IEEE Spectrum August, 2014 - 12

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The brightest minds discussing the biggest topics.
Earn PDHs by attending a Webinar!

New Webinar in August
14 Aug

Modeling Batteries and Fuel Cells
Using COMSOL Multiphysics

This webinar will show methods that can be used
to model lithium-ion batteries, polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), and more general
electrochemical systems using the Batteries
& Fuel Cells Module and COMSOL Multiphysics.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar/modelingbatteries-fuel-cells-using-comsolmultiphysics

On-Demand Webinars
Iterating Innovation for Continuous Engineering

In this webinar Chris Rommel, Executive Vice-President of
VDC will take us through the latest research examining how
companies are driving success though iterative approaches,
better integration and collaboration based on agile, and
cross-domain engineering integration. http://spectrum.
ieee.org/webinar/iterating-innovation-forcontinuous-engineering

The Value of FDM Technology in Design Process

In this webinar you will learn how to develop design
methodology using FDM technology. http://spectrum.
ieee.org/webinar/value-of-fdm-technologyin-design-process

Counterfeit Electronic Component
Detection & Avoidance

In this webinar we will discuss the nature of counterfeit
electronic parts and how they are counterfeited, safety
concerns from counterfeits that make it into vital mission
electronics, and more. http://spectrum.ieee.org/
webinar/siliconexpert-counterfeit-electroniccomponent-detection-avoidance

Sponsors

During my own career at Spectrum, I've been grateful many times
for the help I received from the powerful or famous. I have interviewed U.S. senators, congressmen, and military generals; British
diplomats; and government ministers in India and Iraq. I spent a
blustery day sailing around San Francisco Bay and drinking ancient
port with Silicon Graphics founder and Netscape cofounder Jim Clark,
in his prebillionaire days. I had dinner with Jon Rubinstein around
the time he was leading the design of the iPod, and I've spoken with
Gordon Bell, best known for his pioneering work on minicomputers at Digital Equipment Corp., more times than I can remember. In
Afghanistan, I interviewed the governor of Kandahar province in his
palace, days after riots a few miles away killed 16 people.
At the fabled Washington, D.C., eatery Duke Ziebert's, I ate alligator with an astronaut: Owen Garriott, who was trained as an
electrical engineer and once held
the record for the longest stay in
space. Ben Rich, the legendary enTrying
gineer who oversaw the design of
to
make
the F-117A stealth fighter-bomber
computers
and helped design the U-2 spy plane,
resemble
regaled me with dirty jokes during
human beings
a freewheeling interview a year or
was "facing
so before he died.
the
future
The list goes on. I don't have
with
one's
the space (and you don't have the
back
squarely
time) for an exhaustive acknowledgtowards
it,"
ment of all the stellar and powerful
Pierce
wrote
friends who've supported Spectrum
over the years, but I will pull a few
more names out of the ether. Alfred
N. Goldsmith, the radio pioneer and educator, and Bernard Oliver,
who became R&D chief at Hewlett-Packard, helped us get off
the ground in 1964. Jack Kilby and J. Fred Bucy, of Texas Instruments, were also reliable supporters in the 1960s and 1970s, as
was Clarence Lester "Les" Hogan, another electronics-industry
pioneer who combined engineering and executive brilliance.
Michiyuki Uenohara, senior executive vice president of NEC, and
Tsuneo Nakahara, vice chairman of Sumitomo Electric Industries,
were our steadfast champions in East Asia; in a culture where
personal connections are crucial, they introduced us to sources
we otherwise had no way of reaching. Eberhardt Rechtin, CEO
of the Aerospace Corp., Norman R. Augustine, CEO of Lockheed
Martin, and Malcolm Currie, CEO of Hughes Aircraft, enabled us
to bypass the bureaucracy and get aerospace and military stories
we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Lewis Terman, who was a
leader in IBM's research establishment and the son of Frederick
Terman, continues to advise us to this day.
All of these people went out of their way to help us when they
surely had plenty of other claims on their attention. The only possible explanation for their generosity is that they believed in us and
in our mission. They expected nothing in return. But, hopefully,
this column is better than nothing. - glenn zor pette

http://spectrum.ieee.org/webinar/modeling http://spectrum http://www.ieee.org/webinar/iterating-innovation-for http://spectrum http://www.ieee.org/webinar/value-of-fdm-technology http://spectrum.ieee.org/ http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/webinar

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum August, 2014