Bench Talk

Microgrids are the key to integrating green energy. But engineers must embrace smart grid technologies before the hype becomes reality.

Both LED lighting and low-power wireless technology have been decades in gestation. Although originally developed for different applications, the two technologies have converged to revolutionize lighting applications that provide more than just illumination.

While many things that Google comes up with seemingly turn to gold, Google Glass wasn’t one of them. In fact, according to Forbes magazine, the company’s augmented reality (AR) headset will go down in the annals of bad product launches. But the launch of “Glass Enterprise Edition” targets industrial workplaces and boasts several upgrades over the consumer product—including a better camera, faster microprocessor, improved Wi-Fi, and longer battery life—which offer new potential for the technology.

The USB spec's emphasis on power delivery has kept it relevant and, with the updates from USB Type-C, current with today's needs.

Agribusiness is a habitual early adopter of high-tech, and now IIoT is becoming the newest tech to be embraced by Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).

According to the International Diabetes Federation’s 2015 report, an estimated 415 million people suffer from diabetes.

One has to admire the flexibility exhibited by the custodians of Bluetooth, the popular short-range 2.4-GHz wireless technology. Enhancements to the standard’s specification sanctioned by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) have allowed it to evolve in directions that the inventors can scarcely have imagined. This combination of foresight—and a little luck—have brought considerable commercial success for the technology and could see it expand to northwards of three billion annual shipments as early as next year, according to analyst IHS.

Building smart grids takes time, but the good news is that this can be done without interrupting current Renewable Energy initiatives.

Business schools teach would-be marketing executives about the major stages in a product’s lifecycle. A key lesson covers the critical transition between initial sales to relatively few early adopters and the device’s take-up by the mainstream market. Variously described as the “void”, “desert,” or perhaps most familiarly “chasm” (named for Geoffrey A. Moore’s bestselling book about marketing and selling disruptive products, Crossing the Chasm), it’s the point at which a product has gained some momentum but not enough for mainstream consumers to start buying it in big numbers. Many promising inventions from start-ups and established firms alike have disappeared without a trace into the chasm, closely followed by cash flow drying up.

Electric vehicles feature some impressive technology but suffer from an image problem that’s proving to be a drag on popularity. Sales of EVs (cars driven by one or more electric motors powered by batteries recharged from an external electricity supply) are tiny compared to consumption of conventional autos. Although over a million EVs have been sold since 2008, the entire fleet makes up just 0.1 percent of global vehicle numbers.