Electronics Protection - Winter 2014 - (Page 31)

Industry News IDTechEx Research Sees Structural Electronics Market Potentially Reach $60bn by 2025 Aircraft, and later cars, will have a nervous system like a human being, instantly alerting to touch and damage. Aircraft will have no passenger windows, instead displaying a moving color picture of what you would see from a window in the position where the window used to be, thanks to a smart inside to the fuselage - an imaginary window. All this is structural electronics, a large new market assessed in the IDTechEx report, "Structural Electronics 2015-2025: Applications, Technologies, Forecasts". This report gives ten year forecasts for structural electronics and for its key enabling technologies employed or envisaged such as printed electronics. Electric vehicles particularly need structural electronics so their numbers are forecasted for the next ten years, in 37 categories, something no other analyst has attempted. The technologies used now and in the future are assessed, from in-mold electronics to electronic 3D printing of load-bearing structures, structural metamaterials and energy harvesting such as structural photovoltaics. They are related to each other in the report with indication of maturity and potential. A spectacular future awaits, aircraft are being developed that stay aloft on nothing more than sunshine thanks to structural solar cells in the whole wing and elsewhere. Large boats circumnavigate the world on sunshine thanks to solar decks, solar roads are being developed and car bodies that store electricity thanks to structural supercapacitors are being trialed. Smart skin on vehicles, buildings and other structures is assessed in this comprehensive report. Smart skin can increasingly perform many functions, including ubiquitous sensing, electricity generation, electricity storage and diversion of lightning strikes around aircraft made of insulating fiber composites. On a smaller scale, it has been shown that the protective insulation on cabling can be replaced with structural electronics and dumb printed circuit boards are being made load-bearing and smart. A common factor is saving space, weight and cost while increasing reliability. Fall 2014 North American Survey Results Reveal Top Data Center Concerns Data center monitoring capabilities, availability and changes in technology are the leading top-of-mind issues for data center managers, according to a fall survey of data center users from Emerson Network Power. The fall installment of the biannual survey polled members of the Data Center Users' Group (DCUG), an association of influential data center, IT and facility managers, captured input from more than 130 respondents across North America. The questions covered a variety of data center topics, including data center monitoring and management, capacity constraints, third-party colocation providers, energy efficiency and heat and power densities. The survey results show that, for the second time this year, technology change continues to be an increasing concern on the minds of data center professionals. In the Spring 2014 survey, concerns over technology change rose from eight to number five; it continues to climb this fall as it tied for second place. When asked to identify their top three facility/network concerns, 35 percent of respondents cited adequate monitoring/data center management capabilities, followed by 34 percent for both availability/uptime and technology changes. Concerns over energy efficiency dropped from 44 percent in the fall of 2013 to 32 percent in this survey. "As reflected in our recent 'Data Center 2025' report, data centers are undergoing massive changes in technology at an increasing pace. Concern over this continues to rise among data center managers, as advances in technology and interconnectivity are forcing data centers to support more critical, interdependent devices and IT systems," said Bob Miller, vice president, global solutions sales, Emerson Network Power in North America, and a member of the DCUG board of directors. "While energy efficiency is still a concern, focus is clearly shifting toward greater availability and the need for more capacity." More than one third of survey respondents indicated that they are able to accommodate additional compute capacity without constraints - but available power, cooling and floor space were listed as restraining the growth capabilities of almost two thirds of the respondents. Seventy-eight percent indicated they have unplugged unused servers (i.e. ghost servers) in the past 12 months. Fifty-five percent of respondents have increased the temperature in their data center during the course of the year. With 75 percent of responses, 'resilient and highly available' were listed as the greatest importance of data center capabilities. Thirty-two percent of respondents cited they were extremely likely to incorporate commissioning services in their next data center project. Atrodyne Corp. Acquires TDI Power Astrodyne Corp. has acquired TDI Power (TDI) from private owners. TDI designs and manufactures power supplies and integrated systems for semiconductor manufacturing, industrial, medical, mil/aero and other end markets. TDI targets demanding applications requiring precise voltage and/or current in harsh or highly variable conditions. Astrodyne plans to continue to operate TDI Power's Hackettstown, NJ and Shenzhen, China manufacturing facilities, and will look to create synergies that will provide benefits to customers. "We are excited to welcome the employees of TDI Power to the Astrodyne family. They have built an impressive brand and have unmatched engineering capabilities in higher power applications, which complements Astrodyne's low-to-medium power solutions and EMI filters," said Pete Kaczmarek, president and CEO of Astrodyne. "We look forward to continuing to build upon the company's track record of engineering excellence, quality, and customer service." Verotec Custom Enclosures Help Keep the London Underground Running The London Underground carried 1.26 billion passengers in the last year, making it one of the busiest networks in the world. To help keep it running smoothly, Verotec used its TecServ+ Project Service operation to design and manufacture bespoke enclosures used to house some critical switching and interfacing equipment. One of London Underground's System Integrators needed application-specific housings for a system upgrade. The requirements, specifications and concept sketches were supplied to Verotec. The TecServ+ operation, which incorporates design, engineering, project management, compliance testing and manufacture, initially produced 3D model files and detailed manufacturing drawings for customer review. Once approved, initial physical concept prototypes, supplied unfinished to reduce costs and time, were produced. Following customer evaluation, modified versions of the original prototypes were signed off for production, and Verotec supplied the first batch within the required short lead time. www.ElectronicsProtectionMagazine.com * Winter 2014 31 http://www.ElectronicsProtectionMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Electronics Protection - Winter 2014

Editor's Choice
EMI Compliance: Choosing the Right Shielding and Gasketing
Thermal-Fluid Modeling for Flat Thin Heat Pipes/Vapor Chambers
Increase Rack Cooling Efficiency and Solve Heat-Related Problems
Seven Essential Cabinet Design Considerations for Protecting 19 Inch Electronics
A Better Alternative to Heat Pipes: Integrating Vapor Chambers Into Heat Sinks
Common IP Testing Failures and How to Avoid Them
Enclosures
EMI/EMC/RFI
Thermal
Power
Hardware
Contamination
Industry News

Electronics Protection - Winter 2014