December 2011
VIEW FROM THE TOP

Sherry Hess
Vice President of Marketing, AWR Corporation

Q: There’s a distinct shortage of RF engineers, particularly among engineering school graduates. Has that improved somewhat, or do you see a need for companies like yours to promote careers in microwave engineering via campus promotions, summer internships, contests/competitions, or some other method?

A: The microwave industry in general and the EDA community in particular have a vested interest in generating enthusiasm for electrical engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Certainly as the world grows more and more wireless, the need for students well versed
in “fields and waves” grows too. But even as the need for more EEs increases, there is competitive pull to other facets of engineering such as gaming and applications. A passive role is unacceptable and that’s why AWR strives to bring innovative ideas to engineering curricula at universities throughout the world. First launched in 2010, AWR’s Graduate Gift Initiative gives graduating EE students free 1-year personal use licenses of its software products that can be used in industry, academia or purely for personal enjoyment. AWR also actively participates in student design competitions, video contests and other activities. Visit www.awrcorp.com site to see all the ways in which AWR is active with universities.

Q: For those of you primarily in the military market, what do you expect of next year’s military budget (as yet undetermined)? For those in the commercial side of the business, are you encouraged by any particular emerging application or technologies?

A: There will be cuts in defense spending, so the question for the RF and microwave industry is where will they come from? Fortunately, RF and microwave technology is a key element of programs that have broad support throughout the political spectrum, one of the most obvious being Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) that continue to prove indispensable in every conflict, large or small. They will require optical and microwave sensors as well as communications systems. Electronic warfare programs such as Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) are likely to remain well funded as well, and these two examples are just the most obvious. Commercial wireless markets remain strong and will continue to be, which benefits not just RF and microwave semiconductor vendors but passive component and integrated microwave assembly manufacturers as well.

Regardless of their end use, microwave systems rely on software design tools, from high-frequency suites such as AWR’s Microwave Office to system-level analysis tools such as Visual System Simulator VSS, and dedicated tools for specific analysis, such as filter synthesis and thermal management. The combination of these various tools working together is a trend we see emerging in the commercial sector. For instance, the need for smaller, lighter, faster, more power-efficient products is triggering interdependencies, including thermal and system-level metrics. In the design of broadband, high-power RF amplifiers for example, the need for circuit design, thermal analysis and system simulation are just three analyses that today are being pulled into a cross-functional design approach. AWR’s software portfolio excels in achieving this synergy.

Q: After the 2008 economic meltdown, our industry showed great resilience (in general) these past two years. Unfortunately, the global economy remains in turmoil. Have we learned from those tough times, or do you fear another big dip for our industry?

A: Politicians, scholars, economists, journalists, and everyone else who can type will be writing for generations about lessons that can and should be learned from the Great Recession. However, massive globalization is changing the world’s economy in ways that are not yet fully realized; so whenever the “next time” occurs, there will undoubtedly be new challenges to face that were different from the last. But even so, learning how to be better prepared for such unforeseen dips in business and the importance of having plans in place before the storm hits certainly help to mitigate some of the turmoil.

Q: What new product or technological developments have most excited you and your employees?

A: The bridging of the digital and microwave domains now taking place is arguably the most significant change in the design of both types of circuits in many, many years. It is being propelled largely by necessity. That is, as the frequency of digital circuits rises well into the microwave region, microwave designers (and their design tools) must accommodate them. Conversely, digital designers must recognize the fact that Maxwell’s equations now apply to them as well. The baseband, high-frequency, and PCB layout software design communities are responding to this inevitable (and long overdue) meeting of the minds with tools that help bridge the gap.

As for device technology, the big news continues to be gallium nitride, which is the most promising advance in microwave semiconductor technology since gallium arsenide. It will play a larger and larger role in many types of microwave circuits long into the future. Finally, it is safe to say that wireless technology will replace its wired predecessor in every type of device that can benefit from it – and it’s a long list. Although this has been occurring for years, it is accelerating. ♦