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Understanding the New Offshore Wind Farms Initiative

An ambitious $3 billion plan may greatly expand American wind-farm output to 30 GW by 2030. What details of this plan might involve engineers and the renewables market at large?

April 07, 2021 by Tyler Charboneau

Keeping Wearables Cool: Non-metallic Material Radiates Heat From Users, Circuitry, and the Sun

Thermal design is especially delicate in wearable devices. Here are a few ways researchers are tackling the issue—the most recent turning to materials science.

March 20, 2021 by Jake Hertz

E-textiles: Pipe Dream or Future Reality?

E-textile research is common, but efforts to commercialize this technology are not. With setbacks like a reliable power supply and safety, will e-textiles ever make a significant market debut?

March 19, 2021 by Rushi Patel

Grid Outages in Texas Spark Discussion on the Challenges of Renewable Energy Integration

Freezing temperatures and rolling blackouts have spurred discussion on whether renewable energy grid integration may be a safety net for future outages. Design-level challenges, however, make this endeavor more complicated than it may seem.

February 19, 2021 by Antonio Anzaldua Jr.

Can Solar Electric Vehicles (sEVs) Actually Become a Reality?

One of the prevailing issues with solar electric vehicles (sEVs) is range. What design obstacles must be overcome to make this future vehicle tech a widespread reality?

February 05, 2021 by Steve Arar

2021 Starts With a Hot Streak for Silicon Carbide

From industry to academia, silicon carbide has been making headlines in the first month of 2021.

January 31, 2021 by Jake Hertz

Energy Harvesting Spotlight: Maxim Claims “Smallest Solar Harvesting Solution”

IoT designers are commonly plagued with the issue of long-term deployment. Energy-harvesting paradigms, including a new solar harvesting device from Maxim, may be a promising supplement to battery cells.

January 18, 2021 by Adrian Gibbons

Materials Spotlight: How Perovskite Was a Hotbed of 2020 Research

The topic of perovskites never seems far from research outlets, and last year was no different.

January 05, 2021 by Tyler Charboneau

Worth Over $20 Billion by 2041, Transparent Electronics Have a Clear Trajectory

A recent report from IDTechEx predicts that the transparent electronics industry will be worth over $20 billion by 2041. What is this technology and why does it have such a great potential upside?

January 02, 2021 by Jake Hertz

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Take to the Sky to Power Commercial Aircrafts

Hydrogen-fueled aviation could be a common reality within the next 15 years, according to a new report.

December 31, 2020 by Jake Hertz

Can Wide-Bandgap Devices Help Lead to a Carbon-Neutral Future?

STMicroelectronics announced a goal to be carbon neutral by 2027, and they plan to get there by using wide-bandgap semiconductors. How might this technology bring the industry toward carbon neutrality?

December 31, 2020 by Jake Hertz

Batteries Aren’t the Only Renewable Energy Carriers on the Block. Supercapacitors Take the R&D Stage

Supercapacitors are increasingly hailed as a key to sustainable energy. Coupled with the demand for robust energy storage systems, these devices are gaining traction in R&D and across the market.

December 22, 2020 by Nicholas St. John

Newly-Announced $3.4 Billion Plan Aims to Stimulate US Semiconductor R&D

The SIA and the Semiconductor Research Corporation have released a preview of an upcoming report that outlines the next decade’s chip research and funding priorities.

November 04, 2020 by Luke James

The Challenges of AC and DC Charging May Be Slowing EV Adoption

Some of the roadblocks to EV adoption lies at the core of AC and DC charging technology.

October 21, 2020 by Steve Arar

Samsung’s Claim of “World’s Smallest Power Inductor” Has Big Design Implications

This month, Samsung released news of the "world’s smallest power inductor." What does this miniaturization mean for electronic design, even at a theoretical level?

September 24, 2020 by Jake Hertz

For Wearables, Inkjet-Printed Solar Cells Can Be an Ultra-Thin Power Source

The printed solar cells are so light, thin, and flexible that they can rest on a bubble.

September 17, 2020 by Luke James

Graphine-Based Supercaps Show Promise for Wind and Solar Energy Storage

The research team behind this new approach thinks that it’ll help meet the growing demand for increased storage capacity.

August 25, 2020 by Luke James

Singapore Scientists Achieve Highest Perovskite Power Conversion Efficiency

By using an existing method, the team from Singapore’s Nangyang Technological University (NTU) has brought perovskites one step closer to market adoption.

August 24, 2020 by Luke James

To Reach a Solar Boom, We Must Say Goodbye to Silicon, Claim Cornell Engineers

When it comes to the future of solar energy cells, some engineers think that we should be waving goodbye to silicon and replacing it with calcium titanium oxide, also known as perovskite.

August 18, 2020 by Luke James

Brick or Battery? A New Study Indicates That Red Bricks Can Be Used as Supercapacitors

You read that right. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis have developed a method to take the common brick and convert it into a medium of energy storage.

August 12, 2020 by Jake Hertz