Tuesday, November 5

Tag: engineer

An Electrical Engineer Explains What A Semiconductor Is And How These Critical Electronic Components Work And How They Are Made
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TECHNOLOGY

An Electrical Engineer Explains What A Semiconductor Is And How These Critical Electronic Components Work And How They Are Made

Semiconductors are a critical part of almost every modern electronic device, and the vast majority of semiconductors are made in Tawain. Increasing concerns over the reliance on Taiwain for semiconductors – especially given the tenuous relationship between Taiwan and China – led the U.S. Congress to pass the CHIPS and Science act in late July 2022. The act provides more than US$50 billion in subsidies to boost U.S. semiconductor production and has been widely covered in the news. Trevor Thornton, an electrical engineer who studies semiconductors, explains what these devices are and how they are made. Thin, round slices of silicon crystals, called wafers, are the starting point for most semiconductor chips. Hebbe/Wikimedia Commons 1. What is a semiconductor? Generally speaking, the term sem...
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An Electrical Engineer Explains How A Large Solar Storm Could Knock Out The Power Grid And The Internet
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IN OTHER NEWS, TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

An Electrical Engineer Explains How A Large Solar Storm Could Knock Out The Power Grid And The Internet

On Sept. 1 and 2, 1859, telegraph systems around the world failed catastrophically. The operators of the telegraphs reported receiving electrical shocks, telegraph paper catching fire, and being able to operate equipment with batteries disconnected. During the evenings, the aurora borealis, more commonly known as the northern lights, could be seen as far south as Colombia. Typically, these lights are only visible at higher latitudes, in northern Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia. What the world experienced that day, now known as the Carrington Event, was a massive geomagnetic storm. These storms occur when a large bubble of superheated gas called plasma is ejected from the surface of the sun and hits the Earth. This bubble is known as a coronal mass ejection. The plasma of a coronal mass e...
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An Electrical Engineer Explains – How 5G Puts Airplanes At Risk
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TECHNOLOGY

An Electrical Engineer Explains – How 5G Puts Airplanes At Risk

New high-speed cellphone services have raised concerns of interference with aircraft operations, particularly as aircraft are landing at airports. The Federal Aviation Administration has assured Americans that most commercial aircraft are safe, and AT&T and Verizon have agreed to hold off on installing their new cellphone antennas near airports for six months. But the problem has not been entirely resolved. Concerns began when the U.S. government auctioned part of the C-band spectrum to wireless carriers in 2021 for US$81 billion. The carriers are using C-band spectrum to provide 5G service at full speed, 10 times the speed of 4G networks. The C-band spectrum is close to the frequencies used by key electronics that aircraft rely on to land safely. Here’s why that can be a problem. Ke...
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A Black Engineer’s Take On Personal And Professional Inspiration – Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther Gives A Boost To Diversity In STEM
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TECHNOLOGY

A Black Engineer’s Take On Personal And Professional Inspiration – Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther Gives A Boost To Diversity In STEM

Chadwick Boseman played a superhero on the big screen, but he had a real-life superpower – the ability to inspire the next generation of underrepresented scientists, engineers and innovators. He was one of many people lost too soon in 2020, but his legacy will live on. I’m biracial – Black and white – but primarily identify as Black, in part because that’s how other people have always identified me. I’m also an engineer, scientist, educator, inventor and entrepreneur who has drawn great inspiration from Boseman. On and off the screen, he championed Black representation and embodied Black excellence. From the scientists of the fictional country of Wakanda to the supersuit he wore as the superhero Black Panther, the cinematic world he brought to life mirrors my own vision: a world of incre...
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