Categories
Technology

Celebrating women in tech/electronics

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we have made a list of some of the amazing women in tech. Of course, there are hundreds more so please don’t worry if your favourite lady doesn’t feature!

Edith Clarke

Born in 1883, Clarke studied mathematics and astronomy before becoming a civil engineering student at the University of Wisconsin. After also earning a master’s in electrical engineering, Clarke filed a patent for her ‘graphical calculator’. The calculator was used to solve electric power transmission line problems. The engineer also made history by becoming the first female electrical engineering professor in the US in 1947.

Yoky Matsuoka

Before working for big names including Apple, Google and Nest, Matsuoka received awards for her work in robotics and neuroscience. With the grant she went on to found a non-profit organisation. The NGO focused on removing reading barriers for children with physical and learning challenges.

Matsuoka also founded the Centre for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering and Neurobotics Laboratory. This centre works to create devices that can restore sensation and movement in human bodies. Since then she has gone onto work in innovation and health, and now run independent Panasonic subsidiary Yohana.

Kristina M Johnson

Among other achievements, Johnson is known for her research in optoelectronics. While working with Empire State Development, she signed many industry partnerships with companies including IBM and Applied Materials.

Since then, she has co-founded organisations including ColorLink, which later became part of RealD, responsible for the Real3-D system using in hundreds of movies, including Avatar. Johnson has also done a lot of revolutionary work in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure.

Caroline Haslett

Haslett was instrumental in opening the world of engineering up to women. The women’s right campaigner was born in 1895, and only 19 years later she was working for an engineering firm that made steam boilers. In the following years she joined the Women’s Engineering Society, then the Director of the Electrical Association for Women.

Later in life Haslett was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Melonee Wise

As CEO of Fetch Robotics, Wise spent her days researching, developing, and delivering robotics for the logistics industry. Since then, Fetch has been acquired by Zebra Technologies, and Wise has become VP and General Manager of Robotics Automation.

She has featured in Business Insider and the Silicon Valley Business Journal for achieving so much at a young age. Wise’s speciality is in Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) for warehousing and logistics.

Lisa Su

Dr Su is chair and CEO of AMD. She joined the company in 2012 as senior VP and general manager. Prior to this, Su worked at Freescale Semiconductor Inc. in the areas of global strategy, marketing and engineering.

Before this, Dr Su spent years working for Texas Instruments and IBM. In 2018 she received the Global Semiconductor Association’s Dr Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award.

Lalitha Suryanarayana

Recently Suryanarayana has joined the Global Semiconductor Alliance Women’s Leadership Council. Alongside that, she is VP, Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions at Infineon Technologies. Previously, Suryanarayana was senior director for Qualcomm Technologies, and before that worked at AT&T.

Debora Shoquist

Shoquist is executive VP of operations at NVIDIA, and is responsible for the company’s IT, operations and supply chain functions. She is also overseeing construction of the company’s new building at its Santa Clara headquarters, worth $360-380 million.

After joining NVIDIA in 2007, it only took her two years to move from senior VP to executive VP. Before that she worked at Quantum, Coherent, and JDS Uniphase.

Ann B Kelleher

As executive VP and general manager of Technology Development at Intel, Dr Kelleher is responsible for research, development and deployment of next-gen silicon logic, packaging and test technologies.

Kelleher started her electronics leadership journey in Ireland working for Intel’s Fab 24. She later moved to the US to manage the company’s Fab 12 facility in Chandler, Arizona.

Recognition

We know how important it is to recognise all of our staff, both male and female, and the contributions they make to the company and society. That is why International Women’s Day, and other celebrations like it, are so important to us. To find out more about International Women’s Day, follow this link.

Categories
Electronic Components

Causes of IC Shortage

Categories
Electronic Components

Component Prices Rise 10% to 40% – But why?

While component price rises are expected when demand outstrips supply, the scale of recent increases has come as a shock to many businesses.

In its Q3 Commodity Intelligence Quarterly, CMarket intelligence platform Supplyframe reports that some electronic components have seen prices rise by as much as 40%, making it uneconomical for products to be made.  

In particular, semiconductors, memory, and modems are seeing 10 to 40% price increases, exceeding what most analysts envisioned for 2021.

Why are prices rising?

Price rises start with materials. There are long lead times for many raw materials, causing shortages. Add rising commodity prices and difficulties transporting products and you have a disrupted manufacturing economy.

You also have to factor in the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused labour shortages and disrupted the manufacturing economy with shutdowns.

Logistics is also a big fly in the ointment for electronic components. The industry is recovering from COVID-induced shutdowns and travel restrictions are causing problems at borders, creating delays that ripple through the supply chain.

Supply and demand

The bulletproof economics of supply and demand also rule the roost for electronic components, and demand is higher than it has ever been.

We are in a situation today where most electronic components manufacturers are running at 99-100% capacity and can’t keep up with demand.

Demand is outstripping supply for chips, memory and communications components like integrated circuits, discrete circuits, optoelectronics and sensors, creating a bidding war as manufacturers scramble to get what they need.

Growing demand for new technologies

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality, augmented reality and edge computing are fuelling demand for smarter chips and data centre modernisation, while technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are demanding infrastructure rollout, which requires significant investment.

Across the board, technology is booming. Manufacturers are making more products for more people, and they must do so while balancing costs at a time when component prices are rising – no easy feat even for established businesses. 

Pressure relief

Everyone is raising prices in line with their own cost increases, from semiconductor manufacturers to outsourced fabs and suppliers. At 10 to 40%, these increases are putting pressure on supply chains and businesses.

How many price increases will target markets absorb? How can we sustain production without significant margin pressure? These are the challenges facing manufacturers, who are stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.

There are a few solutions:

  • Equivalents: Source equivalent components from different brands/makers/OEMs that meet size, power, specification, and design standards.
  • Use an electronic components distributor: Distributors are the best-connected players in the industry, able to source hard-to-procure and shortage components thanks to relationships with critical decision-makers.

Prices will fizzle down, eventually

Although research published by Supplyframe says pricing challenges will remain through early 2023, they won’t last forever. Price rises should fizzle out towards the end of 2021 as manufacturers catch up to orders and reduce disruption.

If you are experiencing an electronic component shortage, we can help. Email us if you have any questions or call us on 01904 415 415 for a chat with our team.