December 2012
VIEW FROM THE TOP

Duncan Smith
President, Norden Millimeter, Inc.

Q: The importance of sustaining and developing technology has reached a point where states and cities are more actively building relationships with universities and recruiting high-tech companies. However, there continues to be a shortage of engineering graduates, especially those focusing on RF and microwave technology. What would your company do (or is doing) to help promote careers?

A: I think there are several paths to help bolster the number of microwave engineers. Personally I believe the earlier a potential candidate can be influenced the better. This could be through high school and/or college intern programs to educate the students about RF and microwave technology. The other viable approach that comes to mind is to “grow your own.” Take an electrical engineer with a general background and through work teach them the craft of microwave engineering. Really, isn’t this the way most of us old timers learned anyway. School gives you some tools and fundamentals, but the useful in depth knowledge really only comes from on the job training. Currently Norden is growing an RF engineer into a microwave engineer.

Q: For those of you serving the military market, what do you expect 2013 will bring in terms of opportunities in this sector?

A: Unfortunately it’s very hard to tell what 2013 will be like. With the outcome of the recent election it’s not clear if the Republicans and Democrats will actually work together to avoid the $100 billion in forced defense budget cuts at the start of 2013 that are a result of the compromise to raise the federal debt ceiling in 2011. The forced budget cuts would most certainly put a damper on all military acquisitions. If that calamity is avoided there should be opportunities in the signal intelligence arena and also the UAV market.

Q: If your company serves the commercial markets, are you encouraged by any particular emerging application or technology?

A: There is a very exciting emerging application for sensors to detect foreign object debris (FOD) on runways. FOD on runways causes billions of dollars in damage to aircraft yearly. Norden has developed a low cost MMW transceiver designed to be used as part of the FOD detection system.

Q: Last year, we asked what impact the global economic crisis was having on the markets you serve and on how you run your business. What is your current perspective?

A: So far so good. We haven’t seen an obvious impact from the global economic crisis. Our business in Japan is down, our business with the UK is up, our business in general is up. However the future is less certain. A combination of factors have the possibility of creating the “Perfect Storm” from and economic basis. The debt crisis in Europe, possible tax increases and spending cuts in the US, and a bottoming of China’s economy could conspire together to significantly slow the global economy for several years.

Q: What countries or regions do you believe will provide the greatest growth potential for the wireless industry in 2013?

A: I think the strongest growth for the high volume commercial wireless industry will be in China, India, and Latin America. ♦