos that most likely came from cosmic objects. The IceCube observato... » read more