This year we participated for the 4th time in Germany’s largest Embedded Software Engineering Congress. The variety of topics has called developers for embedded systems (and those who want to become one) from all over Germany to Sindelfingen. Some hundred IT experts came and listened to keynotes and deepened their knowledge in special workshops.
We will illuminate a few topical highlights:
IoT roll-out finally takes off
Lars Reger, CTO of NXP, described from the point of view of the semiconductor industry which social developments, technology trends, and concepts underlie the impending IoT boom. He pointed out the technical challenges in the necessary shift of computing power from the cloud to the end devices and how these can be mastered with the Sense-Think-Connect-Act paradigm.
The concept of the IoT as a connection between the digital and the physical world is not new. However, there has been little practical implementation to date. In view of the hype in recent years, one would expect to see widespread use in almost every industry. This is not yet the case. The good news is that the IoT roll-out is finally picking up speed. Soon not only inventors and pioneers will continue to use the IoT, but the masses will. Data networks are being expanded, 5G technology is in the starting blocks and hardware components are becoming more affordable for broader groups of buyers. All this motivates manufacturers to intensify investments in this area.
New Work: Engineer 2030
Photo © by Fotoart Wiesner
Whether autonomous mobility, smart factories or intelligent IoT: digitalization is constantly presenting engineers with new technical, methodological and personal challenges. Their working environment will also change drastically in the coming years.
Dr. Michael Schanz, labour market expert at the VDE, which is the biggest Germany association for electronics and information technology, reported: “The separation of development, design, and production on the one hand and information and communication technology on the other will distinguish more and more. As a result, the engineers of tomorrow will have to possess far greater social and communication skills than are still required today. They must have the ability to manage cooperation between different disciplines such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and information technology.
Specialist journalists and co-organizers of ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS discussed the topic with experts at the congress:
Hard skills
- Further training will be individual and work-integrated learning will take place on the basis of current real work contents, much more: “on the job”.
Special new courses of study on the subject of industry 4.0 or digitization in production will have to be introduced. In addition, it is the task of the universities to offer the individualization of study courses in modules and certificates in order to train employees in certain areas precisely and in the scientific field as well, if necessary. - The demand for Cyber Security Experts will increase: Such a candidate needs knowledge in IT, statistics, mathematics, computer science and also classical electrotechnical or even mechanical engineering skills. The linking of the different areas to an interdisciplinary qualification profile will be an irrevocable development in the age of Industry 4.0.
Soft skills
- Employees will be able to continuously develop their problem recognition and problem-solving skills.
- Employees should perceive the constantly changing requirements and conditions as learning opportunities and commit themselves to life-long learning.
Virtual Reality Walk:
Software Visualizations of Tomorrow
Photo © by Fotoart Wiesner
The University of Bremen, Germany, has a vision: How about developers walking through mountains of code as if it were a city? One would meet a colleague here and there who would actually be sitting 1000 km away in an office. He can tell the developer a little about the area of the software that seems like a mystery to him.
A wonderful visualization with a great learning effect, according to scientists. The fact is that researchers around the world are working on this vision. The hardware for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is now affordable and is becoming increasingly suitable for everyday use in many industries and areas.
Companies and institutes are launching products such as 3D glasses, power walls and advanced sensors (data gloves, gesture recognition, biosensors and much more) with the help of which we can create unimagined horizons.
Our personal conclusion is as differentiated as those different ideas, concepts, methods and products presented. We were able to meet customers and market companions to discuss and exchange. Once again, we were able to gain helpful insights into the customers’ challenges. Direct feedback inspires us to improve our services and features. Thank you very much for the many interesting insights and conversations!
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