Month: September 2023

Scaling e-mobility technologies more efficiently is critical to accelerating widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and reducing carbon emissions worldwide. Fortunately, because of hardware and software innovations, the future of EVs and securing a healthier planet is closer than ever.

Keysight recently sponsored an executive briefing paper by MIT Technology Review Insights about how innovation will fuel e-mobility adoption.

Here are three solutions to some of today’s most complex electric vehicle (EV) adoption challenges.

1. Partnerships form to solve EV electrical grid power and charging station challenges

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts a worldwide increase of nearly 50% in electricity consumption by 2050, primarily due to the rising adoption of electric vehicles.

Crucial to EV adoption success is advancing technology and standards to handle the expected high demand for electrical-grid power and charging stations. As electric vehicle adoptions accelerate, organizations are forming mutually beneficial partnerships and co-innovating to meet evolving technology and standards to better ensure a robust, connected EV infrastructure and sustainable e-mobility ecosystem.

Two other significant hurdles to EV adoption include expanding a vehicle’s driving range and battery capacity. A vehicle’s range depends on the size of its battery and how efficiently the car uses that energy.

Solving these EV challenges often starts with test and measurement hardware and software innovations.

2. Use an EV emulator to verify and ensure charging interoperability

Among the most significant EV charging problems is poor interoperability. The failure of an electric vehicle to properly communicate with a particular charging station can adversely impact a driver’s experience, especially when compared to how easily motorists can access traditional gas stations.

For years, evaluating interoperability required connecting a physical vehicle with a physical charging stationThis approach was time-consuming and made it difficult for engineers to troubleshoot the causes of errors

One of today’s solutions to interoperability challenges uses a sophisticated EV testing system to emulate an electric vehicle or a charging station or as a “person-in-the-middle” tester to verify communications between an EV and an EVSE.

A charging discovery system monitors the communication and power flow in a virtual or lab test environment. The ability to check the status of a charging station in real-time allows engineers to assess charging quality, identify potential areas for errors, and analyze root causes.

3. Accurately measure EV battery cell self-discharge in minutes with a self-discharge analyzer

Engineers who design battery-powered devices must know the probable self-discharge rate of the cells they use. Self-discharge is the rate at which a lithium-ion cell’s open-circuit voltage decreases over time when not connected. This information enables engineers to calculate the maximum range of an EV.

In the past, measuring a cell’s self-discharge involved placing a battery on a shelf and waiting for it to discharge completely.

Lithium cells take a long time to discharge on their own. As a result, finding a defective cell by looking at how much it discharges can take days or weeks.

To solve battery cell discharge problems, today’s engineers increasingly rely on direct self-discharge measurements using a self-discharge analyzer. These devices can accurately measure the self-discharge current of lithium-ion cells in minutes or hours instead of taking weeks or months.

Policy changes and consumer demand continue to accelerate the EV future

Governments worldwide are implementing policies that support the development and adoption of EVs. For example, California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation requires manufacturers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks.

Evolving consumer demand is also helping make e-mobility the norm. According to the consulting firm AutoPacific, consumer demand in the U.S. increased to 5.6% of total light vehicle sales in 2022 compared to 3.3% in 2021. One reason for this boost is that consumers seek eco-friendly alternatives to traditional vehicles, which contribute approximately one-quarter of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.

With the right scalable software platform, engineers and business leaders can harness the benefits of enhanced operational efficiency to tackle the growing electric vehicle design, test, and measurement complexities.

View the complete MIT report

Scaling e-mobility technologies more efficiently is critical to accelerating widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and reducing carbon emissions worldwide. Fortunately, because of hardware and software innovations, the future of EVs and securing a healthier planet is closer than ever.

Keysight recently sponsored an executive briefing paper by MIT Technology Review Insights about how innovation will fuel e-mobility adoption.

Here are three solutions to some of today’s most complex electric vehicle (EV) adoption challenges.

1. Partnerships form to solve EV electrical grid power and charging station challenges

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts a worldwide increase of nearly 50% in electricity consumption by 2050, primarily due to the rising adoption of electric vehicles.

Crucial to EV adoption success is advancing technology and standards to handle the expected high demand for electrical-grid power and charging stations. As electric vehicle adoptions accelerate, organizations are forming mutually beneficial partnerships and co-innovating to meet evolving technology and standards to better ensure a robust, connected EV infrastructure and sustainable e-mobility ecosystem.

Two other significant hurdles to EV adoption include expanding a vehicle’s driving range and battery capacity. A vehicle’s range depends on the size of its battery and how efficiently the car uses that energy.

Solving these EV challenges often starts with test and measurement hardware and software innovations.

2. Use an EV emulator to verify and ensure charging interoperability

Among the most significant EV charging problems is poor interoperability. The failure of an electric vehicle to properly communicate with a particular charging station can adversely impact a driver’s experience, especially when compared to how easily motorists can access traditional gas stations.

For years, evaluating interoperability required connecting a physical vehicle with a physical charging stationThis approach was time-consuming and made it difficult for engineers to troubleshoot the causes of errors

One of today’s solutions to interoperability challenges uses a sophisticated EV testing system to emulate an electric vehicle or a charging station or as a “person-in-the-middle” tester to verify communications between an EV and an EVSE.

A charging discovery system monitors the communication and power flow in a virtual or lab test environment. The ability to check the status of a charging station in real-time allows engineers to assess charging quality, identify potential areas for errors, and analyze root causes.

3. Accurately measure EV battery cell self-discharge in minutes with a self-discharge analyzer

Engineers who design battery-powered devices must know the probable self-discharge rate of the cells they use. Self-discharge is the rate at which a lithium-ion cell’s open-circuit voltage decreases over time when not connected. This information enables engineers to calculate the maximum range of an EV.

In the past, measuring a cell’s self-discharge involved placing a battery on a shelf and waiting for it to discharge completely.

Lithium cells take a long time to discharge on their own. As a result, finding a defective cell by looking at how much it discharges can take days or weeks.

To solve battery cell discharge problems, today’s engineers increasingly rely on direct self-discharge measurements using a self-discharge analyzer. These devices can accurately measure the self-discharge current of lithium-ion cells in minutes or hours instead of taking weeks or months.

Policy changes and consumer demand continue to accelerate the EV future

Governments worldwide are implementing policies that support the development and adoption of EVs. For example, California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation requires manufacturers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks.

Evolving consumer demand is also helping make e-mobility the norm. According to the consulting firm AutoPacific, consumer demand in the U.S. increased to 5.6% of total light vehicle sales in 2022 compared to 3.3% in 2021. One reason for this boost is that consumers seek eco-friendly alternatives to traditional vehicles, which contribute approximately one-quarter of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.

With the right scalable software platform, engineers and business leaders can harness the benefits of enhanced operational efficiency to tackle the growing electric vehicle design, test, and measurement complexities.

View the complete MIT report

Logitech Blog

Adora Nwodo is the definition of versatility. She’s a software engineer at Microsoft, founder of the nonprofit NexaScale, an author, a content creator, and a DJ. Adora grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. When she was six years old, her family got a computer and she found her calling. Today she is using her skills, experience, and interest in technology to help build the metaverse. As this month’s Logitech MX #WomenWhoMaster feature, Adora shares how staying true to herself led to turning her lifelong passion into a career in coding.

Q: When did you first become passionate about technology?

When I was six years old my dad brought a computer to the house. We all used it. That’s when I started doing things on the computer. I used CorelDRAW to create cards — very ugly ones — but still, I was creating something. I used PowerPoint to create movie screenplays and PageMaker to create posters and graphics. I was able to learn and have fun. Then we got internet access and I found Phoebe.net. That’s how I got interested in programming. I thought it was cool to build things. The first thing I built was a simple calculator that could add, subtract, divide, and multiply. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a programmer.

Q: Was your family supportive of your interests?

My older brothers and mom supported me, but my dad wasn’t having it. He wanted me to study law. But when I was 12, I chose to major in STEM. I just really wanted to do something I liked.

“I’ve always thought that if you’re able to combine talent with a genuine love for something, success will follow.”

Eventually, my dad accepted that I had chosen STEM. But he wanted me to be a computer engineer. I said, “No, I’ve done my research. Computer engineering is going to push me to hardware. I don’t want to do hardware, I want to write code, I want to do computer science.” I had to convince the man that this is what I want to do and why.

Q: What is your job and how did you get there?

My first job was a software development internship at an advertising agency during university. After my internship, I stayed on and worked until I graduated and one year post-graduation. Then in 2019, I was hired by Microsoft.

At my job now, I build mixed reality on the cloud. Essentially, I’m one of the people building the metaverse. That involves software development and cloud engineering. Security is important as well so sometimes I have to do some security compliance work.

Q: How do you bring your whole self to work?

For me, bringing my whole self to work means bringing everything to give my best at my job, advocating for myself, and making sure that I am doing my best to help others. It’s important to me to not just help others acquire technical skills but also be a mentor and advocate for them.

Q: What are the top STEM skills the next generation should learn?

Pay attention to emerging technologies. One of the most important skills is cybersecurity. A lot of businesses are on the internet and there are a lot of threats to them. So it makes a lot of sense for businesses to invest in cybersecurity and investing in cybersecurity requires more talent. AI skills are also important because so much of the world is moving towards AI and machine learning. They should also learn cloud engineering skills and blockchain skills.

“Digital skills aren’t just for traditional tech roles. The next generation can go beyond the technical skills in tech and be social media managers, SEO experts, product designers, product managers, growth managers, or marketers.”

Engineers are building all these really amazing things and we need people to sell them. Getting all those roles requires some digital skills.

Q: What inspired you to start the nonprofit NexaScale?

There’s a very common problem I’ve noticed with entry level techies. Many of them have acquired a lot of training from different organizations and they have certifications to prove it, but not all of them are able to get jobs after. I’ve met people that have up to four certifications in one field, but had to get a job doing something else because that’s where they saw opportunity and they needed the money. The main goal in NexaScale is to create programs that help people start and scale their STEM careers. We have partners for internship and job placement programs, open-source contributions, and hackathons. I wanted to create something that would allow people to build projects, so that they could have rich portfolios that can increase their employability.

Q: What makes NexaScale different from other tech programs?

We aren’t teaching people tech skills, many people do that already. Some of our members pursue internships and other entry level opportunities through our programs. We also offer courses to help those who want to grow in their careers. We are trying to help them contribute to the digital technology space with the skills they’ve already acquired and we are constantly seeking partnerships to help us do this for everyone.

“I am a woman in STEM and it is my dream that other women build STEM careers too.”

Another arm of NexaScale involves going to different high schools and talking to the young girls there about STEM careers. With the consent of their parents and the school board, we are also creating STEM mentorship programs for these girls so that they have the support they need to start their own careers when they get older.

Q: Imagine that your great-granddaughter chose the same career as you. She’s graduating college in the year 2100. What do you want her future to look like?

Whatever the technology landscape is, I hope she is building it and excels in whatever technology field that she finds herself in. I want her to be a leader in her space, possibly involved in communities as well, and giving back and paying it forward because that’s something that I did and I’m doing.

Connect with Adora on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Learn more about her work on her website or buy her books Cloud Engineering for Beginners and Beginning Azure DevOps.

Women Who Master puts a spotlight on women who have made outstanding contributions to STEM fields. The goal of the series is to celebrate those contributions, inspire future leaders, and help close the gender gap in technology.

Logitech Blog

Adora Nwodo is the definition of versatility. She’s a software engineer at Microsoft, founder of the nonprofit NexaScale, an author, a content creator, and a DJ. Adora grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. When she was six years old, her family got a computer and she found her calling. Today she is using her skills, experience, and interest in technology to help build the metaverse. As this month’s Logitech MX #WomenWhoMaster feature, Adora shares how staying true to herself led to turning her lifelong passion into a career in coding.

Q: When did you first become passionate about technology?

When I was six years old my dad brought a computer to the house. We all used it. That’s when I started doing things on the computer. I used CorelDRAW to create cards — very ugly ones — but still, I was creating something. I used PowerPoint to create movie screenplays and PageMaker to create posters and graphics. I was able to learn and have fun. Then we got internet access and I found Phoebe.net. That’s how I got interested in programming. I thought it was cool to build things. The first thing I built was a simple calculator that could add, subtract, divide, and multiply. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a programmer.

Q: Was your family supportive of your interests?

My older brothers and mom supported me, but my dad wasn’t having it. He wanted me to study law. But when I was 12, I chose to major in STEM. I just really wanted to do something I liked.

“I’ve always thought that if you’re able to combine talent with a genuine love for something, success will follow.”

Eventually, my dad accepted that I had chosen STEM. But he wanted me to be a computer engineer. I said, “No, I’ve done my research. Computer engineering is going to push me to hardware. I don’t want to do hardware, I want to write code, I want to do computer science.” I had to convince the man that this is what I want to do and why.

Q: What is your job and how did you get there?

My first job was a software development internship at an advertising agency during university. After my internship, I stayed on and worked until I graduated and one year post-graduation. Then in 2019, I was hired by Microsoft.

At my job now, I build mixed reality on the cloud. Essentially, I’m one of the people building the metaverse. That involves software development and cloud engineering. Security is important as well so sometimes I have to do some security compliance work.

Q: How do you bring your whole self to work?

For me, bringing my whole self to work means bringing everything to give my best at my job, advocating for myself, and making sure that I am doing my best to help others. It’s important to me to not just help others acquire technical skills but also be a mentor and advocate for them.

Q: What are the top STEM skills the next generation should learn?

Pay attention to emerging technologies. One of the most important skills is cybersecurity. A lot of businesses are on the internet and there are a lot of threats to them. So it makes a lot of sense for businesses to invest in cybersecurity and investing in cybersecurity requires more talent. AI skills are also important because so much of the world is moving towards AI and machine learning. They should also learn cloud engineering skills and blockchain skills.

“Digital skills aren’t just for traditional tech roles. The next generation can go beyond the technical skills in tech and be social media managers, SEO experts, product designers, product managers, growth managers, or marketers.”

Engineers are building all these really amazing things and we need people to sell them. Getting all those roles requires some digital skills.

Q: What inspired you to start the nonprofit NexaScale?

There’s a very common problem I’ve noticed with entry level techies. Many of them have acquired a lot of training from different organizations and they have certifications to prove it, but not all of them are able to get jobs after. I’ve met people that have up to four certifications in one field, but had to get a job doing something else because that’s where they saw opportunity and they needed the money. The main goal in NexaScale is to create programs that help people start and scale their STEM careers. We have partners for internship and job placement programs, open-source contributions, and hackathons. I wanted to create something that would allow people to build projects, so that they could have rich portfolios that can increase their employability.

Q: What makes NexaScale different from other tech programs?

We aren’t teaching people tech skills, many people do that already. Some of our members pursue internships and other entry level opportunities through our programs. We also offer courses to help those who want to grow in their careers. We are trying to help them contribute to the digital technology space with the skills they’ve already acquired and we are constantly seeking partnerships to help us do this for everyone.

“I am a woman in STEM and it is my dream that other women build STEM careers too.”

Another arm of NexaScale involves going to different high schools and talking to the young girls there about STEM careers. With the consent of their parents and the school board, we are also creating STEM mentorship programs for these girls so that they have the support they need to start their own careers when they get older.

Q: Imagine that your great-granddaughter chose the same career as you. She’s graduating college in the year 2100. What do you want her future to look like?

Whatever the technology landscape is, I hope she is building it and excels in whatever technology field that she finds herself in. I want her to be a leader in her space, possibly involved in communities as well, and giving back and paying it forward because that’s something that I did and I’m doing.

Connect with Adora on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Learn more about her work on her website or buy her books Cloud Engineering for Beginners and Beginning Azure DevOps.

Women Who Master puts a spotlight on women who have made outstanding contributions to STEM fields. The goal of the series is to celebrate those contributions, inspire future leaders, and help close the gender gap in technology.