Electronics’ increasing role in today’s society requires the assurance of reliability and functionality of such devices through test & measurement (T&M). Connected World tapped Ryan Chen, Global Product Manager, Board to Board, for TE Connectivity for updates and insights on the latest trends in the T&M industry.
 
“Before electronics reach end-users, they must be well designed and validated by test & measurement equipment,” Chen said. “Without test and measurement, development, and production of any of these electronic devices are impossible.”
 
One of the significant trends Chen sees taking place in the T&M industry is digitalization. “Advances in technology such as 5G, IoT, cloud computing, and others, are quickly driving this quickly growing trend,” Chen said. “For example, 5G plays an important role in virtualization and automation, which we believe are two long-term trends in the test and measurement market.”
 
With every new trend in the industry comes a new challenge for engineers to tackle. According to Chen, the increase in digitalization is making electronic devices more and more complicated. “This means more functions need testing,” Chen said. “But on the other hand, the customer is asking for shorter and shorter test times to save test costs.” So, engineers' challenge is to design testing equipment that can perform more and more functions at a reduced test time, which will ultimately drive down costs.