Welcome to issue 413 of Circuit Cellar Magazine. We welcome our devoted readers to the latest frontiers of embedded system design with mixed feelings. Our longest-standing columnist, Jeff Bachiochi, bids us a farewell in his last installment, “From the Bench,” where he takes us down memory lane to discuss how he got his start on these pages and why he kept persisting on this journey that inspired more than 400 articles. Retirement is never easy, but all of us at Circuit Cellar are genuinely grateful for his contributions, and we will truly miss his “voice” as a writer and the unique personality he brought to every article.
It is easy to marvel when you stand back and think about the sheer volume of articles Jeff has contributed. Two things stand out for me in Jeff’s last article: His recollection of the original premise for Circuit Cellar’s existence and what he intends to do to fill up his spare time now that he won’t have to compose a regular contribution.
Going back to the founding days, Jeff persevered in the original mission: “We needed to further the education of those intelligent enough to recognize that sometimes it is essential to know EXACTLY what’s in the box and how it works.”
On a personal note, I have only had a meager six months to work with Jeff, but it was abundantly evident that he kept that premise alive with every article. As a veteran of many different publications covering many subjects, it’s easy to lose sight of those goals that are supposed to keep you focused and drive your inspiration. But, with the limited exposure I’ve had to Jeff’s writings, he kept that inspiration alive, and that, in and of itself, is quite an accomplishment.
Another thing that stands out is Jeff’s continued desire to make things. Perhaps he will spend more time with family and attack the job jar of household projects that never seemed to empty while he was penning his next article. But he hints at projects that need attention, and it tells us that his curiosity to address challenges and solve problems is still fanning the flames of his passion. That is an experience we can all hope to share after we put the final touches on our last “columns.”
But fear not, loyal readers. As we welcome our next columnist, a new generation of inspiration is upon us. In February, we will bring you the debut of Jacob Beningo, one of the most influential voices in embedded systems today. If it’s time to break the shackles of your existing build system, you will want to read his debut about an integrated development environment that you can customize and scale for years.
Also, in this issue, Circuit Cellar checks in with the promising frontier of energy harvesting technology and the recent rise of RF power casting. In “Harvesting Ambient Energy,” we ponder whether faint, sporadic power sources can replace batteries in billions of remote IoT devices. Currently, these devices contribute 6 million batteries daily to the waste stream, so anything that could stem the flow of this mind-boggling number deserves some solid evaluation and robust technology investment and research.
How many computing resources can you pack into a square millimeter of printed circuit board real estate? This edition’s Datasheet presents some tiny boards you must know about to meet your design’s size constraints.
Until next time, we are open to hearing about what inspires you and drives your passion. If you have an idea that you would like to share and think colleagues will benefit from your knowledge, please drop us a line, and we’ll help you get it on these pages.
Issue Table of Contents can be found here,
as articles are made available online they will be linked.
PUBLISHED IN CIRCUIT CELLAR MAGAZINE • November #413 – Get a PDF of the issue
Tom Murphy has been plying his trade as a technology journalist for more than 25 years, first as an editor/writer/reporter and then as a communications professional. He has earned industry recognition for both journalistic endeavors and technology campaigns. Before joining Circuit Cellar magazine as editor-in-chief (2024), Tom wrote tech briefs, newsletters, blogs, press releases, white papers, and technical articles for numerous clients, primarily in the semiconductor industry. His introduction into the industry came as an editor for “Electronic News” covering microprocessor companies, the fabless semiconductor phenomena, communication chips, and many others. When he’s not tapping away at the keyboard, Tom learns Dungeons and Dragons terminology from his 10-year-old daughter and walks his bulldog (slowly) around the block.
