Trends in Electronic Measurement
Mr. Jay Alexander
CTO
Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA
Thu, 10/01/2020
Abstract - Electronic measurement is critical for the advancement of the electrical engineering profession, and more broadly for addressing many of the challenges and opportunities facing the world today. Modern electronic measurement instruments are both beneficiaries and enablers of new technology, and as such their architectures and capabilities can provide insight on the patterns of hardware and software technology adoption occurring across the electronics landscape. This talk will cover some of the most important trends at work in electronic measurement, including the ongoing evolution from analog to digital architectures, the dramatically increased role of software, and the emergence of sophisticated multifunction instruments. These trends will be highlighted with examples drawn from three foundational electronic measurement instruments: the oscilloscope, the spectrum analyzer, and the network analyzer.
Mr. Jay Alexander is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Keysight Technologies. He leads Keysight's central technology strategy and development, focusing on market trends and top opportunities for the company to achieve competitive advantage and growth. Prior to Keysight, Mr. Alexander held numerous leadership positions at Agilent Technologies, including serving as VP and GM for the Oscilloscope and Protocol Division. He began his career at Hewlett-Packard as a Manufacturing and Test Engineer after working on robotics at IBM as a co-op student. Mr. Alexander earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, where his thesis work focused on connectionist (neural network) rule extraction. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Senior Member of the IEEE. He serves on the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology at NIST and holds 24 U.S. patents.
Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Systems
Mr. Mark Baldassari
Director of Codes and Standards
Enphase Energy, Petaluma, CA
Thu, 09/17/2020
Abstract - Homes and businesses are installer of renewable and storage-based systems to counter act rising energy cost and safeguard against power outages. This presentation will introduce fundamental concepts for resilient, reliable renewable energy generation and storage.
Mr. Mark Baldassari has over 34 years experience in engineering and product development and over 10 years with Enphase Energy, where he holds the position of Director, Codes and Standards. Currently, he actively participates in a number of Codes and Standards development groups both domestically and internationally. Domestically, Mr. Baldassari regularly participates in IEEE 1547 series of standards development with emphasis towards improving the grid integration of Photo Voltaic systems. He is involved with Underwriters Laboratory working on the harmonization of UL and IEC standards and a Standards Technical Panel member for UL 1699B and UL 2703. Mr. Baldassari is an active member of the CalSEIA Codes and Standards and PV Industry Forum. He is very involved with the drafting of the 2020 NEC for articles 690 and chairman for article 705. Mr. Baldassari has bachelor degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from California State University Sacramento, USA.
Sometimes you can't see the signal for the trees
Professor Katie Wilson
Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
Thu, 09/03/2020
Abstract – One of the challenges of modern communications is finding available spectrum. One of the newer Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands is centered at 60 GHz. The 60 GHz band is notable for its short reach due to the size of the wavelength and oxygen absorption. The short reach can be mitigated by the use of antenna arrays which both lengthen and focus the beam. One of the potential applications of devices in the 60 GHz band is transmission from the curb to the home. However, foliage from trees can block the signal. This talk looks at potential ways to have low-maintenance communication to the home in the challenging 60 GHz band.
Prof. Katie Wilson, Sarah Kate Wilson received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College with honours in Mathematics in 1979 and her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Electrical Engineering in 1994. She has worked in both industry and academia and has been a visiting professor at Lulea University of Technology, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Stanford University and Northeastern University. She is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Santa Clara University. She has served as an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Communications Letters and IEEE Transactions on Communications and the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Communications Letters. She served as the Director of Journals 2012-2013 and the Vice- President of Publications 2014-2015 for the IEEE Communications Society. She is a Fellow of the IEEE "for contributions to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing" and won the 2018 IEEE Education Society Harriet Rigas Award "for excellence in communications engineering education and promoting equity."
Power Electronics and its Trends
Mr. Mark Thoren
System Design Engineer
Analog Devices, Santa Clara, CA
Thu, 03/05/2020
Technology headlines are dominated by terms like artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, “big data” and other trendy elements of the “digital revolution”. But under the surface, the hardware that enables these technologies places ever increasing demands on power circuitry: Your cell phone is expected to charge in an hour and last for days. Power dissipation is a limiting factor in computer server density. And the countless bucks, boosts, and linear regulators in your vehicle have to run over extreme temperature ranges, with high efficiency, and do their job quietly, meeting stringent electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements. This talk will discuss trends in modern power electronics and how these challenges are being addressed. Practical application examples will be shown, as well as a bit of history and helpful hints for your own projects.
Mr. Mark Thoren joined Linear Technology (now a part of Analog Devices) in 2001 as an applications engineer supporting precision data converters. He's since held various roles in mixed-signal applications including evaluation systems, training, technical publications, and customer support. Mark recently joined Analog Devices' System Development Group, where he works on reference designs and developing educational material for the Analog Devices University Program. Mark has a BS in Agricultural Mechanical Engineering and MSEE, both from University of Maine.
Aerospace/Defense Measurement Applications
Dr. Loren Betts
R&D Manager
Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA
Thu, 02/20/2020
Abstract – The rapid and ongoing integration of new technologies into aerospace and defense systems brings tremendous challenges. The race to keep up with emerging threats puts a strain on already tight budgets. At the same time, requirements on performance and reliability continue to become increasingly stringent. Test tools must adapt by addressing issues such as ease of use, cost of test and, perhaps most important, cutting-edge performance. This talk will explore current trends in test equipment and associated software, highlighting new architectures and capabilities that solve characterization challenges in radar, EW, SIGINT, terrestrial military communications, and satellite technology.
Dr. Loren Betts received his BSc degree in computer engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 1997, and his MSc degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, in 2003. In 2010 he completed his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. His PhD research focused on the Nonlinear Vector Network Analyzer (NVNA) based on the Keysight PNA-X. Loren started working at Hewlett Packard (HP) in 1997, Agilent Technologies in 1999, and Keysight Technologies in 2015. He is currently an R&D manager focusing on aerospace and defense.