Technology is now making a huge push into home health care. New markets are emerging as well as the traditional "aging in place" market is growing. New assistive technologies are being developed including communications, health and wellness monitoring, home safety and security. Product design must take into account user capability, medical device regulations, and technology adoption issues. This talk with address the major issues for new devices in the home health and aging in place market. It will include resources, driving forces and latest trends for new technology development.
Mr. Walt Maclay, President and Chief Engineer of Voler Systems, is committed to delivering quality electronic products on time and on budget. Voler Systems provides the integrated design, development and risk assessment of new devices for medical, industrial, aerospace and instrumentation applications.
Mr. Maclay is recognized as a domain expert in Silicon Valley technical consulting associations. He is an instructor for the Product Realization NPI Program. He has also been past President of the Professional and Technical Consultants Association (PATCA). He has applied his outstanding leadership to many multidisciplinary teams that have delivered quality electronic devices. Mr. Maclay holds a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.
Voler clients, from early stage startups to large established corporationsl, are delighted with our quality and service. Past clients include Applied Biosystems, Applied Materials, BAE Systems, Boeing, Intel, JDS Uniphase, Lockheed Martin, Maxon Lift, Merck, NASA Ames, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Sciences, Pioneer Speakers, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Radiant Medical, Rain Bird, San Francisco Muni, Sandia Labs, Siemens, Spectra Physics, Stanford University, Teikoku Pharma, Thoratec, Tyco Valves, US Bureau of Reclamation, and the University of California at Davis.
Volume 2013, Issue 2 Newsletter
In This Issue
Spotting a Gorilla Hiding in Plain Sight
by Susie Faries, SciMed Partners
Several years back an attention researcher at Harvard Medical School conducted a now famous study, The Invisible Gorilla Study. It was based on studying radiologists, who are often considered super human in finding even the slightest variation or detail that might mean life or death. Sometimes, they appear to see the things that would often appear to be invisible to others. But yet, the researchers wanted to find out how often these “super humans” missed things that were literally right in front of them. Read more
Compressed Sensing - the Latest Advances:
Recently MIT announced the latest research in compressed sensing that may soon be saving us money for a wide range of imaging and signal-processing applications. Compressed sensing is a new technique in signal processing and imaging that takes a weighted linear combination of samples. Using simple linear equations, these few samples can represent the complete signal. These advances may reshape the way we work with large data sets. Read more
Looking for a World-Class Embedded Engineer?
Voler is an expert in all types of measurements. Analog circuit design, digital circuit design, and mixed signal design, as well as measurement and control software. Specializing in sensors, motion control, wireless, and medical device design, my staff of senior engineers and I can design a new product rapidly that works the first time. Read more for a partial list of their skills.
NPI: 7 Most Common Problems and How to Solve Them
PRG's NPI veterans have launched 100s of new products and they’ve developed this useful checklist. Like many of our clients, you might be struggling with developing or launching a new product. If so, I think you'll find this interesting...
Do you experience any of these problems?
Does your team make last minute (read costly) design changes?
Worried that you’re overlooking regulations?
Are you addressing key risks - technology, supply chain, manufacturing?
Do you use Design for Excellence (DFX) tools?
Do your engineers collaborate well with other functional areas?
Explore compelling reasons why manufacturers return to the U.S. Attend the exciting “New Industrial Revolution” 1-day conference. Discover how the Bay Area continues to innovate and respond to global competition. While the "Made in America" mantra has always been popular, the "reshoring" of manufacturing is gaining momentum.
Topics include new manufacturing technologies, reshoring/onshoring, product development, and workforce development. Learn from 20+ speakers and panelists including serial entrepreneurs, company founders, R&D leaders, manufacturers, design firms, and colleges.
About Our Organization…
Voler Systems provides full-service R&D consulting from concept and design to production of electronic devices. Since 1979, clients have turned to us for reliable new products and test systems involving sensors and measurement electronics. Our multidisciplinary team delivers high quality products on time and on budget. We have developed hand-held equipment, web cameras, heart valve testers, RFID devices, and other specialized sensor based electronics and prototype circuits.
We are pleased to start a Meetup focused on hardware New Product Introduction in Silicon Valley. Every day new tools and processes are developed that lower barriers of entry, reduce time-to-market, and improve functionality—all of which are creating a new Hardware 2.0 revolution! In February, Samsung announced a $100 million dollar investment fund dedicated to electronic hardware product development.
Hardware NPI SV focuses on the entire Product Lifecycle, and creates a practical in-person forum that brings practitioners together about the latest processes, trends, and techniques to reduce risk for bringing new hardware products to market.
Voler Featured in Product Feasibility Case Study
See how we reduced risk and saved money with a feasibility study.
Volume 2013, Issue 1 Newsletter
In This Issue
Top 20 Newsletter Articles
Here are our 20 top articles. Since others have found them interesting - we thought you might find one or two interesting ones.
Upcoming Webinar: Is Your Product Feasible? Annuvia Case Study - Understanding Product Readiness
On Thursday, February 7 at 11am PST, Walt Maclay will join Micah Bongberg, President of Annuvia, and Mark Brinkerhoff, President of FusionDesign, in a webinar, "Is Your Product Feasible? Annuvia Case Study - Understanding Product Readiness". It is useful case study on determining the feasibility of an initial product idea and how the idea “pivoted” to the final product that was more reliable and scalable than originally planned. It is free for all attendees and well worth your time.
By Alyssa Sittig | Posted in Arena Customers & Partners, New Product Introduction
You’ve probably heard before how establishing a solid plan for new product introduction (NPI) can help you meet cost, quality and scheduling goals, but the benefits don’t stop there. A good NPI plan is the foundation of any successful product launch and often helps boost sales and encourage company growth down the road.
If you’re about to launch your product, the tidbits of advice and guidance in the newest and free Product Realization Group (PRG) whitepaper—New Product Introduction: Seven Best Practices—are for you. In this whitepaper, you’ll find the seven best ways to establish a solid NPI process and learn how to recognize the red flags to watch out for.
Ashish Wani is the latest member to our team. He is has a strong background in wireless systems including ZigBee and Wifi as well as embedded hardware and software. In a few short months he has quickly become an indispensable member of our team. He is such a dedicated and focused worker, he once found himself alone at a client's office late at night. Everyone had left without noticing him, and the owner had to be called to let him out without setting off the alarm system.
In addition to his engineering work, Ashish loves to travel. Recent trips included San Diego, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Florida.
About Our Organization…
Voler Systems provides full-service R&D consulting from concept and design to production of electronic devices. Since 1979, clients have turned to us for reliable new products and test systems involving sensors and measurement electronics. Our multidisciplinary team delivers high quality products on time and on budget. We have developed hand-held equipment, web cameras, heart valve testers, RFID devices, and other specialized sensor based electronics and prototype circuits.
Volume 2012, Issue 4 Newsletter
In This Issue
How to Effectively Communicate Product Development Risks
Our technical team spans all of the stages of new product development from conceptual design through manufacturing transfer and regulatory compliance for a wide variety of clients and markets. The most important value that we offer to you is to identify and communicate risks as the project progresses. On a regular basis our customers commend us for our clear and frequent communication during a project. The following are a few of the techniques we use to communicate product development status and risks at the design team level. Read more
Feasibility Study Aids Business Decision
One task we often help clients with is exploring the feasibility of developing an idea into a product. Sometimes it is not clear that an idea can be implemented, or it is not clear how to implement it. A feasibility stage is a short investigation to determine how the design should best be done. We view our role as working with customers to explore the many possibilities for improvements or enhancements in their specific market niche. We identify solutions that work to save time and money. We develop solutions to meet business needs. Read more
Missed PRG's "Managing Design Risk" Webinar?
If you missed Voler Systems at PRG's Lunch & Learn, Walt Maclay and panel presented detailed tips for managing constraints and trade-offs and ways to mitigate risk in “Managing Design Risk". You can view the recorded webinar at https://vimeo.com/43285790 More info
Join us for a great opportunity to network with industry peers and learn about the latest industry developments.
About Our Organization…
Voler Systems provides full-service R&D consulting from concept and design to production of electronic devices. Since 1979, clients have turned to us for reliable new products and test systems involving sensors and measurement electronics. Our multidisciplinary team delivers high quality products on time and on budget. We have developed hand-held equipment, web cameras, heart valve testers, RFID devices, and other specialized sensor based electronics and prototype circuits.
Featured at 2012 PRG Symposium and BBQ
We were pleased to participate in the recent 2012 PRG Symposium and BBQ in September. Three highlights for us were --- the keynote speaker sharing about his recent product development, one of our team members presenting in a panel discussion, and networking with attendees in the open tradeshow during lunch.
Micah’s Bongberg, President of Annuvia and the Symposium keynote speaker, shared a PRG case study of his latest product development that Voler Systems helped design. Micah Bongberg described the process he went through to develop his new product idea and how he relied on different PRG organization members like Voler Systems to help through each of the four stages of the project. For more information you may view his presentation available here. Micah also wrote us a very nice thank you letter for our development work.
Next was an educational panel discussion of which Stuart Tyrell, from Voler Systems, participated in discussing the development of the Annuvia's product device while adhering to a limited budget with other members of the project.
At the end, there was a delicious BBQ lunch after the presentations with an open tradeshow available to participants where we were able to meet and visit everyone who attended. Stuart and Walt continued to field more questions one on one with people about the project and other items.
By 
Micah’s Bongberg, President of 
Next was an educational panel discussion of which Stuart Tyrell, from Voler Systems, participated in discussing the development of the Annuvia's product device while adhering to a limited budget with other members of the project. 
At the end, there was a delicious BBQ lunch after the presentations with an open tradeshow available to participants where we were able to meet and visit everyone who attended. Stuart and Walt continued to field more questions one on one with people about the project and other items. 
