EP#62: Yo Ho Ho and a Technological Bottle of Rum

A recent Circuit Break Community thread about K-map design inspired a tangential conversation about how well certain subjects are taught in college. Parker and Stephen love a good tangent, thank you, and so they dug in by recalling their own experiences at school with excellent professors who clearly wanted electrical engineers to succeed, while other instructors and their teaching methods were challenging or else just downright bizarre. Other topics covered here include:How a terrible electronics professor can impact someone’s careerIs a “self-paced” classroom really just lazy teaching?Still not knowing how Bode plots workA strange digital circuits analogy where chickens and snakes are shockedWatching videos like you’re in A Clockwork OrangeA grade curve so severe, a 17% was a BClasses and profs we lovedWas a class hard, or was the professor just absolute garbage?Still having nightmares about forgetting to go to class for a whole semesterHeat Shrink Voltage Ratings+moreRelevant links:Attend MacroFab Founder Chris Church’s Presentation at Orbweaver’s Current 2024Using K-maps in circuit designHeatshrink Voltage ratings?Circuit Break Podcast #297: Modern College Education with Derek FronekCircuit Break Podcast #18: Classy Capacitors and Lab War Stories[WEBINAR] Enhancing Operational Safety: Cyber-Resilient Approaches for Physically Secure PCB DesignsThank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

9 Jan 202450min

This week Parker and Stephen welcome James Lewis back to the show after a rather long absence! The occasion stems from James chiming in on a Circuit Break Community thread that Stephen started, asking all about component aging effects. Stephen posed questions like, “What happens to resistors over 5 years? How about 20 years? Are there rules of thumb or better yet, calculations for aging?” And helpful engineer that he is, James got in there and tried to provide some answers before agreeing to appear on the show to elaborate. Other topics covered here include:How no one is completely sure about how to approach component agingWhen component aging actually affects designersThe difference between aging and reliabilityThe impact of components lasting longer than they were meant toVariables, parameters, and other factors that can inhibit and exacerbate agingLevels of violence in polymer tantalum explosionsThe history of constantsDevice longevity lawsHow to define rated voltage for a capacitor+more!About our guest:James Lewis aka Bald Engineer, is a freelance electronics content creator. You might recognize James from the YouTube channels AddOhms and Workbench Wednesdays from Element 14. His interests include talking too much about capacitors, repairing vintage computers, and making unique PCBs that go into poorly designed 3D-print enclosures. James has been on the show a few times now, including episode #141 and #222 to discuss testing and validating PCB assembly design. The episode about ceramic capacitors is still one of Parker’s all-time favorite episodes! Relevant links:Bald EngineerComponent Aging EffectsCircuit Break Podcast #141: It Depends – An In Depth Look at MLCCs with James LewisCircuit Break Podcast #222: Turning It On – New Design Checklists with James LewisCircuit Break Podcast #306: Removing The BarriersJoin the Circuit Break Discourse Community!Thank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

2 Jan 20241h 1min

Not unlike Han Solo emerging from cryosleep, the annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special is back! Parker and Stephen welcome Josh Rozier, Chris Kraft, and Hyr0n to Circuit Break for a wide-ranging discussion covering at least the following about the Star Wars universe:The Most Ingenious Pieces of Technology in Star WarsThe Most Underrated Characters Favorite (and Most Profound) Star Wars QuotesPersonal picks for cool lightsaber functionsDo Star Wars ships and vehicles ever need gas?Medical care in Star Wars vs. Star TrekWhether or not you’re sleeping while encased in carbonite or just dead the whole timeA burning desire for vibrobladesThe toilet paper situation in Star WarsDoes Star Wars really illuminate the vastness of space?Chewbacca knows everythingSpider-Man’s gooSo many Star Wars magic tricksTow Cable/Power Harpoon as a reasonable tactic to use against the AT-ATs on Hoth?Science-Fiction vs. Science-Fantasy“Skippy” and The MandalorianFM Radio Transmissions in CavesStar Wars: Thrawn and the curious case of loading cargo and other bureaucratic tasksEngineering ethics in the Empire / Darth Vader and anger managementStewie’s VaderKylo Ren, blasters, and magical gasNot loving JJ Abrams’ elimination of limitations+ much more!About our guests:Josh RozierA business intelligence and data analytics professional for a large, east-coast insurance monolith. In his spare time, Roz spends his time building and tweaking guitar amplifiers and pedals. Co-owner of Empire Engineering with Stephen.Chris KraftA tinkerer currently working as a software engineer in the financial services industry. Extensive background in 3d printing and building anything that seems interesting.Hyr0nA systems engineer. Hardware hacker of AND!XOR, a group that builds electronic badges for conferences, mucks in vending machines, and designs embedded system puzzles.Relevant links:Circuit Break Podcast #357: Seventh Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special - We’re the Rebel Codebreakers!Circuit Break Podcast #307: Sixth Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special - The Bad HunchCircuit Break Podcast #255: Fifth Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special – Neo JediCircuit Break Podcast #204: Fourth Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special – C3PO Steals the ShowCircuit Break Podcast #152: Third Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special – Vader’s Fake FingerCircuit Break Podcast #98: Second Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special: Jar Jar on a HarleyCircuit Break Podcast #46: First Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas SpecialThank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

26 Dec 20232h 46min

Parker and Stephen discuss a recent news story about how car manufacturers are increasing their focus on Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) which are cars that use more software instead of physical components to control vehicle functions. This prompted a comparison between SDVs and Drive-by-Wire or DbW technology in the automotive industry, which is the use of electronic or electro-mechanical systems in place of mechanical linkages that control driving functions, how DbW relates to Fly-by-Wire tech and the fate of the F-117 Nighthawk, how Marvell Semiconductor is working on technology, particularly Ethernet, to support this change to SDWs, plus we get a brewery project update from Stephen, and much more!Relevant links:Marvell Sees Software-Defined Vehicle Readiness Near at HandCircuit Break Podcast #65: Self Driving Cars With Josh Hartung From PolysyncCircuit Break Podcast #396: PoE - Phantom over EthernetCircuit Break Podcast #107: Orthogonal for Mutual ConductanceCircuit Break Podcast #229: Get Cute This WeekendThank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

19 Dec 202354min

Parker and Stephen welcome Pete Staples, the CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Clover Devices, to the show! Staples founded Blue Clover in 2003 to explore ways to make the electronics industry more efficient. Prior to that, he worked as a systems engineer at Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo near LAX. Blue Clover continues to hone their processes to eliminate waste and provide the best value for their clients. In 2018, those efforts culminated in the release of Blue Clover’s Production Line Tool (PLT), a cloud-native hardware test automation device. Because of his expertise in device testing, Parker and Stephen wanted to catch up with Pete to ask him some questions about such things, and so we’re happy to welcome him to Circuit Break!Relevant links:Blue Clover DevicesCircuit Break Podcast #404: The Barcode is 50 With its Creator, Paul V. McEnroeCircuit Board Testing Methods: What You Need to KnowCircuit Break Podcast #189: Not Even My Final Form – Jeff Garoon on Industrial Product DesignThank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

12 Dec 202356min

Parker and Stephen discuss a recent article exploring how electrostatic discharge damage isn’t the only kind of static hazard your digital designs can face and possible solutions to such problems, a recent report that CHIPS for America published, entitled “The Vision for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program” (NAPMP), which elaborates on goals and investment areas to establish U.S. leadership in advanced packaging and provide the technology needed for packaging manufacturing in the U.S, a rumour about Raspberry Pi and how Tesla released service documentation for its original roadster, addressing some commentary by Discourse Community members, Todd_Zebert and Pdp-1, 1960s Batman stuff, and much more!Relevant links:The Other Kind Of Static Hazard To Your Logic CircuitsCircuit Break Podcast #326: The Infinite Finite GridChips For America Publishes “The Vision For The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program,” Supporting Leadership And Technology GrowthCircuit Break Podcast #388: CHIPS Can’t DipJoin the Circuit Break Discourse Community!Thank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

5 Dec 202356min

Parker and Stephen welcome JITX CEO and Co-founder, Dr. Duncan Haldane, to the show to discuss his company, which is a code-powered PCB design platform that aims to revolutionize circuit board design by integrating automation with human expertise. Prior to co-founding JITX, Dr. Haldane was responsible for a “hyper-aggressive pogo-stick” robot called Salto-1P. After discovering just how much work went into designing Salto-1P, Duncan was inspired to start JITX, because he wanted a better way to design robots. In an approach that some engineers find divisive, JITX is innovating in ways to design circuit boards by writing code, and so Parker and Stephen asked Dr. Haldane to explain his background, the problems JITX is trying to resolve, the company’s plans to build a new auto-router, just what exactly the deal was with that “hyper-aggressive pogo-stick,” and much more!Relevant links:JITXCircuit Break Podcast #21: Let The RF Hit The Noise FloorCircuit Break Podcast #30: You won’t believe this ONE WEIRD Engineering trickCircuit Break Podcast #52: Anti FitbitsCircuit Break Podcast #393: Recyclable PCBs, EOL Design, Cold CutsJoin the Circuit Break Discourse Community!Thank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

28 Nov 20231h 7min

Parker and Stephen discuss the fact that physical limitations of shrinking process nodes are leading to new advancements in silicon interposers and enabling 2.5D packaging architectures, which is making 3D packaging possible, plus an exploration of what ChatGPT is and isn’t capable of, in terms of it answering our questions and whether or not it matters that it can’t draw upon its own experiences to relate to us, like say, wanting to have a beer sometimes. Plus, much more!Relevant links:Why 3D packaging could be the next breakthrough for processingCircuit Break Podcast #118: Battlestar Galactic GroundsCircuit Break Podcast #17: System-in-Package (SiP) Platforms with Greg SheridanHow is ChatGPT biased? Researchers identify a variety of concerns MEP EP#365: Let’s Segway into the Next TopicJoin the Circuit Break Discourse Community!Thank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at podcast@macrofab.com.

21 Nov 202345min