Getting Technetical

There has been advancement in the use of clean energy sources. There are variations in these renewable sources on a daily and seasonal basis. Therefore, there is a need for energy conservation when wind or sun is not adequate. Hydrogen has been identified as a potential green energy source.

On this special episode of Getting Technetical powered by Technetics, host Tyler Kern chats with Dr. William Mustain, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina, to help shed more light on developments in green hydrogen research. The two discuss:

• The various applications of hydrogen, including fuel cells and fuel infrastructure
• How industry-university partnerships help advance research
• How advancements in electrolysis research help uncover faster and more cost-effective methods of producing green hydrogen

“The most rewarding aspect of the journey is watching things designed in the laboratory become incorporated into solving real-life problems,” said Dr. Mustain.

Dr. William Mustain is a Professor and researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina. He is the Chair of the Electrochemical Society Energy Technology Division and earned his PhD from Illinois Institute of Technology.

It’s true that there’s a small number of women in the semiconductor industry, but one woman has pledged to work towards changing this fact. Host Tyler Kern chatted with Jodi Shelton, the CEO of the Dallas-based, Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), on an episode of “Getting Technetical.“ The two got down to the nitty-gritty of the semiconductor industry, and Shelton’s plans for changing the future landscape of the field.

Shelton co-founded GSA close to three decades ago, and her company’s mission has heavily focused on bringing together the best and brightest in the industry. But the lack of women has shed light on an area that desperately needs improvement. As one of the few women faces in the semiconductor field, Shelton discussed a new program that GSA launched called the Women’s Leadership Initiative, which is aimed at attracting more women to the industry while empowering them to take on leadership roles are primary goals of the initiative.

She talked about her own experience in the field and why this initiative is of particular significance to her. “This industry is very male-dominated and there were many times – 90 percent of the time – that I was the only woman in the room. So, working on this Women’s Leadership Initiative has certainly been one of the most rewarding things that I've done in my career,” said Shelton.

Currently, Shelton said that women make up approximately 10 percent of the semiconductor industry. This gender disparity speaks to the need to promote career opportunities within this sector to young women. Shelton noted that she believes women are either being ignored, or not enough is being done to recruit them. The goal now is to seek out women pursuing STEM degrees at colleges around the country, and just by Shelton’s own presence, be an example that women can indeed have a career in this field.

She highlighted increased revenue, company growth in the midst of shortages, and how even with supply chain concerns, the semiconductor industry continues to grow and it's an opportune time to find success in it.

“There really has never been a better time to be in the semiconductor industry,” said Shelton. She added that “growth is robust and sustainable, and the pace of innovation is accelerating rapidly.”

Aviation contributes 2% of all CO2 emissions, which is something the industry wants to change. Jason Riggs, director of strategy at Technetics, spoke with Tyler Kern about some of the aviation industry’s plans to reach zero emissions by 2050 through sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), hydrogen, and pure battery-electric aircraft.

Hydrogen as a fuel source gets talked about a lot; however, until recently, it has been mostly all talk. “There are a couple of different ways you can use hydrogen to power an aircraft,” Riggs said. “One would be to burn hydrogen in the turbo engine. The second way would be to use hydrogen in a fuel cell. The fuel cell creates electricity, and the electricity then powers electric motors. And lastly, hydrogen can also be used to manufacture sustainable aviation fuels.” This all sounds great, but what’s the hang-up?

“The challenge is when you start adding in weight of the storage tanks, and all the weight required to hold that hydrogen, that energy density drops by roughly a third to two-thirds,” Riggs said. “It’s not a perfect solution even though hydrogen in and of itself has a higher energy density than some of these competing technologies.” The technology exists to make hydrogen-fueled aircrafts a reality, but its drawbacks prevent it from being a scalable solution at present. Overall, however, it’s one that holds promise for the future.

Getting to zero emissions is more than just the emissions coming out of the jet; the production of green fuels counts too, and the industry is looking at ways to balance out both ends. Producing hydrogen fuels today is more expensive than producing traditional kerosene jet fuels. Bringing costs down will be another factor in moving the industry forward in its path toward green, and government incentives could help move the needle. However, without such intervention, green-fuel initiatives may not stand a fighting chance.

Technology advances continue to snowball, it doesn’t appear progress will slow anytime soon. Angus McFadden, Semiconductor Technology Manager at Technetics, joined Host Tyler Kern explain how semiconductor manufacturing is evolving. McFadden heads discovery for emerging and new technologies at Technetics, working with other companies under a semiconductor initiative.

McFadden has seen shrinking line width and wafer stacking in semiconductor nodes. Technetics is working on three nanometer widths with some customers, but eventually they will reach a physical limit around two nanometers. Packaging, where wafers are stacked to improve unit area functionality, is another way shrinking is occurring.

With these advances, the gaming industry is placing more emphasis on semiconductor importance with more use of AR and VR. “That demands a lot of computing power, a lot of bandwidth, a lot of memory,” stated McFadden. Because cell phones are the portal to world, these customers are also demanding improved semiconductor manufacturing. People want to see high resolution screens and refresh rates with a longer battery life, which is another reason for smaller semiconductors.

The size reduction means materials and contamination sensitivity are changing, which ties into cleaning. Smaller particles at the atomic level are now considered contaminants, and manufacturing companies are now turning to service from larger companies that specialize in cleaning. “A lot of people use us, and they feel comfortable with that because were insular from the rest of the world and they don’t do it in house anymore on a large scale because they just can’t afford it, it doesn’t make sense, and getting the talent is difficult,” McFadden explained.

McFadden believes the market will remain strong for the foreseeable future and grow for the next seven to ten years. For more updates on the semiconductor industry, subscribe or visit technetics.com.

The pandemic may have halted many industries from growing, but that is not the case for the commercial space market. Jason Riggs, Director of Strategy at Technetics, discussed the market’s future for 2022 with Host Tyler Kern.

Recently, propulsion and launch vehicles have made an entrance into the market, and private funding and public funding are both fueling investments. 3D printing and design stability have helped create cost efficiency and standard designs, which are essential for ensuring continuity of supply.

There is also need for nations to lift national security payloads like communication satellites as the hunger for data and connectivity become more important. Large constellations will fuel connectivity by providing internet to the 50% of the world that lacks connection. The cost and size of communication satellites has been drastically reduced, allowing more to be in orbit.

Companies such as AST space mobile, Astranis, Amazon project Kuiper and SpaceX are taking part in the rush to launch more satellites. “That space launch service market is expected to grow at around a 13 to 14% CAGR, putting the market size at over 26 billion by the year 2027,” said Riggs.

In terms of future innovations, aviation fuels, hybrid electric aircraft, hydrogen aircraft, sustainable supersonic aircraft and all-electric aircraft makers are on the rise. The industry is starting to see use of hypersonic missiles that travel at five times the speed of sound and deliver conventional and nuclear payloads anywhere in the world in minutes. Riggs explained the role of Technetics: “Our goal is really to develop and acquire technologies that will allow us to help drive these markets forward, not just chase them.”

For more information on this topic, subscribe to the podcast on Apple iTunes or Spotify and visit the Technetics website.

Because of the pandemic, the commercial aero market was profoundly impacted by the sudden disruptions in travel. Jason Riggs, Director of Strategy at Technetics Group, discussed this phenomenon and how the market has rebounded with Host Tyler Kern.

Globally, air traffic is down by 30% from pre-pandemic levels, and airframers are making calls to increase production rates to 75 per month, which is double what it is today. What does this mean for the supply base? This will create more strain, especially in the skilled labor workforce.

Skilled laborers faced layoffs in 2020, and now the workforce is 10-20% smaller than it should be. Like many other industries, businesses are having difficulty recruiting employees back, and Riggs said a hypothesis for the cause is that the younger generation is switching industries. An additional source of pressure in the industry is the semiconductor and chip shortages. The shortages have caused more customer interest in dual sourcing to mitigate supply concerns and drive down costs.

Because of stressors like these, 2021 has seen a lot of defense-related merger and acquisition transactions. “Defense-related content typically stays strong during downturns, and that certainly was the case during the pandemic,” Riggs explained.

Businesses are trading multiples significantly higher than a few years ago, and commercial deal flows are predicted to continue increasing next year as businesses improve.

Despite these challenges in 2021, the fundamentals for aerospace and defense remain strong. Riggs knows the market will make a full recovery, hopefully by 2023 or 2024. “It’s just a question of how and when, but we feel really good about the market; we are excited about where things are going,” he stated.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple iTunes or Spotify and visit the Technetics website for more information on this topic.