Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/241303
the shaughnessy report the old guard moves on continues conferencing technology, among a long list of accomplishments. But he'll always be remembered for the mouse. William Lowe passed on at 72. He led the IBM team that developed its first PC in one year, a feat that no one—including IBM— thought possible. IBM was a behemoth, and not known for its quick turnaround time. But Lowe bypassed the firm's usual years-long proprietary development model by using existing technology: The IBM 5150 incorporated Microsoft's MS-DOS 1.0 operating system and an Intel 8088 microprocessor. In 1981, Lowe's idea put IBM at the top of the tech mountain, if only for a while. Ray Dolby died at 80, with 50 patents to his name, not to mention a few Oscars for his work with movie audio. As a child, he studied the vibrations of clarinet reeds. He got his Ph.D. in physics, launched Dolby Laboratories, and changed sound forever. If you're my age or older, you may remember how music sounded back in the pre-Dolby days, especially guitardriven rock and roll. Back then, total harmonic distortion (THD) ratings were a big consideration when buying a stereo. There was so much hiss that I hated to turn up the volume too loud, which made it tough to enjoy the music. But then stereos started appearing with this magical button marked "Dolby," and that was the beginning of true high-fidelity, at least in my mind. I remember looking at my new Panasonic cassette/turntable stereo and thinking, "When would I ever not want to use the Dolby button? Why not just build Dolby into the system?" The first generation of Dolby wasn't perfect—it cut out some of the middle and treble frequencies. But it allowed us to turn the music up louder than we ever could before, and for that, we audiophiles owe Ray Dolby a great debt. Eiji Toyoda, the creator of the Toyota Way, passed away at 100. He joined his uncle's car company and pioneered the development of Lean manufacturing, kaizen, kanban, zero defects, and a host of other production concepts used by PCB assemblers today. Toyoda had an uncanny ability to spot inefficiencies in any type of operation, and he prodded his engineers to study W. Edwards Deming so they could learn to increase productivity and quality. He also pushed Toyota to start manufacturing cars overseas, and to enter the luxury car market. And Yvonne Brill, creator of a variety of innovations in rocket propulsion, died at 88. Possibly the only woman working as a rocket scientist in the 1940s, she holds a patent for her electrothermal hydrazine thruster (EHT), which to this day helps keep communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. When she was denied entry into an engineering program because of her gender, Brill earned a mathematics degree instead, graduating at the top of her class. Brill worked for Douglas Aircraft, RCA Astro Electronics, and NASA, and took home a slew of honors. President Obama presented her with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2011. Yes, the old guard—people who made huge, disruptive contributions to technology—are slowly moving on. But the innovation continues, and we're all a part of it, in one way or another. That's the great thing about the electronics industry. It's Show Time It's that time again. We'll be bringing you Real Time with… video coverage of the industry's hottest trade shows, starting with DesignCon, January 29-30, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The exhibition has been moved back one day, so the show runs Wednesday and Thursday instead of the usual Tuesday and Wednesday. Then we move on to the CPCA Show in Shanghai, March 18-20, followed almost immediately by IPC APEX EXPO March 25-27 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Who needs sleep? It's an exciting time, and we hope to see you on the road. Happy New Year! PCBDESIGN Andy Shaughnessy is managing editor of The PCB Design Magazine. He has been covering PCB design for 13 years. He can be reached by clicking here. January 2014 • The PCB Design Magazine 9