The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has confirmed that its Van Allen Probe A disintegrated on its return to Earth, after nearly 14 years in space.

According to an article posted to the website of Astronomy.com, most of the 1300-pound probe burned up upon reentry over the eastern Pacific Ocean early in March. However, the probe’s twin, Van Allen Probe B, is still in orbit and is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere by 2030.

The Van Allen probes were launched in August 2012 in an effort to further our understanding of the radiation environment…

here comes a moment (typically far too late in the process) when someone in product development asks, “We can get this certified by launch… right?”

The room gets quiet.

Engineering looks at Quality. Quality looks at Regulatory (and in small businesses around the world, each of those teams amounts to just one person). Regulatory starts calculating how many pages are in the standard and how many nights of sleep remain before the ship date.

he world is changing. The unprecedented number of accidents and product recalls in recent years and subsequent low consumer recall compliance raise questions about the role that various factors (i.e., education, regulations, etc.) play in ensuring safer products. The increase in quantity and complexity of products also leads to an increase in potential hazards, which can endanger the safety of people or properties, even when those products are installed, maintained, and used for their intended purpose.

In this article, we present an argument for how effective engineering education can increase the impact of professionals involved in safety compliance. Our reasoning should help guide the academic engineering community and make a compelling case for greater resource allocation in educational programs and initiatives to improve compliance for safer products.

Editor’s Note: The paper on which this article is based was originally presented at the 2025 IEEE Product International Symposium on Product Compliance Engineering (ISPCE), held in San Francisco, CA in May 2025, where it received the 2025 Best Paper Award. It is reprinted here with the gracious permission of the IEEE. Copyright 2026, IEEE.

Fault-managed power (FMP) systems represent a transformative advancement in power distribution, offering a safer, more efficient alternative to traditional methods. Defined under standards such as UL 1400‑1 [1] and National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 726 [2], FMP systems enable the transmission of higher voltages (up to 450 V) while maintaining stringent safety measures [3]. By incorporating real‑time fault detection, fault-energy limitation, and rapid shutdown mechanisms, these systems mitigate risks of fire, electric shock, and equipment damage. FMP leverages innovations such as packet energy transfer to ensure safe operation even in fault scenarios. By addressing safety and efficiency challenges, FMP is poised to redefine power distribution across industries.

his is the third and final article in the series investigating the effectiveness of decoupling capacitors while varying the topology of vias, trace length between the decoupling capacitor and the IC power/ground pins, and distance from the internal power-ground plane pair. The first article [1] introduced the electrical schematic, via and trace topologies, as well as PCB topology. The second article [2] addressed the impact of the distance of the capacitor from the IC VCC and GND pins on the conducted emissions. This article investigates the impact of conducted emissions due to the distance of the capacitor from the internal power-ground plane pair and the impact of the capacitor via topology. The conducted emissions are measured using the CISPR25 standard, as shown in the second article [2] in the series.

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the system studied. When power is applied to the IC, it toggles the LEDs on and off, rapidly using a constant rate. The purpose of switching the LEDs on and off rapidly is to create a periodic power (charge) draw, thus creating a need for proper Power Delivery Network (PDN) decoupling to reduce or eliminate conducted and radiated emissions. The topology and impact of the decoupling capacitors was presented in [2].

n electrostatic discharge (ESD) flooring system is a critical component in environments where static electricity can damage sensitive electronics, disrupt operations, or create safety risks. From electronics manufacturing and data centers to healthcare labs and aerospace facilities, ESD flooring plays a foundational role in static control programs.

The term “flooring systems” ensures the end-user understands that several components create the complete path to ground. For example, with a glue-down vinyl tile, the flooring system would include the vinyl tile itself, the adhesive used to secure the tile and provide a connection to ground, the substrate it is adhered to, any finish applied to the tile, and the grounding connection. Any faulty element of this system, such as using a regular (insulative) adhesive, would cause the system to fail.