Marveling at MEMS: The New Superheroes of The Silicon World
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
Release Date: 07/11/2023
Embedded Intelligence: Insights From An Industry Pioneer
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
In this insightful interview, embedded computing pioneer Christian Eder sits down with host Daniel Bogdanoff to explore the past, present, and future of modular systems design. As a co-founder of congatec, Christian draws on over 30 years of industry experience to highlight how Computer-on-Modules (COMS) have transformed modern electronics. Christian discusses the strategic decisions that fueled congatec's growth into a leading board manufacturer and outlines why standardizing technology benefits the entire ecosystem. He details the development and roll-out of critical open standards,...
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Solving the Hard Problems: Combining AI and Physics for PCB Design
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
In this fascinating interview, Sergiy Nesterenko details the journey that ultimately drove him to solve a critical bottleneck in hardware engineering: the manual, slow process of printed circuit board (PCB) layout. In his discussion with our Moore’s Lobby host, Daniel Bogdanoff, Sergiy shares engaging anecdotes from his early career, including a SpaceX internship where he was assigned to literally watch paint dry. He also describes his first attempt at PCB layout at SpaceX, where a power switch board caught fire in his hands. This experience fueled his desire to bring robust automation to...
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Sensing at the Control Level: Leveraging Data for Both Safety and Analytics
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
In the engineering world, we rely on sensors to acquire data from real-world processes and machines. Deciding how to use that data is very important. The right decisions impact process efficiency, system reliability, and even worker safety. Join Control.com’s David Peterson as he chats with Kate Sokolnicki of Rockwell Automation in this episode of the Moore’s Lobby podcast. Sokolnicki explains the evolution of industrial sensing and the shift toward data-driven manufacturing. They discuss many key technological advancements, including: -IO-Link as a standard: Simple...
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Sensors Insights: Bridging Hardware Collection and Software Analysis
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
The "old school" way was simple: a sensor sees a part, tells the controller, and the actuator moves. It was pure hardware logic, and it worked. But in today’s smart factories, that’s only half the story. Modern sensors aren't just on/off switches anymore—they are eyes and ears, and sometimes even the brains, of the automation. However, surprisingly few engineers really understand both the hardware and software sides of machine data. In this episode of the Moore’s Lobby podcast, ’s David Peterson discusses sensors with Nils Beckmann, an expert with a background in both sensor hardware...
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Industrial Sensors: The Building Blocks That Lead to Process Optimization
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
Automation engineers have heard a lot about condition monitoring in recent years as one of the most common examples of how AI and digital transformation are actually hitting the ground with real results for industry. Sensing is certainly the foundation of the process, but it requires the proper mix of equipment and know-how to move from a simple project to a fully scaled-up implementation. In this episode of the Moore’s Lobby podcast, ’s David Peterson visits Salim Dabbous, the Director of Consulting & Digital Solutions at SICK. Salim has a broad background that includes working with...
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Powering EVs: Microgrids & DC Charging Solutions
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
In this episode of the Moore’s Lobby podcast, we sit down with Antonio Di Vaira, Senior VP for Power Product of Schneider Electric to discuss the massive shifts happening in the world of energy distribution. The conversation kicks off by exploring how the explosive growth of electric vehicles and energy-hungry technologies like AI are pushing traditional power grids to their breaking point. He also explains that while building out new grid capacity is part of the long-term solution, the industry needs ways to sustain this growth in the short term. This sets the stage for a deep dive into...
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Material Science in Motion: How 3M is Powering EV and Grid Advancements
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
Technologists and leaders will be interested in hearing Mike explain how 3M's R&D culture that emphasizes collaborative problem-solving. They continue to leverage their "15% time" philosophy to fosters creative solutions that are being applied to our rapidly electrifying world. If you're passionate about how fundamental material science is enabling breakthrough innovation in the electrical engineering world, this is an episode you don't want to miss. : -The Surprising Role of Adhesives and Tapes: A look at how 3M's advanced materials are critical components in everything from wind...
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Aligning Passion With Purpose: A Journey to Electrification and Sustainability
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
Dr. Mital Kanabar is the Senior Director of Innovation, Grid Automation, Grid Solutions at GE Vernova. He joins our podcast to discuss the explosive electricity demand driven by electric vehicles, AI data centers, and the general electrification of industries. This increased demand puts a strain on an aging infrastructure, necessitating new solutions to ensure a reliable and resilient power supply. Check out this engaging conversation that touches on a number of important topics, including: Decarbonization and Green Electrons: The push to generate electricity from renewable sources like wind,...
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Generative AI for Dirty Jobs—The Next Industrial Revolution?
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
Christopher Savoie, the founder and CEO of Zapata Computing, has had a fascinating career journey. After beginning as a young programmer working with early computers, he switched gears to immunology and biophysics in Japan and is now founding AI companies. Along the way, he was also involved in creating the foundational technology for Apple Siri, working on early language models embedded in agents to solve complex natural language problems. In this interview with our host, Daniel Bogdanoff, Savoie highlights the evolution of AI into specialized systems. Like an orchestra, small, task-specific...
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Creating Next-Gen Microcontroller Developer Tools and Equipping the People Who Use Them
Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits
In this interview, our Moore’s Lobby host, Daniel Bogdanoff, chats with Rodger Richey, Vice President of Development Tools and Academic Programs at Microchip Technology. Rodger shares how his passion for engineering began with childhood curiosity, dismantling and repairing devices like a microwave. Those early hands-on experiences laid the foundation for his electrical engineering career, which started with designing underwater electronics for the U.S. Navy. Rodger discusses the evolution of development tools and the growing complexity of embedded systems over his 30-year tenure at...
info_outlineSilicon transistors naturally get most of the attention. However, delicate silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with movements that are often measured in angstroms are making some noise of their own (metaphorically, because you won’t be able to hear those tiny vibrations!).
By focusing in parallel on the MEMS device and the silicon processing required to build them, SiTime has been able to improve MEMS resonator performance “close to 100,000” times, says Fari Assaderaghi, EVP of Technology and Engineering at SiTime.
Assaderaghi went on to state:
“Timing is like an unsung hero that is behind the scenes, but its performance actually limits or enables certain performance characteristics that you see at the end systems.”
Over his career, Fari learned many important lessons that he shares during this thoughtful interview. One of these is to “always go back to first principles.” He expounds on this by stating, “If you don't understand something, don't paper over it. Keep on digging.” He concludes with the warning, “There is no shortcut, and if the fundamental doesn't support it, eventually it's going to come and get you.”
Assaderaghi also learned to focus on your ultimate goal rather than what you think is possible. “If you start with what you want to achieve...you would be surprised that eventually what you thought was not possible, actually it is possible.”
Our Moore’s Lobby host, Daniel Bogndanoff, also discusses with Assaderaghi his fascinating personal journey. Over his career, Assaderaghi has had the pleasure of working alongside luminaries like Chenming Hu, the father of Finfets; Robert Dennard, the inventor of single-transistor DRAM; and Lisa Su, CEO of AMD.
Other highlights from this interview include:
-The unique SiTime culture that Fari credits to the CEO, Rajesh Vashist.
-The importance of failure
-The tuning of silicon’s mechanical properties, not just electrical
That’s a wrap on Season 6 of Moore’s Lobby. We hope you have enjoyed hearing from these amazing guests as much as we have. Please tell us what you think in the comments or share your suggestions and requests for guests and topics for Season 7.