Competition in the defense industry will continue to become more global and intense. Facts and figures of military strategy show the defense sector has more players than future demand can profitably support. Governments and defense agencies in 2013 — from the US to China to the eurozone — had to justify defense spending against aRead More

The VITA specifications enable the embedded computer industry to support military, avionic, space, instrumentation, semiconductor processing, medical imaging, and industrial control applications. The way industry standards are often viewed by the engineering community has been the source of jokes for many years: How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None, they simplyRead More

The global rail industry market for connectors is expected to yield an 8.0% CAGR through 2018, growing to an annual volume of $828.8 million. Europe, the largest component of the global rail industry market segment, with 48.8% of the total market, is repositioning itself for consistent expansion into its 2020 plan and beyond. A freeRead More

Technology advances in the last decade transformed the automotive, commercial, and consumer device landscape. Enabled by advances in silicon IC technology, markets and applications converged around WiFi, LTE, Bluetooth, flash memory, multicore processors, and standardized high-speed I/O interfaces. The transition from the Internet of connected people to the Internet of connected things opened up entirelyRead More

High availability and the reliability of rolling stock comprise the basic requirements for modern rail freight. HARTING is researching solutions for condition-based maintenance strategies. The long history of sustained, strong growth in global trade correlates to a continued increase in the flow of goods in the future. Despite political advocacy and a broad range ofRead More

The “Connector Basics” series from APEX Electrical Interconnection Consultants continues with a tutorial on how to specify and select a connector for a particular application. Generally speaking, electrical connectors are mechanical components that serve an electrical function. In addition to carrying electrical current at a specified voltage, connectors either enable interconnection of components during theRead More

Regenerative braking systems reclaim and store kinetic energy in a reusable manner. Conventional vehicle braking systems convert kinetic energy into heat via friction, wasting a great deal of energy potential. Regenerative braking systems reclaim and store this kinetic energy in a reusable manner. More and more modern electric drive vehicles, including locomotives, boast regenerative brakingRead More

Today’s inter-vehicle jumper systems must withstand a diverse array of electrical, mechanical, and climatic conditions. Today’s inter-vehicle jumper systems must be capable of withstanding a diverse array of conditions, so the system’s design must consider the flow of current and the resulting heating, vibration, bending, and torsion, as well as ambient temperature, ballast strikes, weathering,Read More

Aging populations, wireless devices, the ACA, and budget cuts put the global medical market in flux. Bishop tracks eight companies in the medical market sector. Growth in the medical market, as measured by these eight companies, has been relatively good in the last two years, with year-over-year growth of 8.0% in 2011 and 2.9% inRead More

Personal devices, access to content, data taxing infrastructure, advanced vehicle electronics, and hands-free technology are the things to know about the electronics industry right now. What are the most important drivers, developments, and things to know about the global electronics industry? Molex’s Brian Krause gave us an overview of what’s happening and what we shouldRead More

Erosion in the Connector Industry Talent Base The connector industry has experienced significant erosion of its talent base in recent decades. Because this has occurred bit by bit over a long period of time, it’s not immediately apparent how significantly the industry has been changed by the loss of knowledge and experience these people represent.Read More

Passive optical interconnects optimize datacom, mil/aero, and computer system designs. Passive optical components guide transmission of optical signals through optical networks. The concept of flexible optical circuits originated at Bell Laboratories in the late 1980s, and was called Optiflex. Today, interconnects are produced by nearly a dozen companies in a similar manner. Recent technological advancesRead More