EDN selects 1998 Design Ideas grand-prize winners

-- EDN, 6/10/1999

EDN is pleased to announce the grand-prize winners for Design Ideas published in 1998. Lukasz Sliwczynski and Marcin Lipinski of the Institute of Electronics at the University of Mining and Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland, specialize in fiber-optic transmission for nontelecommunications applications and other optoelectronic circuits. The pair takes the honors for "Circuit uses simple LED for near-IR light," EDN, Sept 1, 1998, pg 92. The choice was difficult given the high quality of 1998's Design Ideas. EDN chose the winning Design Idea for its simplicity, cleverness, and usefulness. The circuit eliminates the need to configure a bulky and expensive mechanical fixture to generate light with precisely controlled power levels. The honors took the pair by surprise.

"We never suspected that, among so many interesting ideas, ours might be prized as the best one," says Lipinski. He says that he and co-designer Sliwczynski thought of the idea after participating in a project involving some optical reflectometers requiring a precise and stable light source. "We have done lots of experiments with semiconductor lasers, but found that they are unsuitable for this purpose," says Lipinski. After these experiments, the pair decided to use the hybrid LED module that the winning Design Idea describes. The idea has already found use in a real-world application. A pro-ecological installation uses the reflectometer to measure the fumes from industrial chimneys. It has been in use for a long time and performs well, according to Lipinski. This Design Idea was one of six that Sliwczynski submitted and the only one Lipinski submitted last year.

In his spare time, the 30-year-old Sliwczynski, who is single, plays electric guitar and travels to historical sites. Lipinski, 52, is married with two children and likes classical music, skiing in the wintertime, and camping in the summertime. Each designer plans to use his half of the $1500 cash prize for the upcoming summer holidays.

1998 Issue Winners

Readers pick one Design Idea winner from each issue of EDN. Congratulations to all the winners, and keep the innovative ideas coming.

• Jan 1, 1998, "Fax saver cuts wear, tear, and power," Hugh Adams, Fort Walton Beach, FL.
• Jan 15, 1998, "LED flasher and triac pulser work off ac line," Dennis Eichenberg, Parma Heights, OH.
• Feb 2, 1998, "Vital-signs monitor consumes less than 50 ?A," Leonard Schupak, Discovision Associates, Irvine, CA.
• Feb 16, 1998, "Antenna extension provides open-door policy," Richard Panosh, Vista, Bolingbrook, IL.
• March 2, 1998, "Isolated driver forms solid-state circuit breaker," Bob Watson, Corley Manufacturing Co, Chattanooga, TN.
• March 13, 1998, "Inexpensive relays form digital potentiometer," Robert Perrin, Z-World, Davis, CA.
• March 26, 1998, "Alternating LED blinker uses four parts," Andy Meng, Cincinnati, OH.
• April 9, 1998, "10-kHz VFC uses charge-pump variation," Stephen Woodward, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
• April 23, 1998, "$5 junk-box circuit determines phase sequence," Hugh Adams,Fort Walton Beach, FL.
• May 7, 1998, "MCS-51 endows MicroLan-like protocol to UARTs," SK Shenoy, NPOL, Kochi, India.
• May 21, 1998, "High-frequency AGC has digital control," Ron Mancini, Harris Semiconductor, Melbourne, FL.
• June 4, 1998, "25-kV generator tests insulation," Lukasz Sliwczynski and Przemyslaw Krehlik, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland.
• June 18, 1998, "Use a printer port to record digital waveforms," Dean Shen, Dycam Inc, Chatsworth, CA.
• July 2, 1998, "Circuit protects against ac-line disturbances," Basilio Simoes, ISA, Coimbra, Portugal.
• July 16, 1998, "Step-up/step-down converter takes 2 to 16V inputs," Luciano Bordogna and Luca Vasalli, Maxim Integrated Products, Milan, Italy.
• Aug 3, 1998, "Circuit translates TTY current loop to RS-232C," Jerzy Chrzaszcz, Warsaw University, Poland.
• Aug 17, 1998, "Replace an external gate with a resistor," Stan D'Souza, Microchip Technology Inc, Chandler, AZ.
• Sept 1, 1998, "Circuit uses simple LED for near-IR light," Lukasz Sliwczynski, Marcin Lipinski, Institute of Electronics, Krakow, Poland.
• Sept 11, 1998, "Add-on modulator has high bandwidth,'' MJ Salvati, Flushing Communications, Flushing, NY.
• Sept 24, 1998, "Bipolars provide stable current source," Bill Morong, Morong's Harness, Dover-Foxcroft, ME.
• Oct 8, 1998, "Video equalizer sharpens VCR images," Wayne Sward, Consultant, Bountiful, UT.
• Oct 22, 1998, "Photo-flash charger minimizes parts count," Steven Chenetz, Micrel Semiconductor, San Jose, CA.
• Nov 5, 1998, "Short-circuit finder uses few parts," Boris Khaykin, Candid Logic Inc, Madison Heights, WI.
• Nov 19, 1998, "CMOS inverter VCO tunes octave to UHF," Shawn Stafford, AM Communications Inc, Quakertown, PA.
• Dec 3, 1998, "Eight-channel data-acquisition system features autocalibration," Mark Shill, Burr-Brown Corp, Tucson, AZ.
• Dec 17, 1998, "Circuit eases three-phase monitoring," Henno Normet, Tavares, FL.