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The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 4 – Siliconix and Stewart-Warner Microcircuits

In their 15 years of working together since their marriage in 1947, Frances and Bill Hugle accumulated all the technical know-how they needed to manufacture transistors and ICs. From their efforts to produce gemstones at Stuart Labs, they developed techniques for growing crystal ingots, annealing those ingots, and doping them with impurities. From their years developing optical encoder technology at the DH Baldwin Piano Company, they developed the technology for depositing semiconductor thin films and using photolithography to pattern images on circuit boards and optical disks. At Westinghouse, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, they participated in clean … Read More → "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 4 – Siliconix and Stewart-Warner Microcircuits"

The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 3 – Molecular Electronics

After spending five years at the DH Baldwin Piano company developing photocells for optical encoders, Bill and Frances Hugle were ready for a new challenge. According to family records, Bill left for Youngwood, Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh in 1958 to help Westinghouse set up a new cleanroom at its semiconductor fab in that town. Frances followed with their four children in February 1960. However, the Hugles would not stay in Pennsylvania for long. By the end of 1960, they’d relocated to Thousand Oaks, California – putting them closer and closer to Silicon Valley.

Big things were … Read More → "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 3 – Molecular Electronics"

Gruesome Gambols Gripping Generative AI (Part 2)

I’m not having a good day. “Why so?” You ask. Well, thank you so much for caring. I have a sad tale to tell—one that will doubtless bring a little tear to your eye. I stand before you a broken man, hanging my head in shame, with my credentials as an engineer hanging in tatters.

Since we have so much of an artificial intelligence (AI) nature to talk about, I’ll cut a long story short, which is opposite to the way I usually like to do things. Earlier this week, I celebrated the 33rd … Read More → "Gruesome Gambols Gripping Generative AI (Part 2)"

Gruesome Gambols Gripping Generative AI (Part 1)

I love being me, which is a good thing when you come to think about it, because I don’t think the alternative would be much fun. In addition to being a trend-setter and leader of fashion, one of the things I’ve been blessed with is a good imagination, but—as we will see—a good imagination can be a double-edged sword.

My poor old noggin is currently coping with conflicting considerations concerning generative artificial intelligence, or generative AI, which refers to an AI capable of generating text, images, or other media … Read More → "Gruesome Gambols Gripping Generative AI (Part 1)"

The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 2 – Starting the Optical Encoder Industry

Bill Hugle and Frances Sarnat married in 1947 after each had earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Chicago. The two started a business making artificial gemstones in 1948, but the venture went bust by 1951 because of a patent infringement lawsuit brought against Bill Hugle by Linde Air Products, which had hired him as a plant chemist in 1947, just before he started his side business with his wife. The Hugles wanted to continue working together and, after receiving many rejections to employment inquiries, were able to secure employment with the DH Baldwin Piano Company of Cincinnati, … Read More → "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 2 – Starting the Optical Encoder Industry"

Using Generative AI for Refactoring and Debugging Code Cuts Debugging Time in Half!

I am currently wearing my patent-pending puzzled and perplexed expression. This manly mien was handed down to me by my father when he determined he had no further use for it. It was the aspect he assumed when my mother requested him to undertake some chore around the house. Oftentimes, he managed to look so befuddled and bewildered that she ended up performing the task herself. I’ve not yet achieved this pinnacle of prowess and proficiency, but I’m assiduously working on honing my skills in this department.

The reason for my … Read More → "Using Generative AI for Refactoring and Debugging Code Cuts Debugging Time in Half!"

The Semiconductor Company That Came From Another World: the Siliconix Story, Part 1 – Starting With Star Sapphires

Starting in the 1940s, Bill Hugle and Frances Sarnat Hugle founded technology companies that drew them further and further into the semiconductor business. Together they kicked off the development of precision optical encoders, founded semiconductor makers Siliconix and Stewart-Warner Microcircuits, and developed semiconductor manufacturing equipment on both the east and west coasts of the US. Along the way, the couple endured many business reversals and enough legal and political intrigue to fill several lifetimes, yet their story is essentially untold. Until now.

If you look at the famous chart of early semiconductor makers … Read More → "The Semiconductor Company That Came From Another World: the Siliconix Story, Part 1 – Starting With Star Sapphires"

MathWorks Meets the Cobot Cohort from Universal Robots

Is it just me, or is everyone fascinated by the idea of humanoid robots in general and intelligent humanoid robots in particular? Just saying this has left (what I laughingly call) my mind buzzing with robot-related nuggets of knowledge and tidbits of trivia.

I remember watching The Jetsons animated sitcom on TV when I was a kid circa 1962/63. Looking back, it’s funny how this program’s weird mix of futuristic (flying cars) and retro (vinyl record … Read More → "MathWorks Meets the Cobot Cohort from Universal Robots"

Agile Analog Makes the Analog Parts of SoC Design Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

I sometimes joke that I’d bend over backwards to be flexible and that I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous (I didn’t say they were good jokes). Now, following a recent excursion into wibbly-wobbly analog space (where no one can hear you scream), I’m tempted to say that I’d jump through hoops to be more agile.

I know, it’s a bit weak, isn’t it? Mayhap you could suggest something a tad more rib-tickling (or not, as the case might be), but we digress…

Read More → "Agile Analog Makes the Analog Parts of SoC Design Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy"

Intel’s latest version of oneAPI takes advantage of new Intel Xeon improvements, supports AMD and Nvidia

In its quest to make oneAPI a viable alternative to Nvidia’s CUDA for parallel-processing software development, Intel has released the 2023.1 version of its oneAPI tools. Last August in EEJournal, I wrote:

“Nvidia has something that Intel and AMD covet. No, it’s not GPUs. Intel and AMD both make GPUs. However, they don’t have Nvidia’s not-so-secret weapon that’s a close GPU companion: CUDA, the parallel programming language that allows developers to harness GPUs to accelerate general-purpose (non-graphics) algorithms. Since its introduction in 2006, CUDA has become a tremendous and so-far … Read More → "Intel’s latest version of oneAPI takes advantage of new Intel Xeon improvements, supports AMD and Nvidia"

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