1. APEC 2011 Sets Attendance Record; Orlando Will Be Home To APEC 2012
   
2. Near Record Attendance At PSMA Annual Meeting
   
3. Meet Your Directors
   
4. About Our Members
   
5. Welcome To PSMA
   
6. The PSMA Power Technology Roadmap
   
7. These Seven Trends May Change Power Design Dramatically
   
8. Rap Session Wrap Up: APEC Panelists Explore Social Media As Cure For Corporate Hiring Woes
   
9. Consolidation & Integration To Affect Competition In The Power Markets
   
10. Solar Energy Stock Index Q1 2011
    
11. PSMA Special Call For Papers
    
12. Events Of Interest – Mark Your Calendar

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

Previous issues of update: Q3_2010 | Q4_2010 | Q1_2011

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PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

This annual event is also successful because of the tireless dedication of the industry volunteers. For APEC 2011, the entire industry owes a tip of the hat to Patrick Chapman and his entire Conference Committee. Thanks to all.

APEC Moves to Disney World in 2012 The APEC 2012 Conference Committee, chaired by Frank Cirolia, is already hard at work on preparations for next year’s event to be held from February 5-9, 2012 at the Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.  If you would like to volunteer your tine and talents to assist in this effort, email Frank (frank.cirolia@emerson.com)

The Call for Papers Now Open It’s time to prepare your digest for submission if you wish to submit a paper for presentation at APEC 2012. Papers of practical value are solicited in a range of topical areas:
•  AC-DC and DC-DC Converters •  Power Electronics for Utility Interface •  Motor Drives and Inverters •  Devices and Components •  System Integration •  Modeling, Simulation and Control •  Manufacturing and Business Issues •  Power Electronics Applications

 Deadline for submission of digests is July 8, 2011. Notification of acceptance will occur in early October with final papers and author registrations due in mid-November.

A detailed description is available online at www.apec-conf.com.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2011 Publicity Chair

Some of the 64 attendees at the Annual Meeting

The terms of office for four of the existing Directors expired and Chairman Dusty Becker recognized the contributions of Michel Grenon, Alex Levran, Marshall Miles and Bharat Shah, who left the Board. He expressed the appreciation of PSMA for their service and continued contributions to the Association.

Chairman Dusty Becker welcomed the new PSMA members that joined during the past year. There were eleven Regular members, six Associate members and seven Affiliate members. PSMA now has a total of 156 members.

Dusty commented on the Special Projects completed this past year which included publication of the 2011 Technology Roadmap, the organization of four full Special Presentation Sessions at APEC 2011 and financial support for 30 students to attend APEC 2011. The PSMA website continues to attract a growing number of visitors and has undergone a complete renovation.  He also acknowledged the contributions of the very active PSMA technical committees and encouraged all members to get involved with a committee as a sure way to increase their benefits of membership.

Dusty presented Ernie Parker, Cian O’Mathuna, Carl Blake and Aung Thet Tu each with a plaque in appreciation of their outstanding contributions to PSMA.

Cian O’Mathuna receives an award for his contributions to PSMA

Congratulations to Aung Thet Tu for another outstanding Power Technology Roadmap

Congratulations to Aung Thet Tu for another outstanding Power Technology Roadmap

Dusty congratulates Carl Blake for another successful Power Technology Roadmap

Conor Quinn receives his award at the PSMA Booth

He also commended the contributions to PSMA made by Conor Quinn to the current and past Roadmaps. Joe Horzepa presented Conor with his award at the PSMA booth.

Patrick Chapman, General Chair for APEC 2011, reported that registration for the seminars,
technical sessions and exhibits are approaching record levels. A near record number of technical digests were submitted for the conference and the exhibit booths were sold out. In summary, he reported that APEC 2011 will be very successful from both a technical and financial viewpoint.

Frank Cirolia, Technical Program Chair for APEC 2011 and the General Chair for APEC 2012, briefly reviewed planning for that conference. APEC 20 I2 will be held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida February 5 – 9 and the committee is looking forward to a very successful conference in Orlando.

Patrick Chapman (top) Frank Cirolia (bottom)

Lars Thorsell updates PSMA members and guests on the latest BMPS Application Guideline

Guest speaker, Lars Thorsell, President of PowerBrand Consulting reviewed the background and current status of BMPS Application Guideline, version 2.0 that is now available through the High Density Packaging Users Group. This is a project that began as a PSMA project proposed in 2002 to work across the borders between manufacturers and users. The objective was to facilitate a
communication link between the manufacturers’ abilities and the users' demand and to influence a de-facto reference document for BMPS products within the industry.  

Another guest speaker, Prof Umesh Mishra, Chairman BOD and CEO of Transphorm Inc, discussed the early advances and history of Gallium Nitride devices with an emphasis on applying the technology for power   applications.  He focused on the comparison of the technology to the current technologies most commonly used in power devices including Silicon and Silicon Carbide. The subject was of high interest to the audience.The Annual Meeting, the many PSMA Technical Committee meetings, the seminars, plenary session, technical sessions, special presentations, exhibits and other events kept everyone busy all the week. The banquet, held in the OMNI Hotel, was a chance for everyone to relax, network and enjoy themselves.

Ed Sidor, Ed Herbert, John McManus & Mohan Mankikar

Dusty & Mary Beth Becker

Carl & Dottie Blake

Lucie & Arnold Alderman

Lisa Horzepa, Joe Horzepa & Steve Hogge

our members of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

Steve commented that he looks forward to helping PSMA fulfill its mission of “integrating the resources of the power sources industry to more effectively and profitably serve the needs of the power sources users, providers and PSMA members”.  “To me this means working closely with my colleagues in the semiconductor industry, other power supply manufacturers, users and academia to promote the development and adoption of technologies and policies that will enhance the size and scope of the power supply market to the benefit of all of us who participate in this space.  I am particularly interested in PSMA’s work in power electronics packaging and energy efficiency areas and would be interested in devoting both my personal time and those of my company to further developments in this area.  For my entire career I have worked for technology companies in various capacities and believe that my management and financial experience and skills will be an advantage on the PSMA Board of Directors. “

Provided by Steve Hogge,
President, Power Solutions Division.
Power-One, Inc.

Stephen Oliver draws upon international experience in the areas of product development, manufacturing, and strategic product marketing in the AC-DC, telecom, processor power and automotive markets. Stephen was previously with International Rectifier in Los Angeles, California, and with Philips and Motorola in the U.K and holds a BSEE degree from Manchester University, U.K. and an MBA in Global Strategy and Marketing from UCLA, USA. He has presented at major conferences around the world and holds several power electronics patents.

Stephen commented that it is an honor to be elected as a Director of the PSMA. “This is a wonderful opportunity both personally and for Vicor, to become more involved with other innovators and leaders in the industry and to contribute to the ongoing high caliber work of the Association.”

We will introduce you to Ernie Parker and Eric Persson, the other two newly elected Directors, in the next issue of the Update.

Provided by Stephen Oliver,
Vice President of Marketing and Sales,
V-I Chip Division, Vicor Corporation

 
About Us
Headquartered in Mansfield, Massachusetts USA, Murata Power Solutions is a market leading supplier of DC-DC converters, AC-DC power supplies, magnetics, digital panel meters, and data acquisition components, with 6 engineering design centers and 8 manufacturing facilities and partners worldwide.

Murata Power Solutions was established in September 2007 when Murata Manufacturing Corporation acquired the Power Electronics Division of C&D Technologies.  The acquisition of C&D’s power division actually brought with it the comprehensive offering of products and capabilities from market leading companies previously acquired by C&D, including:

• Datel, a USA-based leader in medium to high wattage DC/DC converters as well as digital panel meters and data acquisition components.
• Newport Components Ltd, a UK-based market leader of low wattage DC/DC converters and magnetics.
• UK-based Celab, with over 30 years’ experience designing and manufacturing rugged power supplies for harsh and demanding environments in defense, CATV, and industrial applications.
• Power Systems Division of Celestica Inc., providing expertise in AC/DC power supplies for high-end computing and communications OEMs.

Our Products
The company’s DC-DC converter product line includes a complete range of high performance isolated board mount power and non-isolated point-of-loads as well as non-isolated converters for processor and memory applications. Standard and custom AC-DC products include high efficiency and high power density front end modules for distributed power architectures and industry standard open frame, u-channel, and CompactPCI power solutions. Murata Power Solutions also offers a broad range of magnetics for power line filtering, isolation, and EMC applications including inductors, common-mode chokes, and pulse and current sense transformers. For more than 35 years, the Datel offering of digital panel meters has been recognized as the industry’s most versatile and well-designed meters for a variety of applications. In addition to a data acquisition product line of A/D converters, image processors, and sample-hold amplifiers, Murata Power Solutions also offers modified standard and custom products to meet the applications requirements of imaging, medical, scientific, and other high-reliability industries.

Murata Power Solutions maintains active memberships in various industry organizations as part of its continued commitment to providing customers with innovative quality products. Memberships include DOSA (Distributed-power Open Standards Alliance), PSMA (Power Sources Manufacturers Association), EPSMA (European Power Supply Manufacturers Association) and CSCI (Climate Savers Computing Initiative).

Today, various technologies are requiring energy efficient systems and higher performance in a smaller package. Murata Power Solutions meets and exceeds industry standard efficiency specifications for both AC-DC and DC-DC power. Using fully integrated component structures, low profile packaging, and fast response topologies, Murata Power Solutions offers a wide range of functionality and power-dense products.

Murata Power Solutions has a global focus on meeting customer requirements. With exceptional global sourcing, supply chain management, and logistics, Murata Power Solutions offers a higher operational proposition to meet the total procurement needs of today’s customers.

Provided by John Sutherby,
Director of Marketing Communications,
Murata Power solutions

Venable Instruments is an industry leader offering a broad range of tools for design/testing of feedback control loops and impedance measurements. Venable produces frequency response analyzers, injection transformers, analysis software for gain/phase plotting and design tools to synthesize stable loop compensation. Loop design application includes analog and digital power supplies, motion control, PFC, and inverters. Impedance measurement applications include discrete components, source/load impedance, batteries, and distributed power.

Venable specializes in the design and manufacture of high performance instrument systems that can be created and implemented in a cost-effective manner. High quality software is critical to the ease of use and look and feel of an instrument. Venable manages the entire instrument design cycle, from finalizing the design specifications, to driving the development and manufacturing process. Our experience and history ensures a fast, effective, and efficient process.

Venable was incorporated in 1979. The company, founded by H. Dean Venable, initially sold power controls for automatic and robotic welding. Shortly thereafter, the company began marketing frequency response analyzers for measuring stability margins of feedback control systems. The new product dramatically simplified the design task of stabilizing control loops. Software was developed to provide capability for modeling and testing in the same system, so that theoretical and actual results could be compared. Automatic compensation for feedback loops and other advanced analysis features were pioneered by Venable.

The system being offered provides the engineer with the maximum functionality and versatility available in the industry today. The Venable product offering includes five frequency response analyzers based on the number of channels, frequency range (up to 35MHz) and input isolation. The two major options:

Input/Output Impedance Measurement Set

RLC Measurement Set

These measurement sets are available to the design engineer and set the Venable product offerings apart as unique, along with our proprietary K-Factor based software for loop stability analysis and optimization. All of Venable instruments have pc interfaces based on the industry standard IEEE-488 protocol. By relying on acknowledged and accepted standards for instrument interface protocol Venable has teamed up with industry leaders who have recently made the IEEE-488 interface to be available in USB form factor. 

Venable's PowerAssay™ proprietary software based upon the industry recognized K-Factor algorithm is unique to the industry. Venable software has unequaled power and versatility for engineers that want to not only stabilize their control loops, but to achieve a truly optimum design. Our instruments and software eliminates the trial and error approach and allows engineers to simulate the feedback loop based on previously measured transfer functions, thereby providing a faster path to product design and greatly reduces time to market.

PowerAssay™ software is compatible with all Microsoft™ operating systems including Windows 7™ and can interface with your email client, export to other engineering software packages, as well as saving graphics data files to jpg format for easy file sharing and report generation.

Venable offers leasing of new equipment with conversion to ownership, and also rentals for those short term requirements where there is no capital funding available.  Engineering services are also available for power electronics design and laboratory facilities available for customer product testing.

Venable Instruments has consistently provided innovative and competitive products designed to meet the needs of our customers and the marketplace. We offer a wide array of testing instruments and engineering services from our facilities in Austin, Texas. Our company is guided by the simple principle: We understand that our customers are the most important people in our business. We invite you to visit Venable on the Web at www.venable.biz.

Provided by Donald Woodard,
President, Venable Corporation

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

We are pleased to welcome nine new member companies this quarter. We hope your company is a member. To learn about the benefits of membership, please visit our web site www.psma.com.

Alpha Scientific Electronics
Ron Rumrill
1868 National Avenue
Hayward, CA 94545
E-Mail:  rrumrill@alphascientific.com

Alpha Scientific Electronics is a world leader in the design, manufacturing, and testing of high current precision power supplies. Applications for these power supplies range from particle beam accelerators to battery charging to medical instrumentation.

They specialize in units above several kilowatts. Units that are typically larger than “off-the-shelf” standard power supplies. Their ability to customize the units to customer specifications insures them a unique position in the marketplace. They take pride in the fact that they will design and build your power supply exactly to your specifications, without trying to sell you their closest “standard” product.

Alpha Scientific Electronics was formed to meet the market needs of companies requiring non-standard, custom, precision power supplies. Their customer base has been the national laboratories, research universities as well as many commercial companies.

Company Profile

• Founded: Spun off from Alpha Scientific in 1988
• Headquarters: Hayward, California
• Financing: ASE is a privately held company
• Markets: National laboratories, Military battery charging facilities, Commercial companies.
• Units Shipped: Over 1,100
• Total Installed Megawatts: Over 70
• Annual Sales: $2-5 million, profitable every year

History
Alpha Scientific Electronics was created from the former electronics division of Alpha Scientific, Inc in 1988. Prior to that, the older company, Alpha Scientific, Inc. manufactured complete power supply and electromagnet systems. The magnet division of Alpha Scientific has evolved into Alpha Magnetics. Their owners have been actively building power supplies for many years even prior to that. Since the early 1960's their owners have had key positions in both Spectromagnetics Industries, and Mekel Associates.

Enphase Energy
Martin Fornage
201 First Street
Petaluma, CA 94952
E-Mail:  mfornage@enphaseenergy.com

Enphase's vision is to make solar simple and energy smart so everyone is empowered to create a zero energy footprint for themselves, their home and their business. Their mission is to build the world's finest networked energy system and revolutionize power generation on a global scale - one solar panel, one kilowatt hour at a time. By combining the power of solar energy and the proven advantages of communications technology, Enphase Energy products make solar power systems productive, reliable, smart and safe – increasing the energy harvest of solar panels by up to 25 percent. Enphase Energy, a privately-held company based in Northern California, is led by veterans from the solar, telecom, networking and software industries, and backed by leaders from throughout the solar power industry.

Only Enphase Energy brings a system-based, high-tech approach to solar energy, leveraging expertise in semiconductor integration, power electronics and networking technologies to continually advance the performance, intelligence and reliability of solar energy systems. The Enphase System includes their revolutionary microinverter, groundbreaking data collection and transmission equipment, and powerful web-based analytics and management tools.

Enphase Energy partners include solar equipment distributors who understand and embrace the dramatic improvements that Enphase Microinverter Systems bring to solar power installations, and have invested their resources to promote this breakthrough solution for solar power conversion.

Inventronics
Marshall Miles
4701 SW 20th
Oklahoma City, OK 73128
E-Mail:  marshall@inventronics-co.com
Web Site:  www.inventronics-co.com

Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, Inventronics is a Sino-US world class enterprise specialized in the design, manufacture, marketing & sales of high power LED drivers and high power AC adapters.

Their team is composed of veteran engineers and executive staff with over 10 years experience in the field. The founder and CEO of Inventronics, Dr. Gary Hua, is a renowned expert in the global power electronics arena. He received his Ph.D. from the Center for Power Electronics System (CPES) in Virginia Tech in 1994 & served as Research Associate and Scientist in CPES for 5 years, with over 60 papers published on international magazines and conference proceedings, and 17 US Patents awarded. Dr. Hua is a co-founder & former VP of Engineering of VPT Inc., which is now one of the largest military/aerospace power companies in the world. He is also the founder of Bel Power (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., now a wholly-owned affiliate of the NASDAQ-listed Bel Fuse Inc.

Employing proprietary cutting-edge circuit design and packaging technologies, their high power LED drivers feature ultra high efficiency (up to 94％), high power factor (0.99), high reliability, and long life. They are ideal for outdoor and industrial lighting applications including LED streetlights and tunnel lights. Their products comply with worldwide safety and EMC requirements and come with optional lightning proof (IEC-61000-4-5 Class 4) and waterproof (per IP67 standard) features.

They have ISO90001 (Quality System) certified manufacturing facilities in Hangzhou, China. The production capacity in Hangzhou is about 200K per month. Quality, Innovation, and Service are our strong commitments to our customers.

Inventronics products are designed to power your world with magically optimized performance. Any inquiries on their products or custom design requirements are welcome!

Future Technology Worldwide
Fred Weber
16843 Kings Fairway Lane
Grand Blanc, MI 48439
E-Mail:  fred.weber@ftwllc.net
Web Site:  www.ftwllc.net

Future Technology Worldwide (FTW) is a Manufacturer’s Representative for High
Power Components and Products. FTW offers highly skilled sales and account
management with a strong technical background.

Primary Markets are Automotive, Alternative Energy, Military and Industrial

Future Technology Worldwide, LLC represents leading edge suppliers in INDUSTRIAL, AUTOMOTIVE & POWER PRODUCTS. Included products in this market are Power Supplies, DC-DC Converters, Modulating Controllers, Transformers, Inductors, Integrated Circuits, and Diodes. All of these companies have products that have a fundamental technical edge over their competition.

FTW Overview

• Founded by Fred Weber February 19, 2002
• Fred Weber:
  • BSEE University of Evansville
  • MBA University of Michigan
  • Design Engineer for Delco Electronics (now Delphi E&S) 2 yrs
  • Program Manager for Zenith 6 yrs
  • Sales Engineering Manager for Cherry 9 yrs
• Covering a territory from Minnesota to Kentucky and from Iowa to Ohio.

Mission Statement
•  Offer manufacturers the highest level of sales representation for business and market development in the Great Lakes territory. Offer a high level of practical experience, technical know-how, and a solid reputation for opening doors, and building relationships with engineering, purchasing, and management.

KEMET Electronics Corp.
John D. Prymak
PO Box 5928
Greenville, SC 29606
E-Mail:  johnprymak@prymak.com
Web Site:  www.prymak.com

KEMET Corporation, as we know it today, was officially formed on December 21, 1990. However, the history of KEMET actually began a long time ago.

Kemet Laboratories was established by Union Carbide Corporation in 1919 to purchase the Cooper Research Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which had invented a promising high-temperature alloy. The name "KEMET" is a blend of the words "chemical" and "metallurgy." KEMET's first product used this high-temperature alloy for grid wires in vacuum tubes. In 1930, the product line was expanded to include barium-aluminum alloy getters, an essential element in every vacuum tube.

KEMET's development of automatic machinery allowed production of high-quality getters in the huge quantities needed to match the rapid expansion of vacuum tube usage. In fact, it is estimated that over 80% of the vacuum tubes used by the Allies during World War II contained KEMET getters.

The business continued to grow and prosper until the early 1950's when Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the transistor. As the transistor began to displace vacuum tubes in electronics, the getter business stagnated. Fortunately for KEMET, Bell Laboratories had also invented the solid tantalum capacitor, which complemented the use of low-voltage transistors (semi-conductors) in electrical circuits. Since Union Carbide had experience in the fields of high-temperature metals and alloys, the solid tantalum capacitor was chosen as KEMET's "new product" to complement the getter product line and to provide the vehicle for future growth.

By 1962, the capacitor business had experienced very rapid growth. A new 50,000 square foot plant in Simpsonville, South Carolina, designed from inception as a capacitor production facility, started up in late 1963. By the late 1960's, KEMET was clearly established as a major U.S. capacitor producer, with the leading market share in solid tantalum capacitors. In order to expand KEMET's product scope and enable its continuing rapid growth, the decision was made to enter the multilayer ceramic capacitor business. The Cleveland Plant was phased out in early 1971, and all personnel and equipment were moved to South Carolina. The company expanded rapidly, adding plants in Mauldin, Greenwood, and Fountain Inn, South Carolina; Columbus, Georgia; Shelby, North Carolina; and Matamoros, Mexico, by the early 1980's.

In 1986, Union Carbide announced its decision to divest itself of businesses that no longer fit its strategic business plans. On April 1, 1987, the existing management group bought the company from Union Carbide Corporation and formed KEMET Electronics Corporation. While Union Carbide retained 50% of KEMET's stock, KEMET was now a stand-alone company with David E. Maguire as its President/CEO. On December 21, 1990, a group of investors including KEMET Senior Management and Citicorp Corporation purchased the balance of KEMET stock and formed the present-day KEMET Corporation. This sale ended all ties with Union Carbide Corporation. Mr. Maguire remained at the helm of KEMET Corporation until his retirement in 2003.

On October 21, 1992, KEMET Corporation completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) by selling 4 million primary common shares at $10.00 per share. Proceeds from subsequent offerings in June 1993 and December 1999 raised additional equity to repay debt, redeem preferred stock, and fund continued capital expansion. The company's Board of Directors announced two-for-one stock splits in September 1995 and May 2000. KEMET stock, originally traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol KMET, is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KEM.

Also in the early 1990's, KEMET began consolidating its U.S. locations and relocating manufacturing operations to lower-cost facilities in Mexico and China in order to remain competitive in the rapidly changing global electronics industry. Over the next decade, new plants were added in Monterrey and Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, and in Suzhou, China.

Mr. Per-Olof Loof was named Chief Executive Officer on April 4, 2005. Under his leadership, the company acquired the tantalum business of EPCOS AG in April 2006, the Evox Rifa family of companies in April 2007, and Arcotronics in October 2007. These acquisitions strengthened KEMET's global position, particularly in Europe, in addition to expanding the company's product portfolio with additional capacitor types, broadening its technologies, and allowing the company to better service new and existing customers.

Today, KEMET maintains its Corporate headquarters and two Innovation Centers in the Upstate of South Carolina. Manufacturing facilities are located in Matamoros, Monterrey, and Ciudad Victoria Mexico; Suzhou, Nantong, and Anting-Shanghai, China; Sasso Marconi, Vergato, and Monghidoro, Italy; Weymouth and Towcester, England; Évora, Portugal; Suomussalmi, Finland; Granna, Sweden; Batam, Indonesia; Landsberg, Germany; and Kyustendil, Bulgaria. KEMET also owns two specialty electronics companies--FELCO in Chicago, Illinois, and Dectron in Farjestaden, Sweden. Sales offices and distribution centers are located around the world.

KEMET capacitors--some smaller than a grain of salt--are fundamental components that store, filter, and regulate electrical energy and current flow. They are found in virtually all electronic applications and products used today, including those in the computer, telecommunication, automotive, military and aerospace, medical, industrial/instrumentation (including lighting), and consumer market segments. "High Reliability" (Hi-Rel) versions of KEMET capacitors have shared in every important military/aerospace effort from the first Telstar to Viking, the Apollo moon landing, the Patriot missile, and the Mir and International Space Stations. KEMET capacitors were also present in both the Pathfinder probe and the Sojourner rover during their historic exploration of Mars.

The product line now includes the world's most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, aluminum (organic and electrolytic), film, and paper dielectrics. The company markets its capacitors to a large and diverse group of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers, and electronics distributors around the world. Production is measured in the billions of pieces per year.

Nihal Kularatna
The University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton 3240 Waikato
New Zealand
E-Mail:  nihalkul@waikato.ac.nz
Web Site:  www.waikato.ac.nz 

At The University, Nihal Kularatna’s research team is actively involved in R & D in the
areas of power supply topologies and power conditioning. In particular, they
are currently investigating into the application of supercapacitor technology
in dc power supplies with a view to improve the end-to-end efficiency of
linear power supplies. Recently a US patent was granted for this work.

In addition to their R&D activity, they offer
(a) Power Electronics courses for the undergraduate and post graduate student
with specific reference to modern power management techniques

(b) Two post graduate courses
      (i) Rechargeable batteries and their management
     (ii) Surge protection of electronic equipment

(c) As a personal contribution, the candidates continue authoring books aimed
at the professional community on subjects such as circuit design, power
management and DC power supply design etc. These books are published by US
publishers  such as CRC Press, FL and Elsevier-Newnes.

(d) They offer CPD type training to the industry via the Institution of
Professional Engineers, NZ (IPENZ) 

Maxim Integrated Products
Jim Templeton
1301 South Mo-Pac Expy
Bld 4, Suite B75
Austin, TX 78746
E-Mail:  jim.templeton@maxim-ic.com
Web Site:  www.maxim-ic.com 

Maxim makes highly integrated, analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. With revenues of $1.92 billion (ending FY2010), they are one of the fastest growing semiconductor companies.
Reputation for Innovation
29 major product categories
Leader in process technologies—160 semiconductor processes
250 package types
Over 500 ASICs developed in collaboration with customers

Financial Strength
$1.92 billion revenue in FY2010
$3.45 billion in assets in Q3 FY2011
$918 million in cash in Q3 FY2011
23.8% of sales reinvested in R&D
A Fortune 1000 company
Listed on the NASDAQ 100, Russell 1000, and MSCI USA indices.

Milestones

1983	Founded by Jack Gifford and IC industry experts
1985	MAX600, first proprietary product to win industry award, starts 27 years of technical innovation
1987	Company turns its first profit and remains profitable every year from then on
1993	Annual sales revenue passes $100M
1994	First acquisition adds technical expertise and the company's first wafer fab
2000	Highly integrated systems on chips (SoCs) begin to displace single-function ICs
2005	Company becomes a Fortune 1000 company
2007 to 2010	Six acquisitions augment technical expertise and expand product offerings
2007 to 2010	Wafer fab capacity expands by 60%
2007 to 2010	180nm process developed
2007 to 2010	Company cements reputation for innovation with award-winning products
2008	Chief Technical Office established, patents rise by 50% in next two years
2010	Annual revenue reaches $2.2B
2010	Company ships first analog product on 300mm wafer
2010	NEDA names Maxim Supplier of the Year

 

Acquisitions

1994	Tektronix's Semiconductor Division in Beaverton, Oregon—brings a wafer fab and high-speed processes
2001	Dallas Semiconductor—adds valuable expertise in digital design and an additional fab
2008	Vitesse Storage—contributes SATA and SAS expander, enclosure-management, and baseboard-management products
2009	Innova Card—augments Maxim's secure transaction product portfolio
2009	Zilog Secure Trans—complements ultra-low-power IR microcontroller family with wireless microcontrollers, strengthens Maxim's position in the POS and ATM markets
2009	Mobilygen—adds H.264 video compression technology to Maxim's portfolio
2010	Teridian—establishes leadership in energy measurement and communications electronics for the smart-meter market
2010	Phyworks—complements Maxim's optical transceiver portfolio, opens new opportunities for high-speed signal integrity products

Tektronix Inc.
Jeff Yost
13975 SW
Karl Braun Drive
MS39-123
Beaverton, OR 97077
E-Mail: jeff.w.yost@tek.com
Web Site: www.tek.com

Tektronix is a leading supplier of test and measurement equipment.

Tektronix' globally implemented Quality Management System assures consistent quality in products and services no matter where you are in the world.

Their Quality Management System supports their business objectives of enabling their customers to design, build, deploy, and manage "Next Generation" global communications networks and internet technologies.

"Tektronix is committed to providing products and services that consistently meet or exceed their customer's expectations, while continuously improving the effectiveness and efficiency of all aspects of the operation."

Whenever you view a web site, click a mouse, make a cell phone call, or turn on a TV you touch their work. As a world leader in test, measurement and monitoring technology, Tektronix enables their customers to do more than they ever have. Technical innovators of all kinds benefit from their products and expertise.

Their customers work in communications, computer, semiconductor, military/aerospace, consumer electronics, education, broadcast and other fields all over the globe. Their reputations and success depend on Tektronix’ passion for solving their most complex measurement problems. Tektronix helps them measure, analyze and test next generation devices to ensure accurate performance, reliability, and compatibility.

WUERTH ELEKTRONIK eiSos group GmbH & Co KG
Alexander Gerfer
Max-Eyth-Strasse 1
Waldenburg 74638
Germany
E-Mail: alexander.gerfer@we-online.de
Web Site: www.we-online.de

The Würth Elektronik group of companies, with headquarters in Niedernhall (Hohenlohe), Germany, has 6,500 employees worldwide and generated global sales of about € 563 million in 2010. With 16 production locations in four company areas worldwide, Würth Elektronik is one of the most successful companies of the Würth Group.

Würth Elektronik operates internationally with its four company areas in various markets:

Circuit Boards As the largest manufacturer of circuit boards in Europe, Würth Elektronik CBT (Circuit Board Technology) has specialized in prototypes and in small and medium-sized orders. Electronics developers can find here all the prevalent and many innovative circuit board technologies and system solutions, all from a single source. Last but not least, they can also speak here with expert specialists.

Intelligent Systems As a specialist in the development and production of system solutions in press-fit technology, for example central electrical systems, Würth Elektronik is a development partner for many commercial vehicle manufacturers. A project management team accompanies the business partners from the original product idea to series production.

Passive & Electromechanical Components Würth Elektronik is a manufacturer of passive components and electromechanical products and operates production plants in Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, the U.S., Mexico, Taiwan and China. 250 sales representatives worldwide make up a direct sales network that is unique in this industry.

Photovoltaics Würth Solar, a company within the Würth Elektronik group of companies, is a manufacturer of CIS photovoltaic modules and a provider of complete photovoltaic power systems. Due to their special aesthetics, GeneCIS modules from Würth Solar are perfect as building facade solutions for integration into challenging architectural projects. In Southern Europe and Germany, Würth Solar has already completed numerous solar power plants of up to 11 megawatts in open spaces.

• Products/technology: AC-DC front ends (Embedded AC-DC power supplies: 200 W - 2000 W), external power supplies for mobile applications (10 W - 100 W), isolated DC-DC converters (100 W regulated) and non-isolated DC-DC converters, also known as point of load converters or POLs.
• Components: power semiconductors, power management ICs, magnetics, capacitors and packaging.
• Applications: communications, computing, digital power, industrial, lighting, medical, military and solar PV inverters 

In addition to the above mentioned products/technology, the 2011 Roadmap also includes presentations and commentaries on the HVDC (high voltage DC) distribution architecture, smart grid, and PV (photovoltaic) solar inverters. Alternative energy and emerging technologies are expected to become integral parts of the future Power Technology Roadmaps.

A power supply is a multi-dimensional product; so the PTR also addresses various trends in a multi-dimensional fashion. Power supply users demand multiple parameters or features, such as high power density, efficiency or fast transient response with a lower price and smaller dimensions. Then it is up to the power supply manufacturers to develop technologies and assemble components suitable for specific applications with their own environmental and pricing constraints to develop products that provide these parameters and features. Though in many instances, it is a reactive response to the customers' need, many power supply companies can perceive these requirements and proactively incorporate them in their products. The 2011 Power Technology Roadmap captures these expected technology trends of the future and projects them in the future, till 2015.

Originally started in 1994 with a modest agenda and a three year interval, the Roadmap has evolved into an extensive presentation and document that provides an in-depth analysis of all the aspects of the power supplies. As mentioned before, these include power conversion technologies, components and the newly added applications' trends. The report is not designed to replace traditional market research reports, but rather is designed as an additional supplemental document that provides insight and a better understanding of the future  technology trends.

Importantly, all the presentations, analysis and conclusions were drawn from the combined effort of about 60 individuals who are well known participants in the industry. This was a team effort that provided a unique insight into the technology trends in a comprehensive way.
Aung Thet Tu of Fairchild Semiconductor® and co-chairman of Power Technology Roadmap Committee gave a presentation on the subject at the Plenary Session during APEC 2011.

Further information about the Power Technology Roadmap can be obtained by visiting: www.psma.com.

About PSMA

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

But for the component suppliers and the power system designers looking to exploit these new technologies, there will be a price to pay. Design and simulation techniques will need to be modified and adapted to the requirements of the new technologies. Power component and power system designers will need to adapt to rapidly rising switching frequencies by thinking more like RF/microwave designers, and developing/adopting the system-level simulation tools needed to handle the new high-frequency reality.

With that in mind, here are seven developments or trends that I believe will change the way power designers do their jobs in the near future. 

1. Switching frequencies and bandwidths will dramatically increase (out of necessity) once SiC hits the mainstream and offers devices we are familiar with, such as MOSFETS. Semiconductor companies that have experience and capability in the big three arenas—power, RF and instrumentation will have a distinct advantage as they already have the simulation tools and knowledge of the power supply-related issues.

2. SiC will win out over GaN mostly due to the significantly better thermal conductivity, higher voltage breakdown capability and the ability to support very high speed, enhancement-mode devices.

3. Power conversion and regulation will become integrated onto the same substrate as the devices they power, specifically low noise amplifiers (LNAs), clocks and other high-speed devices, in order to minimize and control the interconnect networks and minimize interconnecting impedances.

4. With the existing highest-speed FPGAs presenting switching times in the vicinity of 400 psec, the power distribution network (PDN) for these devices will move to the microwave arena. SPICE will remain popular and useful for many more years, but high-performance power analysis and simulation will have to move to 3D and large-signal simulators such as Agilent ADS. Speeds will continue to increase exacerbating the issues.

5. Power designers, RF/microwave and instrument engineers will develop a common language since the lines between these fields will become much fuzzier. For example, it is feasible to design a very high-bandwidth regulator using LDMOS, but the specifications for an LDMOS device don’t look similar to the specifications for a power device, confusing power engineers.

6. Power device manufacturers will learn that voltage regulators are not “one size fits all.” We will have different regulators for clocks and LNAs, which are very noise sensitive. RF engineers use many classes of amplifiers (such as A, B, C, D and E) and they are not all efficient, but each serves a particular purpose. The power engineer still believes it makes sense to power a class A amplifier or a clock from an LDO, but we will learn better.

7. Datasheets and computer models will continue to improve, as the system performance demands. Having the power and the load circuit (such as LNAs and clocks) in the same simulator will greatly improve system performance as the impact of the power performance will be clearly evident. This will, on its own, force regulators to become more stable, with lower output impedance, fewer impedance discontinuities and lower noise.

In time, all ofthese trends will result in significant improvements in power system performance. Nevertheless, these improvements won’t happen without preparation on the part of designers who must adapt to changing technologies and design requirements. Now is the time for power supply engineers to educate themselves and take their skills and knowledge to another level. Those who are willing and able to master the high-speed simulation tools and grasp the high-speed and RF-related issues will be well positioned for the future of power design.

Provided by Steve Sandler,
Managing Director, Picotest

About The Author - Steve Sandler is the managing director of Picotest, a Phoenix company that specializes in precision test and measurement equipment. Sandler is also the founder and chief engineer of AEi Systems, where he leads development of high-fidelity simulation models for all types of simulators as well as the design and analysis of both power and RF systems. Sandler has over 30 years of experience in engineering and is a recognized author, educator and entrepreneur in the areas of power, RF and instrumentation.

Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the April 2011 issue of How2Power Today (www.how2power.com/newsletters).

Joining me on the panel were Brian Fuller, editorial director for EELife and EETimes; Ruth Glover, president and owner of Career Consultations; Gail Houston, social media program manager at Intuit; and Charles Brown, director of technical talent at Fusion408. The audience included a cross section of APEC attendees from the conference.

This session provided me the chance to ask recruiting experts why such counterproductive practices for hiring and recruiting exist. And finally, the rap session provided a forum in which other panel members, audience participants, and I could discuss possible solutions to the current bad practices in hiring.

Our spirited discussion began with a review of the state of our industry and the caution that seems to be permeating the hiring process overall. Panelists found that the alternative energy market is growing like mad and needs people now, while other segments of the industry are taking a more-measured approach to hiring. The technical experts participating in this discussion expressed a love of their work and their happiness in seeing the economy start to improve. So, the overall consensus on the state of the electronics industry was positive and reassuring.

However, one of my goals in leading this discussion was to uncover the reasons why seemingly successful companies are making it so difficult for engineers and others to apply for jobs through their online application processes. I wanted to learn what these so-called Applicant Tracking Systems (or ATSs) are all about. To that end, the rap session discussion proved to be very informative as I heard from both job-applicant users of these systems as well as recruiting experts familiar with corporate hiring practices.

Regulatory Compliance Trumps Common Sense

Many APEC attendees in the audience expressed confusion with the application process in general. The apply-on-the-web process is viewed as inane and seemingly never ending. It seems to go on for pages—with applicants asked to enter and re-enter the same information that is already on their resume. Is it just me or has this complexity gotten out of hand?

The explanation for this process came from one of the panelists who mentioned that these complex (and in many cases “store bought”) systems are designed to assist with EEOC compliance for “when we get sued (not if).” In other words, the ATS helps to maintain all the information needed to defend the company against the inevitable lawsuit.

But beyond the user-unfriendly nature of the ATS, audience members expressed other qualms with the application process. For example, one of several newly graduating PhD students commented on how Fortune 500 companies’ websites will advertise openings for recent PhD graduates but then, within the job description specify a requirement for “5 years of recent experience.” This new grad wanted to know how someone is supposed to meet these requirements.

Again, the answer from recruiting experts is heavy with compliance regarding how jobs are structured within the company for the purpose of writing the ads. The structure has to do with “levels” of experience. The explanation seemed to show a trend to make the job description so full of buzz words and requirements that no human being could ever qualify. (Applicants can’t sue them I guess?) There may be job openings, but who can qualify? So, while organizations poetically state that attracting top talent is a priority, our systems have made the process unwieldy and extremely difficult for both the candidates and the recruiters.

A One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Accordingly, you have to use the same exact process for any opening in the company, whether a high school grad, BS, MSEE or PhD scientist—engineers or what have you—let’s call it technical talent brain power. Organizations have also placed the burden of this on the candidates looking to join the company and rely on web-based systems and descriptions designed to keep lawsuits at bay and to automate the process. Apparently, there is a big business in selling these monstrosities to HR departments to make life easy and solve all of the legal compliance issues.

Ruth Glover of Career Consultations added, “Applicant tracking systems are not just to prevent legal issues: they are called tracking systems, so recruiters can see quickly and accurately where we are in the hiring process, as well as search the database for top talent.” That’s true, but I wonder whether any hiring managers get to see the resumes most of the time.  

Many companies use these tracking systems to collect potential applicants (which they likely were never going to contact.) Then, when a recruiter brings in a resume they use the database as a reason to not pay the recruiter.

Company to recruiter: “Sorry, this candidate’s already in our database.”

Recruiter: “But you never called them.”

Company: “Doesn’t matter.”

This capability might be an ROI selling point for ATS system suppliers. Whether the company hires anyone or not—the ATS saves them from paying out recruiting fees!

In the rap session, we discussed how organizations could differentiate themselves from others by simply hiring data entry clerks (high school students, interns, or others) to enter resume info into these systems rather than asking applicants to spend hours online re-entering information that is already on their resumes.

As I said during the discussion, I still don’t understand why we don’t just get to talk to the hiring manager for a few minutes to see if there is a fit? The answer from the recruiters: No—not allowed! You MUST use the website so every candidate is evaluated equally. The EEOC and legal stuff again. What I do wonder is whether companies have to do all this crazy stuff just in the U.S. because of our obsession with the legal system or do they have to do it globally as well? If in fact, the hiring process is less encumbered abroad, that might explain some of the growth in other countries’ tech forces and provide further evidence that our “policy-legal rules and regulations gone wild” environment is not helping engineers here in the U.S. very much.

Many attendees (some with two advanced degrees) mentioned that they simply don’t apply to many companies that have these complex systems in place. Consider the possible implications of that response. In the face of adversity and complexity, there is always opportunity for those who wish to drive simplicity and ease of use. Perhaps, the newer, more innovative companies can use this opportunity to their advantage to land engineering talent that might otherwise seek out the more-established employers? In a competitive marketplace, innovative companies will figure out ways to simplify the application process for the APPLICANT rather than themselves, while still finding ways to protect their companies from legal issues and EEOC rules and regulations.

We also discussed how, in many organizations, even if you apply, it does not mean anyone will ever see your resume unless some complex search engine robot scans the right key words. This fear has led to candidates rewriting their resumes in an attempt to incorporate job description buzzwords to increase the odds that the robot search algorithms (or hopefully a not-overly-tired recruiter) will extract their resumes and present them to the human decision makers at the company. Some call this approach “Taleo-jamming.”

The rap session discussion up to this point left us with the problem statement: Companies are barricading themselves from prospective employees to protect themselves. So, having discovered that we know what and why it’s all happening and how come it’s not like it was even five years ago (when the hiring process was simpler and made more sense), we needed to know whether there might be a solution to this problem. Was there any good news?

Social Media: An Antidote To The Hiring Runaround

Fortunately, the panel discussion did lead us to a silver lining in this corporate hiring cloud. If you have the right attitude and skill set for the position you will likely get the position—IF you can get someone’s attention. So how do you do that?

Social media.

Our industry is using social media to bypass the “vending machine,” one-size-fits-all, no-human-to-talk-to interfaces and crazy job descriptions. It’s a way to communicate with actual people who work for a given company. This allows potential job applicants to find out what the corporate culture is, who works there, what’s really going on, what they really want (unfiltered), and who the hiring manager is. Somehow in this environment LinkedIn jobs has established a simple, easy-to-use interface that makes it easy to apply for several jobs without unnecessary complexity. The popularity of LinkedIn jobs is growing like crazy and LinkedIn overall is a great way to look for and apply for positions.

Many of the panelists mentioned that we, in the power electronics community, need training on social media applications. We need to learn how to set up profiles, and to proactively use the tools effectively and efficiently in Facebook, LinkedIn and more. There are classes on social media and it appears this training should be included in a PhD or MSEE curriculum or that graduates should seek these out on their own so they can be considered for openings. It’s in our best interest for both hiring and being hired to learn to use these new tools.

In the rap session, we also talked about the importance of a well-connected recruiter—some of them will actually take your resume and enter it into the companies’ systems. It is to their advantage to do so since they get paid if the company hires you. Entering your data into a corporate hiring system allows the recruiter to document that they brought you to the company’s attention. That is, unless the company has convinced everyone in the white pages to apply so they don’t have to pay the poor recruiter for the names in the database they don’t have time to contact.

It struck me as funny that several companies are asking how they can better use social media even as their IT departments are attempting to block social media sites as a time waster. The takeaway for me is that Scott Adams, the creator of the popular Dilbert cartoon series, will have an endless supply of new material as the proponents and opponents of social media develop measures and countermeasures to either foster or block its use, and as job candidates find new ways to deal with new hiring processes and applications systems. All this effort just to become gainfully employed in the critical roles of the future. With both employers and applicants expending so much energy on the hiring process, will either side have any energy or time left to do real work?

Editor’s Note: This article is based on one  that was published in the April 2011 issue of How2Power Today (www.how2power.com/newsletters).

Kevin Parmenter,
Director of Advanced Technical Marketing
for Digital Power Products,
Exar Corporation

About The Author - Kevin Parmenter has over 20 years of experience in the electronics and semiconductor industry. Presently the director of Advanced Technical Marketing for Digital Power Products at Exar, Kevin previously led global product applications engineering and new product definition for Freescale Semiconductors AMPD - Analog, Mixed Signal and Power Division based in Tempe, AZ. Prior to this, he worked for Fairchild Semiconductor in the Americas as senior director of field applications engineering. In this role, Kevin led the FAE team in the Americas region plus three regional design centers. Kevin serves on the Advisory Council of the PSMA (Power Sources Manufacturers Association) and was the general chair of APEC 2009. He holds a BSEE and BS in Business Administration, is a member of the IEEE, and holds an Amateur Extra class FCC license (call sign KG5Q) as well as an FCC Commercial Radiotelephone License.

In such a market environment, it was inevitable that suppliers’ shares of the market would change. According to IMS Research’s latest results, there was a shift in supply to the global market for power management and driver ICs; Linear Technology moved from 6th to 3rd position globally, increasing share of total world revenues by more than 1% from 2009 to 2010. Infineon Technologies, ST Microelectronics and National Semiconductor each lost share in this market. In the merchant market for power supplies, supplier rankings remained largely unchanged, though Delta Electronics extended its lead as the largest supplier, increasing its share by 0.8% of the total from 2009 to 2010.

At the middle of 2011, it seems that growth in the power market has slowed somewhat from 2010. This makes it less likely that there will be much change in the market share of suppliers, from the number of design wins. However, IMS believes there are other factors which will continue to disrupt the competitive landscape.

Consolidation of supply in the industry is nothing new, but many recent acquisitions and mergers could have a large market impact. In 2010, Renesas merged with NEC, strengthening its position in both the power semiconductor and power IC markets; and ABB acquired Polovodice, adding to its power module portfolio. Already in 2011 there have been announcements in the power market which look set to change things dramatically. In early April, Texas Instruments announced its plans to acquire National Semiconductor, a move which will strengthen its position as leader in the power management and driver IC market and increase its share to more than 15% of the market. Other activities in 2011 include the purchase of Sanyo Semiconductor by On Semiconductor; and International Rectifier’s entrance into the digital power market via its acquisition of ChiL Semiconductor.

In addition to supplier consolidation, competition within power markets has grown. Alternatives to DC-DC power supplies, in the form of encapsulated modules produced by semiconductor suppliers, continue to capture a share of this market. Larger scale integration in also increasing: suppliers of power ICs are developing PMICs with multiple integrated ICs, offering a solution at lower cost and with a smaller footprint. These components will capture a part of the market currently held by individual power ICs.

In general, the power markets continue to see new suppliers each year, often small Asian start-ups which are able to produce products at low cost, pushing market prices down. With the level of consolidation in the industry, however, and the efforts to drive down costs via integration, IMS Research believes that it will become increasingly difficult for these new companies to enter some markets, though prices will remain under pressure.

Provided by Ryan Sanderson, Senior Research Analyst, IMS Research’s Power & Energy Group

The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by their Renewable Energy team each quarter, provides you with information on the following:

• Quarterly performance of the Solar Energy Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each Solar Energy Category
• Current financial data for each company in the index

SolarStockIndex_Q12011.pdf (50k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

APEC 2012

Twenty-seventh Annual
IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition

February 5 - 9, 2012     Coronado Springs in Disneyworld     Orlando, FL

APEC 2012 continues the long-standing tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronic engineer. Outstanding technical content is provided at one of the lowest registration costs of any IEEE conference. APEC 2012 will provide a) the best power electronics exposition, b) professional development courses taught by world-class experts, c) presentations of peer-reviewed technical papers covering a wide range of topics, and d) time to network and enjoy the company of fellow power electronics professionals in a beautiful setting. Activities for guests, spouses, and families are abundant in the Orlando area. 

Papers of value to the practicing engineer are solicited in the following topic areas:

(Please see the APEC 2012 website for a more detailed description by subtopic.)
The following PSMA Committee Chairs may be contacted to provide guidance to prospective Authors in the preparation of their abstracts and papers:

The Association Office will provide contact information on request.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.