DesignCon 2020’s ‘Engineer of the Year’ Talks Power Integrity, Picosatellites, and Simulation Tools

Judy Warner
|  Created: July 7, 2020  |  Updated: February 5, 2021
DesignCon 2020’s ‘Engineer of the Year’ Talks Power Integrity, Picosatellites, and Simulation Tools

Istvan Novak, Principal Signal and Power Integrity Engineer for Samtec Inc. and winner of the DesignCon 2020 Engineer of the Year Award joins the OnTrack podcast to talk about picosatellites, simulation tools, and the rising importance of power integrity.

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Show Highlights:

  • Introduction to Istvan Novak 
  • A brief look at Samtec Inc., the successful computer equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Indiana.
  • Istvan’s path to becoming a Power Integrity expert
  • CubeSats and the students who make them
  • The challenges of dimensionality: has power integrity become more important than signal integrity?
  • When Power Integrity is an afterthought
  • The value of expert disagreement
  • “Regardless of what we want to simulate, we can find good simulation tools to do it”: Good design and the challenges of modeling and simulation
  • Closing thoughts; the first working Picosatellite; and the first electrosmog map of the globe 

Links and Resources:

Istvan Novak on LinkedIn
Samtec: gEEk spEEk SI Webinars
Samtec Silicon-to-Silcon Solutions Website
The SI-List Archives
Istvan Novak: DesignCon 2020 Engineer of the Year Award
Budapest University of Technology and Economics Picosatellite
Istvan Novak's Electrical Integrity Website
Picotest Website
Signal Integrity Journal
Design 007 Magazine, see pg. 38: Do you Really Need that Ferrite Bead in the PDN?
First Electrosmog Map of the globe

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About Author

About Author

Judy Warner has held a unique variety of roles in the electronics industry for over 25 years. She has a background in PCB Manufacturing, RF and Microwave PCBs and Contract Manufacturing, focusing on Mil/Aero applications. 

She has also been a writer, blogger, and journalist for several industry publications such as Microwave Journal, PCB007 Magazine, PCB Design007, PCD&F, and IEEE Microwave Magazine, and an active board member for PCEA (Printed Circuit Engineering Association). In 2017, Warner joined Altium as the Director of Community Engagement. In addition to hosting the OnTrack Podcast and creating the OnTrack Newsletter, she launched Altium's annual user conference, AltiumLive. Warner's passion is to provide resources, support, and advocate for PCB Design Engineers worldwide.

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