Blog

Since the time of Henry Ford, the consensus among manufacturers has been that bigger is better. Economies of scale would provide increasing profits, and this necessitated ever larger manufacturing facilities.

The production of semiconductors is vital to nearly all modern technologies, helping to drive key breakthroughs in the digitalisation of industries and in our daily lives.

It is considered common knowledge that there are many more male engineers than there are female members of the industry. As Electronic Specifier’s Sam Holland considers, the points that are less understood, however, are how the ratios of female-to-male employees fare in other STEM-friendly industries – and the reasons why engineering has one of the widest gender gaps of them all.

As the era of digitisation progresses, we are seeing the sensors and instruments markets developing through a crucially formative stage, with massive potential for growth across industries such as IT, communication, entertainment, and home appliances. Phil Simmonds, Chief Executive Officer of EC Electronics discusses.

NFTs and cryptocurrency are terms you’ve probably heard about or read about in the news, but do you really understand what they are and how they work?

Ambient UK temperature isn’t the only record to fall this year: UK £ sterling exchange rates have hit new lows against the currencies of our main trading partners and rapidly rising inflation is driving up the price of almost everything to levels unseen by industry and consumers since the oil price shocks of the mid-1970s.

At the end of 2025, Openreach, the infrastructure division of BT, will be switching off its copper network. This means that the UK’s analogue network – the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) will no longer be available. Dan Whittington, Head of Utilities at Whitecode, looks how the UK’s digital upgrade will impact businesses and if they are ready for the ‘switch’.

There are many factors to consider when selecting the correct component for your design. Choosing a part that meets the physical and functional specifications of the design is just the beginning.

Engineers Without Borders UK, leading a movement to put global responsibility at the heart of engineering, has appointed John Kraus as CEO. Electronic Specifier’s Paige West caught up with Kraus to hear how he plans to introduce a new angle to the organisation, with a focus on bringing engineering into wider, structural conversations around sustainability.

Particularly in the UK, engineering is a vital, yet sadly underpopulated, industry to work in. There are nevertheless already many initiatives that seek to drive higher uptake of engineering positions, but one aspect that people may overlook is how prospective engineers are receiving an industry-friendly education in the first place. Electronic Specifier’s Sam Holland and Paige West discuss e-learning, short for electronic learning, and som...