December 2012
VIEW FROM THE TOP

Steve Walley
Vice President of Business Development, dB Control

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 from high-tech companies. Good examples are New York State’s “East Coast Silicon Valley” and several cities in Ohio. However, there continues to be a shortage of engineering graduates, especially those focusing on RF and microwave technology. What would your company do (or what is your company doing) to help promote careers in microwave engineering?

A: The quality of engineers we develop today is an important factor in the future of American manufacturing, particularly in the microwave industry. To help promote careers in microwave engineering, dB Control strives to reach out to young engineers while they are still in school. Over the last two decades, we have created many local job openings and employed interns full-time through our local outreach/intern program. By recruiting locally through schools such as Heald College and DeVry University, we’re able to partner experienced engineers with highly motivated students. The hands-on interaction is an opportunity for students to apply the skills they learn in school, and a chance to become familiar with microwave technology. In addition, our Silicon Valley location provides an ideal place for young students to work closely with the brilliant people we employ and to experience a career in microwave engineering.

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

A: Regardless of how military budgets fluctuate in 2013, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their underlying technologies will continue to receive support from the defense sector. UAVs are in high demand because they provide an opportunity for operating personnel to stay out of harm’s way. One example is where a remote pilot can “see” thanks to the Lynx multi-mode radar operating in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground-moving-target-indicator (GMTI) modes powered by our traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs). The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) plans on spending at least $5.78 billion on UAV technologies in the next year alone.

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

A: UAVs are now capable of much more than military applications. Expanding commercial demands and applications – such as border patrol, scientific research, search and rescue operations, shipping-sea-lanes patrol and natural disaster detection – will be new markets for UAV technologies. Derrick Maple, principal analyst at IHS Industry Research & Analysis, forecasts $81.3 billion dollars in worldwide UAV revenue from 2012 to 2021.

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: I’m confident dB Control will stay on course, and in fact continue to grow despite expected military budget cuts. One emerging technology, gallium-nitride (GaN) devices, has been a recent hot topic. While GaN may be suitable for some electronic warfare (EW) applications, delivering increasingly high levels of RF power over very wide bandwidths at microwave frequencies is still a job best left to TWTs. This ensures both military and commercial customers will benefit from high-performance products produced by high-performing manufacturers like dB Control. ♦