“Man’s relationship with technology is complex. We always invent technology, but then technology comes back and reinvents us” ― Atul Jalan
 
In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we investigate the complex role of machine learning in the future of design automation. Norman Chang (ANSYS) joins us to discuss how machine learning will not only change the course of the evolution of EDA but also how we deal with design for reliability and FinFET degradation. Also this week, we check out a newly discovered form of electronic matter called the Vestigial Nematic State and how it was identified with a little help from a suite of especially trained neural networks.

Fish Fry is flying high this week! We start things off with a little News You May Have Missed where we investigate the technology behind Glasgow, Scotland-based Kite Power Solutions. We take a closer look at out how they plan to make kite energy a commercial reality by 2025, and why their high-flying wind energy plans just got a big boost from the Imperial Department of Aeronautics and the UK’s National Wind Tunnel Facility. Also this week, Joe Sawicki (Mentor Graphics) and I are chatting up a storm about EDA in the cloud and why speed and scalability are super important for cloud EDA deployments.

In this week’s Fish Fry, we are celebrating the winners of this year’s Not Impossible Awards with Kevin Sellers from Avnet. Kevin and I chat about how Avnet, Hackster i.o and Not Impossible Labs are facilitating a new era of groundbreaking technology that is not only good business - but also good for people. We take a closer look at each of this year’s award-winning designs that include the Butterfly iQ - the world’s first handheld whole-body ultrasound system, a new hands-free device to control computers and mobile phones from Puffin Innovations, and HotSpot - whose mission it is to connect the 3.9 billion people in the world who do not have access to the internet.

The intrepid EE Journal team is back (and taking no prisoners) at this year’s Design Automation Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. First up, we chat with the DAC Monday keynote speaker Galen Hunt (Microsoft - Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director, Microsoft Azure Sphere). Galen and I chat about the seven properties of secure devices and why he thinks IOT isn’t a technology revolution. Next up, we discuss the inclusion of The Design Infrastructure Alley with Derek Magill (HPC Pros) and IP license management with Oren Gabay (OpenLM). To finish things up, I award my annual giveaway, best booth and best expo show floor espresso.  

Hello security, my old friend
I’ve come to design with you again
Because a hacker came creeping
left its malware while I was sleeping
and the code that was planted in my brain
still remains
within the sound of IoT

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, I sit down with Vinay Gokhale (VP Business Development of ThirdWayv) to discuss the biggest hurdles in IoT security today and how ThirdWayv is using software innovation to fill the gap between silicon and demanding applications. Also this week, we check out The Persistence of Chaos - a new art installation that is one part artistic expression, one part computer malware armageddon, and one part 2008 Samsung NC10 Blue Netbook.

This week’s episode of Fish Fry is absolutely brimming with geeky goodness! First, I check out some new Dungeons and Dragons names created by optical research scientist and neural network trainer extraordinaire Janelle Shane. Next, I chat with Matt Burns (Samtec) about the trends in interconnects and how interconnects are going to lead the charge in the advancement of data center technology. Finally, I investigate DOCOMO's new blimp-style drone that is propelled through the air with a little help from ultrasonic vibrations.

“The road to success is paved with the hot asphalt of failure.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, we take an in-depth look at the complex reliability issues present in today’s automotive designs.  Hany Elhak (Cadence Design Systems) and I chat about the role that mixed-signal chips play in the automotive ecosystem, the reality of defect analysis in the world of analog design today, and why transistor degradation it is even more important now than ever before. Also this week, we check out the details of three new automotive-based design contests rolled out by Ennomotive and Grupo Antolin.

Optical communication takes center stage in this week’s episode of Amelia's Weekly Fish Fry. First up, Mark Benton (TE Connectivity) and I chat about the different levels where optics can exist in the world of electronic packaging and the how the most recent advancements in ruggedized fiber optic technology have ushered in a whole new era of box to box and PC to PC communication. Also this week, Patrick Mechin (Techway) joins us to discuss the biggest trends in rugged optical communication today and why signal integrity in these environments is more important than ever before.

Sometimes we have to find a way around our design challenges. Sometimes finding the equilibrium between our design legacy and the futuristic stuff we want to do is harder than we we expected. In this week’s episode of Fish Fry, Nigel Forrester (Concurrent Technologies) joins us to discuss the ongoing security challenges in the world of embedded computing and how we can balance the past with the present and the future. Also this week, we check an amazing new discovery out of the University of Arizona that challenges some of our prevalent theories about how dying stars seed the universe.

In general, we like light hearted stories on Fish Fry. We like “smart” forks that tell us when we should stop eating. We enjoy 3D printing robots that make pancakes with the faces of famous people. All of that is fine and dandy but sometimes, we have to talk about more serious stuff. Today we are talking about when safety and security is mandatory, when failure is life or death, and when finding bugs doesn’t just mean your job is on the line. In this week’s episode, Quentin Ochem (AdaCore) I are chat about what the SPARK language can do that C cannot and the software development and verification challenges inherent in safety-critical applications. Also this week, we check out the details of a new matchbox-sized radar system coming out of VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Industry).