Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1004549
48 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2018 important to them. Since they got a great job right out of school, they figure they can quit and jump right into a better position, but they can't find a better job and ask for their old jobs back. They call them "boomerangs" and they rehire some of them, because it's 4% unemployment now and it's hard to fill open positions. LaPointe: That's another problem, for sure. The retention rate in the industry is pretty low and the newer generations come out with this expectation that they're going to get this great job, it's going to be exactly what they were taught in school, and they're going to apply all of the things they learned. They get into the real world and see that this company might have their own processes and procedures, and maybe this technology doesn't really work that way. They go to some other company thinking it'll be better. Then they get there and realize, "Oh, this isn't that much better if at all." Shaughnessy: Do you have anything you want to add? Fernsebner: I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but it'll definitely be interesting. I think that for the next generation of design- ers, Bryan and I are constantly looking at new user interfaces and models because all of those dynamics are changing. Shaughnessy: Yeah, it's funny. Years ago, EDA tools had the same GUI for years, maybe decades, and now they get a refresh of the interface every so often. LaPointe: Yes, I've been told stories, and of course I haven't been around long enough to experience this, but I've heard stories of these senior designers almost losing their minds over just changing an icon here or there or mov- ing a toolbar around. But things need to be optimized and streamlined, even if that does mean making changes. Of course, there's that balance where you don't want to upset the existing users, but you can't neglect the up- and-coming users. Fernsebner: I think the other consideration is that this generation was born on their smart- phone, and now there's an expectation that they can take advantage of that mobile tech- nology in different ways, so that has also changed the way we look at develop new user interfaces. Shaughnessy: Thanks for your time. Fernsebner: Great. Thanks, Andy. DESIGN007 Due to its relatively low thermal conductance but high electric conductance, silicon nanowires have emerged as a promising thermoelectric material. A team of Japa - nese researchers from Waseda University, Osaka Uni- versity, and Shizuoka University designed and success- fully developed a novel silicon-nanowire thermoelectric generator, which experimentally demonstrated a high- power density of 12 microwatts per 1cm2, enough to drive sensors or realize intermittent wireless communi - cation, at a small thermal difference of only 5°C. More surprisingly, thermal resistance was sup- pressed, and the power density multiplied by 10 times by thinning the generator's silicon substrate from the conventional 750 nanometers to 50 nanometers with backside grinding. Click here for more. Opening Up a Pathway to Cost-effective, Autonomous IoT Application