Sixty years ago this month, the U.S. launched the Explorer 1 satellite on a Jupiter C rocket. It was the first satellite launched by the United States and successfully orbited Earth over 58,000 times before it re-entered the atmosphere a dozen years later. 1958 also brought the first successful demonstration of a working integrated circuit, leading to the invention of the microchip, by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductors. Another milestone that occurred, “under the radar” and with much less fanfare, was the debut of Microwave Journal in July of 1958. Since its inception, MWJ has covered the evolution of satellite technology, the semiconductor industry and all things wireless, while continuing to evolve itself, leveraging new technologies and platforms to accommodate your reading and learning preferences. This year, we celebrate the industry and our Diamond Anniversary with year-long features that you’ll find in the magazine and on our website, including our special focus on “diamond-based technologies” in the June issue.
This issue finds us looking ahead, with our cover story on “Antenna Technologies for the Future,” authored by our editor Pat Hindle. Technical features include a look at the “Progress and Challenges of Test Technologies for 5G” and the “Evaluation of 77 to 79 GHz Automotive Radar Radome Emblems”—subjects that were mere science fiction six decades ago. On our website, several companies share their predictions for 2018, along with our own Swami Hindle. Watch for this months’ edition of Frequency Matters, which will examine the outlook for this year.
As always, our team will be canvassing all of the industry’s events to report on the latest technical advances and new product launches. The events that we organize all find new homes this year. EDI CON China returns to Beijing on March 20-22 with an all-star list of keynote and guest speakers, along with an exhibition featuring leading Chinese and international companies. European Microwave Week will take place in Madrid, Spain for the first time ever during the week of September 23, coming off of record-setting attendance last year. EDI CON USA moves to Santa Clara, Calif. and will take place October 17-19.
I would like to thank all of those who joined us in Boston this past September for EDI CON USA. Our goal is to deliver unique content related to both high frequency and high speed design solutions, and the feedback we received suggests that we are meeting that goal. Thanks also to all of the companies that supported this new event, led by Host Sponsor Analog Devices.
We will continue to provide a variety of webcasts from industry experts throughout the year and our bi-weekly Frequency Matters video series. Also watch for a series of eBooks beginning this month, in which we aggregate content on specific subjects for more efficient learning.
On behalf of all of us at Microwave Journal, we wish you a happy, healthy and successful year.