$1.2 billion of electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) are already selling each year, and they are becoming increasingly common to replace solders in a variety of functions, applications, and industries.   Materials are needed to replace the estimated 50,000 metric tons of tin-lead solder currently used each year, but there are no “drop-in” replacements for eutecticRead More

From wet silk thread to modern superconducting ribbon, interconnect technology has advanced along with the related electronic technology as it is critical to an electrical system’s operation. Add to that the realm of optical fiber, and you have a huge marketplace of mixed applications, technologies, and services.   With wireless technologies – both signal- andRead More

Chicklets revolutionized automation by increasing the overall speed and efficiency of designing in backplane connectors. The Germans are renowned for developing and enforcing mechanical standards that are used worldwide. German companies developed the DIN 41612 connector family and the Eurocard chassis standards, which remain the basis for many other standards, such as VME architectures usedRead More

The FIA Formula E Series has attracted connector companies as sponsors and highlights the role of electronics in the future of auto racing. Along with the rest of the car industry, motorsport has taken a turn for the green and the high tech. The FIA Formula E Series is the first to feature exclusively electricRead More

Racing engineers always request solutions that bend the laws of physics, but that’s what makes working in the industry such a challenge. By its very nature, autosport is not an industry that stands still; just when you think you know what’s happening, a new technology appears and it all moves forward again. Autosport has broughtRead More

Vehicles talk to each other to improve efficiency and safety.   It’s now possible for vehicles to communicate with each other – and not by drivers rolling down their windows to shout at each other. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications systems can improve the safety, efficiency, and productivity of a wide range of commercial vehicles. Multiple SystemsRead More

In the coming decades the choice of land-vehicle powertrain will mainly be dictated by emissions conformance in addition to the best cost/performance compromise. This will result in a move to pure electric vehicles as laws tighten and technology improves.   The main powertrain options for land vehicles over the next 20 years, according to aRead More

What sources play a role in determining the idea for the next great connector? Bill Garver of APEX looks at the information that helps determine gaps in the market.   One of the most difficult aspects of the new product development process is determining when a new product idea is marketable, if it would be profitable, andRead More

No longer the stuff of superhero comics, the military’s latest soldier defense project is built in part on decades of research and innovation from the connector and cable industry.   For the entire history of warfare, technology has seesawed between the dominance of weapon technology and the dominance of armor technology, and modern war isRead More

The development of the 2mm Metral connector changed the telecom industry forever.   The connector industry is very interesting, in part, because of exciting inventions developed by engineers – some of which have such an impact that the direction of the industry is changed. In the late ‘80s, telecom OEMs were outgrowing the capabilities ofRead More

Increasing demands of growing data volumes force IT professionals to explore better connection options.   Ask five people to define “Big Data” and you are likely to get five different definitions – ranging from broad references about analyzing numerous data sets for patterns and trends, down to very precise specifications for data set size orRead More

New standards and new design concepts are helping embedded systems designers keep pace with increasing demands for mobile capabilities.   Embedded computing systems have always offered a variety of readily available mix-and-match component solutions built around industry standards. But as increasing demands are spurred by more sophisticated mobile applications in imaging, communications, sonar, radar, andRead More