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Smart Grid, Smart Lives

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on April 23rd, 2013

*This show was recorded in December, 2012.

Guest: Chris King, Chair, Smart Energy Demand Coalition

Host: Karen Bartleson, Senior Directory, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

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Chris King, Chair of the Smart Energy Demand Coalition, is a luminary on Smart Grid. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition, the Association for Demand Response and Smart Grid, the U.S. Demand Response National Action Plan Coalition, and Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative.

What is Smart Grid?

Chris says, “The Smart Grid is really what the Smart Grid does not was the Smart Grid is. [It’s about] what benefits it brings. It brings energy savings, peak demand reduction, more renewable energy, cleaner energy, [and] more convenience to consumers. The technical definition is ‘adding sensors, controllers and meters.’”

In short, what the Smart Grid is varies from consumer to consumer, because it boils down to how people individually utilize the technology.

During the show, Chris talks about

  • What Smart Grid is.
  • The SmartMeter and Smart Grid technology as a whole.
  • Where Smart Grid technology exists today.
  • Whether or not Smart Grid technology invades personal privacy and causes heath issues.
  • The possibility of a global Smart Grid and whether or not challenges exist for emerging countries.

*This show was recorded in December, 2012.

Links of Interest:

Smart Energy Demand Coalition

Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition

Association for Demand Response and Smart Grid

U.S. Demand Response National Action Plan Coalition

Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

SmartMeter

Green Button

Blue Button

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Posted in Luminaries, Technology | No Comments »

Making the Internet Work

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on March 15th, 2013

Guest: Russ Housley, Former* Chair, Internet Engineering Task Force

Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

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Have you ever wondered how the Internet works?

It is organizations like the Internet Engineering Task Force that make the Internet function as such an interconnected part of our everyday lives. Russ Housley, Former* Chair of the Internet Engineering Task Force, joined us on Conversation Central to give us a look at the work behind the Internet.

Russ Housley: “The Internet is both a technological thing and a sociological thing.”

During the show, Russ talks about

  • What the Internet is and how it works
  • The voluntary standards produced by the IETF
  • A couple of the widely deployed and widely successful Internet standards
  • The secret to making the IETF work when there is no voting within the organization
  • Rough consensus and running code
  • His proudest moments so far with the IETF
  • What he sees for the future of the Internet

*Update (3/21/13): Russ Housley is now the Chair of the Internet Architecture Board

Links of interest:

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Internet Society (ISOC)

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

Five Principles of OpenStand

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Posted in Standards, Technology | No Comments »

DVCon! 10 years? 25 years? What’s exciting about the 2013 conference

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on February 15th, 2013

Guests: Stan Krolikoski, General Chair, DVCon; Distinguished Engineer, Cadence Design Systems, and Dr. Ambar Sarkar, Technical Program Chair, DVCon; Chief Verification Technologist, Paradigm Works

Host: Yvette Huygen, Director, Worldwide Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Synopsys Inc.

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If you will be in the San Francisco Bay Area from February 15th – February 25th, join other design and verification experts at the 2013 Design and Verification Conference (DVCon).

We paid an early visit to the Double Tree hotel in San Jose CA, the home of DVCon 2013, to talk to two of its key organizers, Stan Krolikoski and Ambar Sarkar, about DVCon’s rich history and future. Stan is the General Chair and Ambar is the Technical Program Chair of this year’s DVCon, which is sponsored by Accellera. They are energized about what you can expect and look forward to at the conference.

Stan: “They key [of DVCon] is imparting knowledge. I want the newbie who comes, who is just starting out in design and verification, to learn a lot.  I want someone like Ambar to come around and get just one nugget out of the conference that makes him say, ‘I could use that I work.’”

Ambar: “In my profession, I’m a consultant, and I work with the whole spectrum of people who are at different levels of maturity. I can honestly say (and this is what excites me) to each and every one on of my customers: You can go to DVCon and learn something from the conference . . . ”
During the show, Ambar and Stan talk about:
• What led DVCon to its 25th year
• A surprise ending to a near-disaster: a no-show speaker
• The culture of DVCon
• What is exciting about the upcoming conference

Links of interest:
DVCon
Accellera

Ambar Sarkar, Yvette Huygen and Stan Krolikoski

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Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Are We Alone in the Universe?—Searching for life beyond our planet

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on December 12th, 2012

Guest: Sheldon Reynolds, Former Lead Guitarist of Earth, Wind & Fire
Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

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We packed our bags and headed down to Los Angeles, California where Sheldon Reynolds welcomed us into his recording studio. Sheldon is best known as the Former Lead Guitarist of Earth, Wind & Fire.

Have you ever wondered if we are alone in this universe? With influences like Star Trek, Star Wars, and modern Sci-Fi shows, the human race has taken quite an interest in the possibility. Recently, Sheldon has started a project called The Search for Life. His interest in the possibility of life outside of our planet spurred a desire in him to support organizations and companies that have a hand is searching for extraterrestrials. Organizations like SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)  and companies like Synopsys are just two examples.

Sheldon Reynolds: “Hearing a signal from somewhere else would at least bring a certain amount of curiosity. It answers a lot of questions. I grew up being the one who wanted to know the origins of life. . . .  It’s always been a part of my life, and I just wanted to share that with people. . . . I wanted to be someone who helps . . . to bring a higher sense of conciousness to everybody.”

During his show, Sheldon talks about:

  • The Search for Life Project
  • How organizations like SETI are searching for life.
  • What will happen if we find a signal that we believe is from extraterrestrial intelligence.
  • Whether or not we are sending out signals into space.
  • What inspired Sheldon to get involved with the search for life outside our planet.
  • How you can get involved and support The Search for Life.

If you are interested in supporting the Search for Life Project, click below to donate and watch a short video by Sheldon.

 

Links of Interest:

The SETI Institute

Sheldon Reynold’s Website

Donate to The Search for Life Project

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Posted in Luminaries | 1 Comment »

Give Me Vision!—Inspiring system designers to create products that can “see”

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on November 19th, 2012

Guest: Jeff Bier, Founder, Embedded Vision Alliance
Host: Yvette Huygen, Director, Worldwide Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Synopsys Inc.

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Today more than ever it’s possible to incorporate vision technology and capabilities into many different types of products to make them more intelligent and responsive. In this episode, Jeff Bier, founder of the Embedded Vision Alliance, shares inspiring examples of what your tablet, book or pen can see when you embed some vision – technology, that is.

“With humans, why did nature evolve vision? Vision is a really powerful sense. . . .We don’t tend to think about it much, but there is very little we do without using our vision. I would say similarly that our electronics today by largely don’t have vision and they are worse off for it, and we can improve them in dramatic ways by giving them vision.” ~Jeff Bier

During the show, Jeff discusses:

  • The Embedded Vision Alliance
  • The benefits of giving your electronics “eyes”
  • The Philips Vital Signs Camera app
  • How Popar Toys has brought children’s books to life using vision technology
  • The sophisticated computer vision of the Echo smartpen by Livescribe
  • How the Embedded Vision Alliance makes companies aware that it is becoming quite practical to incorporate computer technology into inexpensive, power sensitive and sized constrained products

Click on the video/podcast to be inspired!

Links of interest:

The Embedded Vision Alliance

Philips Vital Signs Camera app

Popar Toys Planets 3D book

Echo smartpen by Livescribe

Jeff demoing Philips Vital Signs Camera on Yvette

Jeff demos Popar Toy's Planets 3D book

Jeff demos Echo™ smartpen by Livescribe

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Posted in Technology | 1 Comment »

The Ridiculously Ubiquitous USB

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on October 16th, 2012

Guest: Jeff Ravencraft, President & COO, USB Implementers Forum, Inc.
Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

Welcome to the Season 3 premiere of Conversation Central. We have shortened the program and added video. Please give us your feedback.

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To kick off Season 3, we met Jeff Ravencraft at Soup Freaks in San Francisco, California.

“USB” has become a household word, but there is an engine behind USB that consumers do not see. Here to tell you about that engine on today’s episode is Jeff Ravencraft, President & COO, USB Implementers Forum, Inc.

“Consumers love USB because it’s easy to use—it just works. . .  From a standards side, the standards are open, you can download them from our site. We have certification compliance testing that we help the industry with, [and] we do a lot of education at the developer level so they can build technology that makes it easy for the consumer.”

During the show, Jeff discusses:

  • Why he believes USB is ridiculously ubiquitous.
  • What the USB Implementers Forum(USB-IF) is.
  • How USB-IF helps both its members and non-members.
  • The precautions and actions taken to protect the brand of USB.
  • The agreement that adopter companies within a spec have to share their patents with one another (cross licensing).
  • Where he believes the future generation of USB will bring us.

Links of Interest:

USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF)

Soup Freaks

Jeff Ravencraft and Karen Bartleson

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Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Meeting the Challenges in Engineering Education

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on August 16th, 2012

Guest: Patrick Lysaght, Sr. Director, Xilinx Research Labs and University Program
Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc. and Rich Goldman, Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Synopsys, Inc.

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There are great changes and great opportunities in the field of engineering and education. Some students find themselves limited by the cost of education while others lack high quality schools in their region to satisfy demand, especially in the fields of computer science and electronics. One major challenge for academia itself is the rate of change in technology today. The half-life of the most relevant and current knowledge is so short that it puts a global stress on academia as it struggles to equip students for industry.

How can we deal with these challenges as we try to recruit more students into computer science and engineering? It is companies like Xilinx, and passionate professionals like Patrick Lysaght, who are stepping in to help academia. In this episode, Patrick shares how with real materials from the industry, students can interface with a platform, be better prepared when graduating, and ultimately design something the world has not seen before.

Karen Bartleson, Patrick Lysaght, Rich Goldman

Links of Interest:

Xilinx University Program

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Posted in Luminaries, Technology | No Comments »

Computation for Interdisciplinary Data

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on July 19th, 2012

Guest: Masoud Nikravesh, Executive Director for Berkeley Computational Science and Engineering, CITRIS Director for CSE, and Visiting Research Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Hosts: Karen Bartleson, Sr, Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc. and Yvette Huygen, Director, Worldwide Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Synopsys Inc.

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Twenty years ago, computer science was just a tool. Today, Dr. Nikravesh knows that this has changed, and computer science is now a vital anchor in technology advancement.

The world is changing at a rapid pace, and because of this, UC Berkeley saw the need to make computational science a formal part of their program to allow students to gain skills that could be channeled in the right direction. As executive director of the program, Dr. Nikravesh talks about Berkeley’s Designated Emphasis (DE)  in Computational Science for PhD students.

He also shares some of the problems CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) wishes to address including energy, infrastructure and healthcare with regard to sensor technology. With the combination of nanotechnology and sensors, he believes we can expect sensors to be planted in bodies at the cell level.

Links of interest:

Dr. Masoud Nikravesh’s Bio

CITRIS

UC Berkeley

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Posted in Technology | No Comments »

As the World Turns to UVM

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on June 21st, 2012

Guest: Brian Hunter, Sr. Consulting Engineer, Cavium
Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

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Cavium’s Brian Hunter joined Karen to transparently talk about verification and UVM.  Verification isn’t getting easier as today’s chip design sizes explode. Yet techniques, methodologies, and standards continue to evolve to provide solutions for verification engineers to keep pace. The Universal Verification Methodology, UVM, is at the forefront and industry is making the transition to employ it. Brian Hunter shares his first-hand experience with UVM and discusses its benefits and the industry’s transition.

Links of interest:

Cavium

UVM Technical Activities Page

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Posted in Technology | No Comments »

The Voices of DAC 2012: Talking Tech with Teens

Posted by Hannah Watanabe on June 13th, 2012

Guests: Josh Godfrey, Joshua Reason, Summer Schoof, Shuhei, Tara Basu-Trivedi – Menlo School, Atherton, CA

Host: Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Community Marketing, Synopsys Inc.

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Want to know what smart teenagers think about technology? Interested in how technology plays a role in their everyday lives? What to hear what products they want in the future? Listen to four sharp teens tell us what’s on their minds.

Links of interest:

Menlo School

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Posted in Technology | No Comments »