Electronic Specifier has released its July issue, bringing together the latest developments in physical AI security, test and measurement, robotics, power, and the memory market, alongside features celebrating the people driving innovation across the electronics sector.
This issue reflects the breadth of the challenges engineers are grappling with today, from safeguarding tomorrow’s AI systems against quantum-era threats to designing power architectures resilient enough for mission-critical applications.
The issue opens with a Comment piece looking ahead to the return of the Electronics Excellence Awards, which recognise standout achievement and innovation across the electronics industry. The awards remain a key fixture on the industry calendar, celebrating the engineers, companies, and products pushing the sector forward, and this issue sets the stage for what’s to come as entries and nominations gather pace.
This month’s Women in Tech feature profiles Andrea Estrada-Hein, EVP of the Global Business Line for Switchgear at ABB and a powerhouse of switchgear knowledge. Describing herself as a Bolivian-born, US-educated German engineer, Estrada-Hein was born into an engineering family and started her career studying environmental engineering in the US before moving to Germany to complete her PhD in mining, with the intention to return to Bolivia.
The STEM Spotlight section shines a light on the Academy Achievers programme, highlighting the young talent already making an impact and the initiatives helping to build the next generation of engineers. With the industry facing an ongoing skills gap, the feature underscores why investment in STEM education and early-career support remains one of the sector’s most pressing priorities.
On the technical side, this issue’s Test & Measurement feature examines how artificial intelligence is transforming inspection and metrology, looking at how AI-enabled tools are improving accuracy, speed, and consistency in quality control processes across manufacturing. The Obsolescence column follows with four practical, actionable tips for effective obsolescence management, giving procurement and design teams a clear framework for mitigating the risks of component end-of-life.
The Robotics feature explores how engineers are designing comfort and trust into caregiving robots, an increasingly important consideration as robotics moves further into human-centred applications such as elderly care and assisted living. The piece looks at the design decisions, from form factor to interaction design, that determine whether people feel at ease around robotic assistance in deeply personal settings.
Readers will also find a Power feature on simplifying multi-rail power system monitoring and sequencing, addressing one of the more complex challenges facing power system designers as device architectures grow increasingly sophisticated.
The issue closes with two features on memory. The first offers an in-depth look at the state of the memory market heading into 2026, unpacking supply, demand, and pricing dynamics for readers navigating a notoriously volatile segment of the electronics supply chain. The second examines how the rise of AI workloads is prompting engineers to rethink laptop cooling design, as increased processing demands place new thermal pressures on compact form factors.
“This issue reflects just how broad the electronics industry’s challenges and opportunities have become, from securing AI systems against future quantum threats to designing robots people can genuinely trust,” said Paige Hookway, Managing Editor of Electronic Specifier. “Alongside the technical deep dives, we wanted to make sure we were celebrating the people and talent behind these advances too, which is why this issue puts a real focus on the individuals and programmes shaping the industry’s next generation. Whether readers are on the design engineering side or the procurement side of the business, our aim is always to make complex, technical subject matter accessible without losing the substance that makes it useful.”
The July issue of Electronic Specifier is available now to read below:
