New webhost for RTA

After 4 years of succeful webhosting and email service with California provider, Gearworx, we are moving to eHosting based here in the UK. Email is working already and our contacts should see no changes, but the website will be off-line for the next few weeks.

Thought for the month

"Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly"- Francis Bacon, Philosopher (1561 - 1626).

QinetiQ restructuring

The recent announcement by QinetiQ www.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom/news_releases_homepage/2010/3rd_quarter/qinetiq_announces.html that the company is to streamline and restructure its UK operations to meet the current economic climate is very saddening. Whilst exact details and timings of where the axe will fall are still pending, RTA Instruments understands that the Malvern based Emerging Technologies Group, which includes compound semiconductors and MEMs capability, will be closed in due course. This includes all the MBE, MOVPE, GaN, InSb, CMT and Si growth and processing activities, circuit design and analytics.

RTA Newsletter Editor, Dr John Grange comments:

As Editor I have many fond memories relating to the Malvern and Baldock sites (TRE, RSRE, DRA, DERA et al). In particular the former, where incidentally my father worked in the1940's on radar and aircraft blind landing systems. It is not possible to overstate the achievements of the embryonic precursors to QinetiQ in the semiconductor arena. In addition their impact was greatly enhanced and increased through partnering, sponsoring, mentoring and encouraging activities within industry and academia. The work of Don Hurle in pulling together the various III-V consortia and working parties being an example. My personal memories also produce plaudits relating to how the III-V areas of Czochralski crystal growth and thin film epitaxy were fostered and developed into technologies capable of supporting real world production applications. Readers are invited to submit their thoughts.

Salute all engineers

RTA Newsletter Editor Dr John Grange will, from next month, no longer make disparaging comments about nerdy, geeky engineers. They are my heroes in this age of irrelevant, narcissistic information overload. In a recent EE Times survey of 285 engineers, 85% reported that they don’t use Twitter. More than half indicated that the statement “I don’t really care what you had for breakfast,” best sums up their feelings about it; others characterized it as “a ridiculous waste of time and electrons” or expressed the strong desire for it to simply “go away”. Details via: www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CL4SECRQDUIBTQE1GHOSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=225700747. A sound set of views or is the Editor merely being a 50+ year old ranting Luddite ignoring a valuable social media communication mechanism?

Vuvuzela muffled

Continuing the World Cup theme, it was interesting to note the entrepreneurial flair of one company who have unveiled a solution for TV and radio broadcasters which dramatically reduces the problematic sound of the omnipresent Vuvuzela trumpet favoured by South African soccer fan (www.waves.com:80/content.aspx?id=5798). For the geeks: A combination of dynamic broadband noise suppression and notch filtering are utilized to create the Vuvuzela noise reduction processing chain. Routing schemes and parameter settings were painstakingly adjusted, contrasted and, compared; multiple instances of each plug-in, with different settings, were ultimately used to achieve optimal results.

Not bitter but ... the ball was over the line

OK so the best team won (Germany) but this is 2010 and we should be able to tell if the big round Adidas thing (the ball) is over the long wide white thing (the goal line). For the benefit of FIFA, Mr Sepp Blatter and referees worldwide I mention the following, there exist simple chip in the ball/magnetic field technologies that will solve your problems see for example www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5743311,00.html and www.gaj-it.com:80/20069/so-what-is-goal-line-technology/

Charity ride time recalculated

Following a review of the time-keeping logs, including detailed examination of photographic records, my total time has been revised down to 3hours and 5mins. Given the two stops of 5mins each, my average speed was just under 16mph (24.3kph).

Of course, this was not a race, but these little details are important to some people.

My JustGiving site is open for additional sponsorship contributions for the next 3 months.

http://www.justgiving.com/RTA-Tour-de-Suffolk

... charity ride completed

In 3 hours and 12 minutes - including 2 stops at marshall's points for food, drink and more suncream - I have completed the 75 km (50 miles). The route was very well organised with a sign at every turn and confirmatory signs just after a lot of them. There were probably some 30+ marshalls both at check points and also major junctions waving riders across if the road was clear.

It seems that I was able to maintain my usual ~16.5 mph that I do on my 11 and 19 mile standard runs, despite the heat and longer course.

You can see the route at http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108414744479040183848.000487febb81a1bde4948&ll=52.235369,0.96302&spn=0.112487,0.267448&z=12

I need to follow up some sponsorship contributions and anticipate the total going over the (revised upwards) £1,250 target. Many thanks to all my sponsors.

Some photos on my JustGiving site http://www.justgiving.com/RTA-Tour-de-Suffolk

The big day arrives!

The day being the Suffolk Villages Charity Cycle Ride of course. Thanks to my wife Penny's support we get to Elmswell in good time before the 08:30 start. Already registered so just need to check in (the start time is logged as part of their process for accounting for everyone). Number attached to back and it's time to go!

Physics proves that Germany will win the World Cup ...

Professor Metin Tolan of the University of Dortmund has developed a mathematical formula which, he claims, shows Germany will win the 2010 World Cup.

Read about his World Cup theory at http://www.physorg.com/news191062132.html

More relevant to RTA, Tolan works in the area of synchrotron radiation science and has made substantial contributions to DELTA, the university-based synchrotron radiation source.

http://www.tu-dortmund.de/uni/International/Organization/Rectorate/Biographie_Prorektor_Forschung/index.html

Richard's cycle training

Need to get the bike ready today, cleaning the gear sprockets is one of those jobs ... it gets left undone! Also I need a replacement outer tyre which was causing the punctures (a small split in the sidewall allowed the inner to bulge through, then - BANG!). Weather forecast for tomorrow is hot and sunny, temperature up to 25C by mid-day. My start time is between 08:30-09:30, the earlier I start the better.