Its 2010 And The New Electronics Technology Paradigm Is Emerging

Many faculty members at the two-year college level have struggled with outdated electronics technology curriculums over the past decade or more. Long gone are the days of repairing electronics systems to the parts level and the effectiveness of teaching the technology in a component centric manner. Moore’s Law has accurately predicted the number of transistors on a chip for more than four decades now and gigascale integrated circuits that allow systems-on-achip technology are no longer a prophecy of the future. With the convergence of several electronics based enabling technologies there is starting to be an obvious shift in the electronics technology paradigm. That shift is towards what has been classified in varying disciplines as: intelligent infrastructure, enhanced systems, ambient intelligence, and the Internet of Things. The most important technologies in this convergence are sophisticated embedded microcontrollers, networking technologies (i.e. wireless), intelligent sensors and actuators, and reconfigurable hardware. The new electronics technology paradigm is one of complex networked systems that are a combination of hardware, software, and communications. Recently, through a growing concern about energy usage and the possible effects of climate change the United States government has, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, put together an initiative to modernize the country’s electrical grid. To, in effect, create a “smart grid.” This extremely ambitious initiative is a coalescing point for the converging technologies cited previously but one would be hard pressed to find any two-year electronics technology programs that teach these technologies from a systems level perspective and that are ready to train the workforce that will be needed for this particular initiative or for others like it as we implement evermore enhanced networked systems in our buildings, vehicles, along our highways, and anywhere that they can improve efficiency, safety, and security.