For many designers, there are growing challenges in the design of power supplies for high-speed
circuits. I recently spoke with Steve Sandler about the issues power designers need to consider
when powering RF and high-speed digital circuits. As a chief engineer with AEi Systems, Sandler
has developed extensive expertise in the design and analysis of both power and RF systems.
Sandler is also the managing director of Picotest, a company specializing in precision test
equipment, and as such he raises many issues that concern test and measurement of both power
and RF systems. In this article, we discuss Sandlerâ€™s list of the top 10 considerations for
power designers working with RF or high-speed digital applications. (See pages 44-46 of the
source PDF.) Read the full article»

For satellite manufacturers, power system design is still considered a core competency too
vital to the productâ€™s success to delegate to others. Their equipment must operate in the
hostile environment of space for well over a decade without faults or failures that would
result in satellite downtime. A satelliteâ€™s power system must be optimized for highest
efficiency and lowest power losses, in large part to minimize the systemâ€™s size and mass. One
engineer who has a birdâ€™s eye view of all the design challenges is Robert Lyon, a systems
engineering manager at Space Systems/Loral. Lyonâ€™s descriptions of the issues that drive power
system design for satellites illustrate why there continue to be opportunities for power
electronics engineers in this field.(See pages 46-49 of the source PDF.) Read the full article»

The quest for more energy-efficient data centers profoundly affects the way IT equipment, software, and systems are developed. At IT equipment companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), energy and power consumption issues are being addressed across all the different levels of product development. In this installment of Power Supply Jobs & Technology, engineering executives in HPâ€™s Enterprise Business division, describe how the quest for greater energy efficiency creates varied opportunities for engineers with power electronics (PE) expertise, how PE engineers within HP require different backgrounds and skillsets to enable collaboration, and how technical requirements have been changing. The HP executives also discuss some steps their company is taking to meet staffing challenges. Read the full article»

In the communications field as in other industries, many companies have jettisoned their power
supply design teams and outsourced their work. These companies still need some hardware
designers who can address power supply issues, but their design responsibilities tend to be
broader than just power. Moreover, the de-emphasis of power supply design within the
communications equipment companies has placed more of the burden of power design on the
shoulders of the power supply and IC vendors, which may lead to greater opportunities for power
electronics engineers at those companies. In this article, I discuss these trends and their
implications with two engineering recruiters. (See pages 57-59 of source PDF.) Read the full article»

Itâ€™s said that many companies in the telecom and datacom industry no longer have dedicated power supply teams, or if they doâ€”their size has been reduced considerably from years past. But at least one networking equipment manufacturer still maintains a sizable staff of engineers devoted to power electronics. That company is Cisco Systems. I recently spoke with the manager of one of Ciscoâ€™s power engineering teams about the type of work his engineers do and what his team looks for when filling new positions. Read the full article»