Patrick Mannion

Link This | Email This | Comments (28)

Ignore politics at your peril

When I recently heard banging on my front door, I came dashing up from my office, in no mood for a door-to-door pitch. Instead, what I got was a chance to put my time where my mouth is with regard to engineering and politics, and so far I’ve again failed to act-but at what price? As engineers, we eschew politics. We think that we are above all that. We think that we’re smarter,... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (8)

Before exceptionalism comes can-do-ism

Two questions came up at the recent DESIGN West conference in San Jose: How do we rebuild America, and why did I come here? The first question arose during a panel comprising UBM Electronics editorial directors, including myself, and moderated by Karen Field, our boss and UBM Electronics’ vice president of content. The point of the panel was to discuss and answer questions from... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (4)

It’s my turn to tell Apple what to do

Make me a pair of decent headphones. That’s it. Then take the remaining $87 billion left over after the stock buy-back and go figure out how to stop people who don’t know what they’re talking about from telling you what to do. It’s pretty amusing when you think about it. Apple is right now the most exciting and successful technology company in the world and yet... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (38)

Patents: Where's yours (and how do you get them)?

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, patents are a mark of accomplishment and every engineer would like one, or ten, under their belt. Where’s yours? Despite the recent moves to reform patent law in the face of an onslaught of patent troll activity (don’t hold your breath on rapid or useful change) just navigating the halls of patent filing successfully should... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (0)

DesignCon 2012 Panel: Test gurus share vision to accelerate your ‘time to answer’

The countdown begins: On Wednesday next at DesignCon 2012 I’ll be moderating a panel comprising four of the sharpest minds in the electronics industry as they explore the cutting edge of technology and what it means for you, the test engineer. It’s important to note at this point that this panel is a new addition to DesignCon, and its primary purpose is to be an interactive... More