Episodes

  • Why All These Flash Drive Form Factors?
    Mar 31 2026

    Enterprise and Data Center SSD Form Factors (EDSFF) include E1 and E3 that have supplanted the conventional M.2 and 2.5-in form factors like U.2 in high end servers. M.2 slots are often found on motherboards but server removable drives are now dominated by EDSFF that support the latest PCI Express-based NVMe interfaces that provide massive throughput. In this episode, Sebastien Jean, Chief Technology Officer at Phison Electronics, about the history and evolution of drive form factors and how flash memory has changed the form factor design.

    Show more Show less
    28 mins
  • Addressing Advanced Connectivity in Extreme Environments
    Mar 24 2026

    For more than six decades, Cinch Connectivity Solutions has addressed the demanding requirements of applications such as space exploration, delivering reliable, cost-effective solutions by leveraging its global team of expert engineers, manufacturing, and sales support. Cinch Connectivity Solutions’ CIN::APSE provides high-reliability, high-performance solderless, high-density interconnects for board-to-board, flex-to-board, and component-to-board applications.

    Show more Show less
    8 mins
  • Power Renaissance: Capacitors at the Heart of Modern Electronics
    Mar 20 2026

    This episode of Inside Electronics explores how a “power renaissance” is reshaping electronic design, with capacitors playing a central role. Host Alix Paultre speaks with Eduardo Drehmer, VP of Product Marketing at TDK Electronics, about rising power demands from AI, data centers, and electric vehicles, and how this pushes efficiency, thermal management, and reliability to the forefront.

    Alix and Eduardo explain how multilayer ceramic, aluminum electrolytic, and film capacitors each evolve to manage higher voltages, large surge currents, and harsh automotive environments while maintaining long lifetimes.

    They also highlight TDK’s broad portfolio, from board-level MLCCs to capacitors used in fusion power projects and discuss how automotive reliability standards now influence industrial designs. The discussion closes on global manufacturing, supply stability, and safety challenges in EV batteries, with TDK and DigiKey partnering to make the latest capacitor technologies widely accessible.

    Show more Show less
    19 mins
  • Economic Development and the Electronics Industry
    Mar 17 2026

    The Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) recently spent time in Europe visiting various cities and attending major trade shows in Germany to build bridges and expand contacts in the electronics industry. In this podcast, we talk to Troels Adrian, EVP of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, about the council’s efforts as well as some of their success stories.

    Show more Show less
    15 mins
  • Smart Solid-State Relays: Quietly Powering the Next Generation of Building Automation
    Mar 13 2026

    This episode of Inside Electronics features Alix Paultre, Editor at Large for Electronic Design, and Dr. Hugo Guzman, Product Marketing Manager-Integrated Circuits at Littelfuse. Alix and Hugo discuss how smart solid-state relays (SSRs) are reshaping residential, commercial, and industrial building automation.

    As engineers pack more HVAC controls, access systems, smart thermostats, sensors, and wireless modules into existing infrastructure, they must meet tight EMC, EMI, safety, and form-factor constraints while often working without a dedicated C‑wire. Hugo contrasts legacy electromechanical relays—bulky, noisy, prone to contact wear, arcing, and limited lifetime—with SSR-based designs that offer silent operation, predictable switching behavior, and improved reliability in inductive-load environments.

    Hugo also explains how Littelfuse’s smart SSRs integrate application-specific intelligence, such as load-powered operation and latching for C‑wire–less smart thermostats (CPC1601M), minimizing quiescent current and extending battery life in retrofit designs.

    For video doorbells and access control, the CPC2501M adds controlled handling of chime inrush currents up to 5 A for a few milliseconds, while maintaining continuous power to both chime and camera from a compact QFN package. Throughout the episode, Alix and Hugo emphasize how these smart SSRs help designers achieve smaller, safer, and more energy-efficient building automation systems that comply with stringent 24/7 reliability and safety standards.

    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • AI and Edge Computing in Advanced Test
    Mar 10 2026

    AI has been a powerful force in the embedded electronics industry, although it is still in its infancy. It has a great promise to automate systems in every facet of the industry, yet it isn’t a silver bullet (yet). In this episode, we talk to Rudy Sengupta, VP & General Manager of Emerson NI, about the company’s latest efforts in the space.

    Show more Show less
    13 mins
  • Advanced Video AI Processing on the Edge
    Mar 3 2026

    Axelera’s artificial intelligence processing unit is akin to the neural processing units (NPU) and are designed to handle AI inferencing while using very little power. Their quad core Metis AIPUs delivers 214 TOPs at under 4 W. It is available as a chip as well as on boards like their M.2 module. The company's latest Europa delivers up to 629 TOPs and can handle even more streams. Alexis Crowell, General Manager of Americas & Global CMO, talks about Axelera's Metis and Europa chips as well as their Voyager SDK.

    Show more Show less
    15 mins
  • Powering Industrial Automation in Harsh Environments
    Feb 27 2026

    In this episode of the Inside Electronics podcast, we explore how modern industrial automation relies on robust, well designed power supplies to keep demanding systems running reliably. Host Alix Paultre, Editor-at-Large of Electronic Design, speaks with Mike Swenson, Marketing Manager for TRACO North America, about why industrial environments are among the toughest places for electronics, from electrical noise and extreme temperatures to vibration, dust, and moisture.

    They explain how AC/DC supplies and DC/DC converters form a layered power architecture, delivering clean, stable power to controllers, sensors, and communication modules throughout connected factories.

    The conversation highlights key selection factors such as total power needs, peak load behavior, standards compliance, environmental protection, and mounting options like DIN rail, PCB, and chassis solutions. Alix and Mike also discuss testing for harsh conditions and the importance of high-reliability designs to minimize downtime and maintenance. The episode closes with a forward look at more efficient, compact, and intelligent power solutions enabling next generation automated systems.

    Show more Show less
    11 mins