One of the greatest engineering challenges facing military and aerospace systems is extreme temperature. Connectors must withstand severe heat and cold, as well as sudden temperature changes and other harsh conditions, while maintaining electrical integrity throughout the mission. For decades, aerospace and defense systems have been required to operate in some of the harshest environmentsRead More

There’s a frustrating pattern familiar for anyone who has operated or worked on commercial trucks, agricultural machinery, or construction equipment: a fault appears, the vehicle goes into the shop, technicians run diagnostics and find nothing. The fault code is gone, and the connection looks fine. The vehicle goes back into service, and within days orRead More

Connector modularity lets engineers dynamically scale SWaP requirements to their needs while maximizing maintainability through field serviceability. Article Contributed By Clint Schlosser, Product Manager, Winchester Interconnect For the emerging small-satellite industry servicing LEO constellations as well as the UAS sector, development teams are often faced with two competing goals: designing to highly demanding performance specificationsRead More

MIL-DTL-28748 (formerly MIL-C-28748) is a U.S. military specification that defines rectangular, rack-and-panel electrical connectors with non-removable solder-type contacts or removable crimp-type contacts. It is commonly specified for airborne, ground-support, and shipboard equipment as a compact, high-contact-density, multi-source connector interface that is already proven for severe-environment military and aerospace use. Technical Standard MIL-DTL-28748 was first issuedRead More

5G & 6G, SATCOM, UAVs, quantum computers, and test equipment all push for higher performance. David Shaff’s review of this year’s premier microwave industry event finds new RF interconnects are ready for the next advancements. All sections of the RF/microwave industry came together at the IEEE International MTT Symposia (IMS) in Boston the week ofRead More

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 is the EU’s comprehensive batteries regulation, covering safety, ease of use, labeling, and sustainability for batteries and the products they power. Battery connectors are part of the compliance picture. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 is the EU’s comprehensive batteries regulation, covering sustainability, safety, labeling, and end-of-life management for all battery categories, including consumer, electricRead More

As the automotive industry moves rapidly toward software‑defined vehicles (SDVs), attention often centers on large‑scale architectural change. Centralized computing, zonal controllers, and high‑speed vehicle networks are widely recognized as foundational to this transition. These shifts are essential—but they do not tell the full story. By Mike Spaccarotella, Product Manager, TE Connectivity, Automotive A less visibleRead More

Pressure-balanced oil-filled (PBOF) interconnects are specialized electrical and fiber optic connectors and cable assemblies designed to survive and operate reliably in extreme, high-pressure deep-sea or subsea environments. Flexible elastomeric tubing (the conduit for electric wires and fiber optic lines) filled with a compensating fluid, such as a non-conductive silicone oil (a dielectric and pressure compensator),Read More

Introduced at OFC 2026, the new XPO pluggable modules provide a solution to the challenges of signal density, thermal management, field serviceability, and power efficiency. Continuing advances in artificial intelligence face multiple constraints including power consumption, access to memory, thermal management, and limitations of copper connectivity. Solving these challenges could still result in hobbled systemsRead More

Characterization and modeling of connector losses in internal connector interfaces. Article Contributed By Baptiste Bouix, Product Manager, Würth Elektronik When two or more PCBs need to be interconnected, designers must select the appropriate connectors for their application. However, choosing the wrong connector can compromise the entire design. Larger pitches like 0.8 mm and 1.0 mmRead More

Whitworth Scholarships support the engineering careers of apprentices by helping to fund their education. In 1841, Sir Joseph Whitworth, an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist, devised the British Standard Whitworth (BSW), the world’s first screw thread standard. The BSW was widely accepted throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, influencing engineering practices globally, and formingRead More

An LGA (land grid array) socket is a zero-insertion-force or low-insertion-force CPU interconnect in which the electrical contacts reside in the socket on the motherboard rather than on the processor package itself. LGA sockets are the dominant CPU interface in desktop, server, and workstation platforms. The socket format allows OEMs to design boards for multipleRead More