Electronic Test Equipment Blog

Few test operations these days have enough people to comfortably do the jobs that need doing. Unfortunately, limited staff doesn't mean that you can set test tasks aside. Tight tolerances, very dense circuitry, and other joys of the modern electronics industry challenge test engineers to "get it right." What productivity challenges do you face? How does your group's workload or your own workload compare with what you were doing a few years ago? How do you get the work done? What steps could you take to improve the situation?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.

Ongoing research suggests that in the last several decades, the number of women in responsible positions in business has increased dramatically. Yet even today the proportion declines as you move up the corporate ladder, and progress has slowed in recent years. Explanations vary from different career goals from those of men to lack of adequate role models to discrimination, both subtle and overt. Some companies and countries have resorted to establishing quotas, such as on boards of directors. Why do you think that more women don't rise to the top? Does your company's top management include women? How can the "glass ceiling finally be breached?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.

One consequence of the economic conditions over the last few years is that you have fewer people to get the work done. You feel lucky to have your job, so you try extra hard. But the conditions are bound to raise your level of stress. The stress, in turn, can interfere with your productivity and your relationship with your coworkers. Does this scenario sound familiar? How do you handle the increased stress? How has it changed the workplace atmosphere? What techniques do you use to avoid flying off the handle or engaging in other counterproductive behaviors? How do your coworkers' coping mechanisms differ from yours? Which of you is more successful? Why?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.

In the wake of Steve Jobs' death, the avalanche of accolades seems endless. There is no doubt that he fundamentally changed computing and consumer electronics and that his influence will be felt far into the future. But he also has his detractors. One columnist commented: "The Steve Jobs who founded Apple as an anarchic company promoting the message of freedom … would be taken aback by the future that Apple is forging. [No company] looks more like the Big Brother from Apple's iconic 1984 commercial than Apple itself…." What's your opinion? Do you embrace the man or the myth? The anarchic revolutionary or the corporate mogul who wanted everything for himself?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.

As an energy-saving measure, governments all over the world will soon severely restrict the manufacture and sale of conventional incandescent light bulbs, a technology that has endured for more than 125 years,. Controversy surrounding the move centers on a continuing resistance to the available alternatives. People complain that the light from compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs is cold and harsh, and the bulbs contain mercury. LEDs, the most likely long-term successor, remain exorbitantly expensive for most applications. What do you think of the coming restriction? Will you stock up on standard incandescents? Choose one of the replacements? Which ones and why?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.

Recent experimental evidence suggests that the aggregate universal speed limit — the speed of light in a vacuum — also applies to individual photons. Previously, many physicists believed that individual photons could exceed that speed. If that were true, then an effect could theoretically precede its cause, opening the door to the possibility of time travel. But if even individual photons are constrained, that door is now closed. What do you think? Is time travel possible? For particles? For people? If you could travel in time, where would you go, and why? What kinds of limitations would you expect?

The preceding article is a "sneak peek" from Electronic Test Equipment, a newsletter from GlobalSpec. To stay up-to-date and informed on industry trends, products, and technologies, subscribe to Electronic Test Equipment today.