Inside the Industry: Alan Elbanhawy

In this collection of online monthly features, industry veteran Alan Elbanhawy discusses hot-button issues affecting the power electronics industry.

Renewable Energy: A Matter of Life and Breath

As the price of a gallon of gas pushes steadily toward $4 and beyond, and as the price of a barrel of oil is hovering around $100+, the issue of affordable renewable energy comes to mind every time I fill up my gas tank...

The Clouds Of Economic Slowdown May Have a Silver Lining

I decided to look on the bright side and explore how power electronics companies could use such a downturn to effectively improve their competitive positions...

New Products: Fly-Away Success Or Flops?

One of the great characteristics of the electronics industry, especially the sector devoted to power conversion and power delivery, is its ability to innovate.....

High Efficiency at Low Currents: A Necessity For Notebooks

Power-supply designers routinely tackle new dc-dc converter design tasks with the goal of achieving the highest efficiency possible. Clearly, this task is a very complex one. Once the topology has been selected based on the specifics of the application, a designer must go through a very rigorous process of component selection. ...

The Technician Can Be a Key Contributor to Modern Power Research

Today's technicians are fully capable of prototyping a design. They can layout the pc board using modern software tools, do the assembly, perform electrical and thermal testing, and generate a lab report with their findings. This great leap in capabilities allows design engineers to concentrate on multiple project activities....

Mathematical Spreadsheets and Simulators: Both Belong in Your Toolbox

I have discovered that using mathematical spreadsheet software like Maple gives me a totally different experience in understanding how different individual parameters affect the final performance of the circuit....

With Integrated Modules, Reliability Must Be Designed In Too

The world of power delivery is currently going through a very exciting time now that several major semiconductor companies are offering integrated power modules. ...

Vendors Must Think Globally, Exhibit Locally

Alan Elbanhawy discusses how the trade show experience varies in different regions of the world. ...

PCB Layout: The Final Weapon In The Power Designers'Arsenal

Should the completion of the circuit design be the end of the road for power designers? After all, once the circuit is verified they have met their design goals, it is time to move on to the next project—right? I say no. ...

Digital Power: Still Looking For A Killer Application

In 2005, I presented a conference paper in which I argued that the power-supply industry would only switch from analog PWM controllers to fully digital controllers if a killer application were found. Here it is two years later and the killer app has yet to be identified — but why?...

High-Density Power Modules: The Way of the Future

The field of power conversion is going through a transformation akin to that produced by the first bipolar transistors; only today, it's a combination of semiconductor and packaging technology that's driving the field to high-density integration....

Specialists Conferences: A World of Innovation

At present, there exist numerous platforms for spreading knowledge in a direct and complete manner across the globe, in a way that was never before possible. More specifically, I'm referring to the technical conferences taking place in all fields of technology ...

High-Frequency DC-DC Converters: The Writing Is On the Wall

Unprecedented demand for featured-laden handheld electronic appliances and laptops has meant more demand for processors. This translates to greater needs for higher current and power at voltages that will soon approach the fractional voltage range from the dc-dc converters in these appliances....