New-Tech Europe | March 2016 | Digital edition

Latest News Sensirion and Digi-Key Electronics announce worldwide distribution agreement

Sensirion and Digi-Key are pleased to announce a worldwide distribution agreement. Digi-Key is now franchised to sell the wide range of sensors developed with Sensirion’s patented CMOSens ® Technology, which enables the sensor component to be combined with the signal processing circuitry on a tiny CMOS silicon chip. The resulting sensor chips enable precise and reliable sensing of relative humidity, temperature, or mass flow, attaining the highest performance combined with cost effectiveness. Sensirion’s many years of experience, hard- won expertise and strong innovative drive have made it the pioneer in sensors. Sensirion products available from Digi-Key Electronics include Sensrion’s SHTxx and STSxx digital relative humidity and temperature sensors, LG01 flow switch and bubble detectors for liquids, SDPx series of high-performance differential pressure sensors and SFMx series of gas flow meters. All Sensirion product families have a variety of plug-and-play evaluation kits that support data logging capabilities.

„We are very excited to partner globally with Digi-Key to leverage their exceptional reputation with the engineering community and strong marketing presence. Digi-Key will provide Sensirion customers more options for service and support from design, to prototype and into production. Digi-Key is an integral part of Sensirion growth strategy and we look forward to strengthening the partnership and growing our mutual sales.” says David Kenneth, General Manager, North America, Sensirion. “We are grateful for the opportunity to distribute Sensirion’s innovative and comprehensive sensor solutions to design engineers worldwide. Our customers will benefit from the experience and knowledge that Sensirion offers in many different application markets including IoT, automotive, industrial, medical, and more. Our partnership will allow engineers to get their designs and products to market faster.” says Tom Busher, Vice President, Global I P & E, Digi-Key. were limited to 50-100 microns. The Optomec machine can print at 10 microns and also is not limited to copper or metallic inks. It’s capable of utilizing a number of conductive and nonmetallic materials, even proteins, and printing on surfaces such as glass, plastic or kapton, a thin heat-resistant polymer. It also can print at any angle in three dimensions, meaning engineers can experiment with 3D-printed antennas, flexible circuits, components for robots and pressure and medical sensors. “When we use it, we can print at different angles and conform it the way we want,” said Dale Kurita, a senior electronics technologist. “There’s just unlimited capabilities in the future. This opens up a whole new door for people to look at electronics differently.” Electronics technologist Julian Larregui, who is figuring out how to use the software, said he was amazed by the printer’s potential.

New 3D printer unlocks ‘mind-blowing’ possibilities with electronics manufacturing

Installation of a highly advanced 3D printer for electronics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has opened the door for creating miniature circuits on surfaces and substances that could never be used before. The Optomec Aerosol Jet 500 system, which became operational in January, is capable of printing circuits with a broad range of nanomaterials, allowing engineers to manufacture conductors, semiconductors and microcircuits with an intricacy and flexibility not possible with the Lab’s previous technology.

Gabriele Manganaro, an Analog Devices, Inc. engineering director

Perhaps equally important, the 260 square-foot Optomec system can potentially replace an entire 2,700 square- foot electronics prototyping facility, which required a high volume of hazardous chemicals to operate. Previously, the smallest components created in the facility

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