Each week, the editor of Planet Analog finds technical items of interest and highlights them in this “Also of Interest” feature. In addition, we also provide an archive of recent weekly Planet Analog Newsletters, viewable as pdf files; see the list at the very bottom.

The “Also of Interest” listing is the embodiment of our belief that engineers are interested in exploring topics which are not directly related to their jobs, but which will broaden their knowledge and sometimes spur further innovative and creative approaches.

Among the publications we check are IEEE Spectrum , Machine Design , Design News , Laser Focus World , Photonics Spectra , NASA Tech Briefs (in its various manifestations), Microwave Journal , RF & Microwaves , and Physics Today —and there are others, as well.

Consider these items as online “extras”, and worth a look and a few minutes of your time. (Please note: there are also links to the past weeks' editions of this feature, in the “Navigate” box to the right.)

Also of Interest:

• An effective drug delivery system for the back of the eye would help manage these vison-threatening diseases:
  “Microneedle Injection: Drug Delivery Targeted to the Back of the Eye,”
  Medical Design Briefs , March 2012
• To manage mechatronic challenges, product designs must seamlessly integrate embedded and application software, analog and digital hardware, and mechanical components:
  “Managing Mechatronic Challenges in Medical Electronic Product Development,”
  Medical Design Briefs , April 2012
• A data management system with a sense of history leads to traceability at NAVAIR:
  “Do You Know Where Your Engineering Numbers Have Been?,”
  Desktop Engineering , April 2012
• Undersea Observatory Survives Setback:
  “Neptune Canada recovers from an outage and its U.S. counterpart finally gets started,”
  IEEE Spectrum , February 2012
• A modern twist on a trusted old technology—the electromechanical relay—could lead to ultralow-power chips:
  “MEMS Switches for Low-Power Logic,”
  IEEE Spectrum , April 2012
• Real-time monitored thermal-cycling techniques can improve reliability prediction for packaged modules:
  “Rule out thermal issues during development,”
  Test & Measurement World , April 2012
• Embedded systems designers can protect sensitive data that's on a device's hard drive (data-at-rest) by using encryption techniques:
  “Enhance system security with better data-at-rest encryption,”
  Embedded Systems Design , April 2012
• C- and L-band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, hybrid Raman/EDFA systems, new gain-medium materials, and semiconductor optical amplifiers continue to extend the reach of wavelength-division multiplexing architectures:
  “Optical amplifiers increase communications network reach,”
  Laser Focus World , December 2011
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has emerged as a valuable noninvasive imaging technology for medical applications without the hazards of radiation.:
  “Complementary techniques enhance the power of OCT,”
  Laser Focus World , December 2011

Recent Planet Analog Newsletters (click to see as a pdf):

• May 9, 2012
• May 2, 2012
• April 25, 2012
• April 18, 2012