Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1093246
MARCH 2019 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 31 best decision I could have made at that point. Having business knowledge and understand- ing all the ways it can be applied in almost every situation has been immensely benefi- cial in my career. Even if I don't end up start- ing my own company, having that business skill set will continue to be very impactful in my career. Shaughnessy: Do you have any advice you would give to somebody just starting as a beginning PCB designer? Pacino: As I always say, definitely listen to the advice of your seniors around you; they paved the way for everything we do and can teach you more from their experience than you'll ever read in a book. Take the time to be diligent and thorough in your work by ensuring you're using best practices to pro- duce designs that are correct by construction the first time. Truly take pride in your work and be passionate about wanting to see your designs succeed because it's pretty cool to be a part of developing new technology for the future. Shaughnessy: How do you stay up to date with your training? Do you go to many con- ferences like this? Pacino: Yes. You learn a lot from these con- ferences. And you meet a lot of people who have an abundance of knowledge from all of the different areas of focus that are coming together. These conferences provide a really neat environment and atmosphere that is great for absorbing as much information as you can about new tips, tricks and an end- less amount of new theories being worked on. I'm always looking for new conferences to attend so that I can continue to stay up as up to date as possible. Shaughnessy: That's great. Thanks, Nicole. Pacino: Thank you for the opportunity, Andy. DESIGN007 Solar-powered Supercapacitors Could Create Flexible, Wearable Electronics A team of engineers from the University of Glasgow has used layers of graphene and polyurethane to cre- ate a flexible supercapacitor that can generate pow- er from the sun and store excess energy for later use. They demonstrate the effectiveness of their new mate- rial by powering a series of devices, including a string of 84 power-hungry LEDs and the high-torque motors in a prosthetic hand, allowing it to grasp a series of objects. The research towards energy autonomous e-skin and wearables is the latest development from the Universi- ty of Glasgow's Bendable Electronics and Sensing Tech- nologies (BEST) research group led by Professor Ravin- der Dahiya, professor of electronics and nanoengineer- ing at the University of Glasgow's School of Engineering. The top touch sensitive layer developed by the BEST group researchers is made from graphene. Sunlight that passes through the top layer of graphene is used to generate power via a layer of flexible photo- voltaic cells below. Any surplus power is stored in a newly-developed supercapacitor, made from a graphite-polyurethane composite. Similar supercapacitors developed previously have delivered voltages of one volt or less, making single su- percapacitors largely unsuited for powering many elec- tronic devices. The team's new supercapacitor can de- liver 2.5 volts, making it more suited for many common applications. In laboratory tests, the supercapacitor has been powered, discharged, and powered again 15,000 times with no significant loss in its ability to store the power it generates. The research, published in Advanced Science, was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). (Source: University of Glasgow)