3D technology in Medical Device industry

Drones in delivery

Trust in selfdrive cars

5G – are we ready to embrace change

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U N C O N S C I O U S B I A S I NR E C R U I T I N G

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I am delighted to welcome you to the first edition of our ElectronicEngineering magazine. 2019 has been a great year for Pioneer Search as we continue to work across the UK and Europe with some major FTSE companies, some exciting new start-ups and everything in between.

Our engineering division goes from strength to strength, and we have recruited more consultants to the team. This month we feature Alex Holliday, who has also written an article on unconscious bias based on personal experience. It is an insightful piece and is refreshingly candid. If you are looking for a new role in this space, or you have a requirement to hire, then Alex is a great first point of contact.

We have some great articles on med tech 3D printing, which is a phenomenal industry. We also take a look at the drone for delivery industry and driverless vehicles. We also conclude that in fact it was 5G and not video that killed the radio star!

Finally, we are currently conducting a salarysurvey. It is totally anonymous and will allow us to produce a report that is one of the mostaccurate and up to date in the industry. We would love it if you could take part.

Please visit https://tinyurl.com/PioneerSS and complete the form. We will share the results and insights once we have collected the data.

I hope you enjoy reading the magazine, and I would love to get your thoughts.

Mark WarburtonMD

how to mend a broken heart?additivemanufacturing

3D printing is transforming the medical sector, bringing hope to millions of patients worldwide. Recently, 3D technology has gone way beyond printing prosthetic limbs. It’s going inside the human body, creating 3D printed organs. This allows doctors to solve some of the key problems of conventional transplants, including donor shortages and secondary injuries.

What’s more, other sectors are using the technology to develop much-needed medical products, including 3D printed skin for burnvictims, airway splints for babies with breathing difficulties, facialreconstruction for cancer patients, hearing aid products, ear moulds, dental crowns and bridges, and more.The efficiency and durability of 3D printing means it’s already eclipsing standard procedures, not least in the field of prosthetics. Unlike complex traditional prosthetics, 3D printed products are more flexible, more versatile, and significantly cheaper.

Inside the body, 3D tech is making great progress in creating personalized tissue engineering scaffolds, reconstructing tissue, and directly printing organs. Organs can now be designed to match the patient’s tissue structure and even to empower cell growth.That means 3D implants aren’t just lifeless objects - they can repair tissue. This could be a solution to the shortage of donors.

There are solutions to that problem already - but they bring their own problems. Healthcare organizations can useauto- transplantation, xeno-transplantation, or mechanical organs for patients in need of tissue or organ transplants.Auto-transplantation is seen as one of the most effective methods, but transplanting tissue from elsewhere in a patient’s bodycan leave them with secondary injuries.

Xeno-transplantation can lead to the patient’s immune system rejecting the animal tissue, or to viral transmission. 3D printingpersonalized bionic tissue and organs could make all these issues a thing of the past.

3D printing is known in the industry as additive manufacturing (AM), because it works by overlapping layers of material to createcomplex shapes quickly. Via computer-aided design (CAD) and computed tomography (CT), this material can be laid down withincredible precision. This precision, as well as speed and the low costs of raw materials, have enabled 3D printing to catch on fast in medtech, producing robust medical equipment as well as implants and prints

3D printing has also brought about changes in medicaleducation and clinical treatment. Medical organizations now have a faster, less resource-intensive alternative for traditional manufacturing processes like casting andforging. And surgeons can use 3D printed organ models for surgical analysis and preoperative training, meaning they’ll be better prepared for the complex surgical procedures.

Surgical planning and diagnosis are also becoming easier thanks to 3D printing. Researchers have been able to print cervical tumor models and detailed anatomical models of body parts such as limbs, head, neck, chest, and abdomen based on CT or planar scans. Doctors can then use these to study the patient’s condition and diagnose it with anaccuracy that could previously only be achieved on theoperating table. 3D technology is particularly important in dentistry and orthopedics, where the implants have tooffer high biocompatibility.

Intricate personalized implants can be made faster and more accurately with 3D printing. And unlike metallicimplants, their stiffness levels can be personalized too to accommodate the patient’s bone integrity.

Patients with 3D printed joint prostheses displayexcellent motor functions - plus their implants aresignificantly lighter and highly compatible with their own tissue. Although the 3D printing process is already creating permanent implants, researchers are still striving tosimplify and improve it.

Local bioactive and biodegradable scaffolds for organ and tissue transplants have also been much improved by the new technology. The role of scaffolds is particularlycrucial in tissue engineering, where cells mixed with gel are encapsulated into 3D printed scaffolds. Where traditional methods could only create basic shapes for scaffolds, they can now be detailed down to the microscopic pores.

For scaffolds to do their job of facilitating cell attachment and promoting tissue regeneration after the operation, they need to be highly biocompatible and biodegradable. Integrating hydrogels in the 3D network structures can empower cell migration and so improve tissueregeneration. Researchers are experimenting with adding filament meshes and porous membranes to support the growth of blood vessels.

Meanwhile, 3D printed blood vessels are also indevelopment. The meteoric rise of 3D printing in medical care has improved existing procedures and created new ones. It’s given healthcare organizations the power to treat more patients in less time - and to provide them withbetter outcomes.

drones indeliveryHow the Internet of Things Can Help You Win at DeliveriesCustomers will nearly always choose the company that delivers fastest. Now more than ever, the no.1 factor that puts companies ahead of the pack is having the most efficient supply chain - even better, one that’s so efficient it can predict the future. And what makes that advantage possible is the Internet of Things.

Delivery, freight, service and logistics companies have been using onboard GPS tracking systems to monitor the movement, location and status of their fleets since the early 2000s. Many businesses are still stuck in that era, investing thousands in GPS to monitor their vehicles and reacting to events after they happen. But forward-facing companies are seeing that the real key is reacting to eventsbefore they happen - using intelligent logistics solutions to predict future situations, reduce risks, and prevent things from going wrong.

Using internet of things (IoT) technology, companies can use real-time data to anticipate customers’ desires and needs. This enables them to see what’s not working and where they can afford to cut back, to make quicker, bolder, better-informed decisions, and to use their resources more strategically to get the edge over the competition.

As well as helping businesses streamline their logistics and their distribution networks, IoT technology is also helping them break into brand-new markets with smart vehicles and drones.

How drones make delivery fasterDelivery drones are among the greatest innovations in intelligent logistics, and household names like Amazon, Whole Foods and Sam’s Club are already using them. Their most obvious benefit is quick delivery, bringing products to consumers much faster than trucks can.

Even more importantly, drones are connecting countries with limited infrastructure to the rest of the world, giving them a chance to get involved in the global economy. This not only benefits those countries, but also opens new markets to western businesses.

Smart logistics in vehicle fleetsTraffic jams and convoluted routes can cost hours of lost productivity for any business with a delivery fleet. Smart trucks with IoT tech on board can solve that. Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technology lets businesses easily and precisely track each driver’s location and speed, ensuring they work as efficiently as possible while also keeping them safe.

IoT devices can also monitor the environment on all four sides of a vehicle to avoid expensive mistakes and accidents, tell you when the trailer is unhitched, and help you identify the fastest route to avoid traffic. Companies like McDonald’s are working on speeding up delivery and reducing emissions with delivery trucks that can map the most efficient routes by themselves.

Companies can execute every step of the delivery process on-site with IoT technology. Using wireless sensors, it can even notify businesses when the order is opened, giving them a chance to wow customers with a message asking if they enjoyed the product.

IoT technology is a smart investment in the futureInvesting in technology like drones or smart trucks may seem like a risky investment today. But in the long term, that investment will more than pay for itself. Businesses with IoT tech in their fleets have fewer worries about safety, fewer staff compensation claims and more satisfied customers. Smart companies are using IoT data to go beyond just being good at logistics and invest in their long-term future.

Over recent years, the pace of development within the drone industry has been significant. This rapidly evolving market is seeing new entrants continuously trying to enter the market, whilst others look to solidify their position. We’ve listed 10 drone companies who we think will be bringing something special to the market in 2020 in both the hardware and software drone industry. Let us know if you think there are others.

top 10 dronemanufacturers to look out for in 2020

car drives youself-drivingcars are scaring the public

Making sure we all speakthe same language

According to PAVE, the first step in educating the public is to achieve a clear shared terminology. In order to understand and trust AVs, the public needs simple understandable language to describe thedifferent levels of technology and the safety systems that underlie them.

Various vehicles already on our roads are advertised as “self-driving” or “autonomous”, but almost all of them are only at Level 3 of the 5 possible levels of automation. They need safety drivers or engineers at the controls to supervise them. Many are being designed as taxis or delivery vehicles rather than for sale to the public in the near future.

Many others now on sale (such as the Audi A8 with Traffic JamAssist or Tesla with Autopilot) have Level 2 automation: advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) capable of adaptive cruise control and keeping in lane on the highway. None of these allow the driver to lose focus or take their hands off the wheel. They are not to be confused with the full automation of Level 4 and 5.

Calling vehicles currently on sale to the public “self-driving”,“driverless”, “automated”, “autonomous” or “autopilot” creates a false impression of their abilities that could harm not only the reputation of AV, but also the safety of road users. Studies by the National Safety Council, AAA and the University of Iowa have found that theproliferation of different brand names, trade names, and otherterminology around driver assistance systems may also beconfusing the public.

It’s understandable that companies want to boost profits by talking up their cars’ “automation” - but it’s creating seriousmisunderstandings, and it needs to stop. Customers should have a clear understanding of what the technology in their cars can and can’t do.

Terms disambiguation and explaining tech capabilities in simple terms should be at the heart of education to increase trust.However, this effort needs to go way beyond the companiesproducing the etch and the customers who buy it. All AV developers, operators and coalitions also need to be working with governments,

Why the people who areusually last come first

One of the greatest benefits of self-driving cars is their potential to have a massive positive impact on people and communities who don’t have convenient alternative transport, like people withdisability, the elderly, and communities in low-income areas. These groups could drive early adoption - but they’re the most likely to be left out of discussions and initiatives around tech innovation.

While it’s great to have AV test tracks in affluent communities, to gain real social acceptance the AV industry needs to work in and with underrepresented communities. The City of Sacramento is setting a great example with its Sacramento Urban Technology Lab, in which industry, government and academia work together to create a lab for advanced tech businesses, academic institutions and entrepreneurs. The city also encourages private companies to work in communities where their technology usually arrives last, to help people feel more involved rather than feeling as if the tech is happening to them.

Another way to build public trust is to prepare the youngergeneration to embrace the changes AV can bring to their future.One much-needed approach is to talk to schools and universities about jobs in the AV age, so they can decide what programs andcurricula to set up to get youngsters interested and prepare them for future careers in AV.

All these different factors need to come together to help the public get over their fear of self-driving cars, and it may be some timebefore AVs are ready for large-scale deployment. What matters most is to start educating citizens, communities and policymakers today so they can be ready to enjoy the AV revolution tomorrow.

size ofautonomousvehicle market

The global autonomous vehicle market size in 2019 $54.23 billion

Projected size of market in 2026 $556.67 billion

Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.47%

Highest growth regionEurope

(43% CAGR)

Hardware segment 60% of market revenue

Global Automotive System onChip (SoC) market

$1.6 billion by 2024

Number of autonomous vehicles on the road in 2028 globally 67.5 million

unconsciousbias inrecruitment

When going through some submitted Engineering CVs I pur forward to a client once, the hiring manager said to me “how can this candidate be any good, he studied at an African University.”

My immediate response was to inform him that I studied at an African university, a fine institution with a great record of producing highly qualified graduates into the workforce internationally. He was stunned by that and felt obliged to interview the candidate.

Naturally we are no longer working with that organization and I felt much better after my smart-arse comeback. In hindsight however, my response should have been different. Rather than terminating business with a client with an exceptionally narrow view on diversity, my approach should have been more around educating and influencing the need for organizations (particularly those within Electronics and Engineering) to have more of an open-minded approach to this. This is more of an extreme example of diversity bias I have in my arsenal of anecdotes from clients, but the point is there, as recruiters we need to do more to address this.

I get it, we are a sales environment and the customer has specific requirements for their hires. Our job is to take onboard what they want and deliver on it quickly, often facing intense competition. Bringing diversity into the conversation is usually the last thing on the recruiter’s mind as there is always the fear that it would jeopardize the deal – I put my hands up here, guilty as charged.

This is not just the wrong approach for political correctness sake, there is actually a commercial reason why a recruiter should consider diversity when headhunting suitable candidates. According to Engineering UK 2018, companies are 15 percent more likely to performbetter if they are diverse. This is an exceptional sell and very important to point out to a receptive customer. Many larger organizations will already have procedures in place to make recruitment more diverse they are just not used to agencies engaging in this or being part of the solution. For those that don’t, isn’t it great to give them something they don’t know that they need yet.

As recruiters we are in a very unique position, we are able to look impartially at the recruitment process. We need to deliver but the best recruiters do more than that, they influence. A client should never have tojeopardize on hiring the right skills for the position however for the right reasons they can and should be influenced to take some risks. Organizations coulddevote some of their sponsorship quota to specifically bring in candidates from different backgrounds. They could hire a junior candidate to a mid-level vacancy if they have the right skills. These are just some ways in which diversity can be achieved.

Often clients ask agencies to find a “cultural fit” when looking for an employee because they feel thatcreates a better working environment which makes the organization more productive. My argument is that this is incorrect – it is the non-cultural fit that brings multiple methods to achieve a common goal.

By pointing out the comment mentioned by the hiring manager around African Universities, he felt obliged to interview my candidate because he was genuinely embarrassed by what he said. My responsibility there should have been to engage with the client onthis – why does he feel this way, how can ideasdeveloped in African institutions positively impact his business and what talents could he be excluding while he looks for the “cultural fit.”

At Pioneer Search we are proud of our approach to this. For every one male CV we have sent this year, 1 has been female. In Q2 62 % of our placements have beenwomen in technology. This proves that it is not just for social justice, there is a real demand to diversify and it is our job to facilitate this.

Opinion piece by Alex Holliday – head of engineering division at Pioneer Search

5Gare you ready to embrace the change?

It has begun. Britain’s mobile operators are finally selling 5G network plans. Samsung, Huawei, LG and others (Apple excluded for now) have premium 5G devices. And finally, we can stream Love Island instantly in 7K quality, Virtual Reality or even Hologram from our own phones. Yet while being able to change my fantasy football team in 1000 Mbps internet connectivity is thefuture our 60s swinging grandparents could only have imagined, the potential of 5G extends further than personal mobile use.

5G goes further than swiping right with low latency to encompass a broader level of connectivity which reaches into the automotive, robotics, biological, aerospace and medical sectors where everything is connected, and works together across vast distances within an instant. While one car doesn’t need to be connected to an ultra-fast network to operate independently from its driver, to have every car in Britain connected to each other and operate together in a mass swarm is. For example, if car A was driving down the motorway and suddenly pulled out in front of car B, the vehicles would be able to communicate with each other so that car B would break to avoid car A and car A would instantly speed up to avoid car B. This is just one example of two cars working together instantly, think about the power of all Britain’s 37.3 million cars working together to reduce traffic,prevent accidents and get people moving efficiently.

At a recent IoT (Internet of Things) conference about the power of 5G a question was raised as to which people would trust more, a driverless aircraft or a driverless car. The almost unanimous choice was that most people would prefer to trust an aircraft without a pilot than a car without a driver. While this seems strange at first, we are already used to the majority of aircraft using some form of autopilot and autonomy unlike motor traffic. And this is relatively old technology.

So, what has changed and how do we feel more comfortable using it? Well like the aircraft example it all comes down to learning to trust this new technology and getting used to the potential it can bring. It is not about autonomy but connectivity. Not only between the car and the driver but between the driver and the car and the car behind, and the car behind that which is now possible because of 5G.

5G doesn’t only bring the world closer, but the lack of latency (buffering) means that we don’t even need to travel as much. With the use of improved medical robotics, a brain surgeon in China canoperate on a patient in Brazil, watched in real time by students in Canada. The only limit is our own trust in the technology and using it to its potential.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (as this period is being called) of-course has its negatives. Likes its 3 predecessors this technology will hit the job sector like a bus, a semi-autonomous bus. Truck, Taxi and Bus drivers will quickly see their jobs being taken by faster and safer machines. Factory automation is not new however faster machines connected to each other across the globe will lead to cheaper alternatives to the current workforce. There are many sectors that will be impacted by faster thinking machines. Traditional media outlets like the BBC are already seeing the competition from international streaming services like YouTube or Netflix that can be produced by anyone anywhere. Virtual reality and ultra-fast internet speed killed the radio star.

It is not all doom and gloom as the demand for technology-based skills can only increase. Increased communication will also lead to skills being shared further, giving more opportunity to learn as we are all becoming more and more connected to a shared network. Following this, we will see a change in work culture as more remote working jobs will be available meaning the skills we will need can be sourced from everywhere and anywhere, opening the jobmarket to anyone with an internet connection. Suddenly regional talent pools will become lessprevalent, why will a company need to pay a premium to operate in a massive talent network likeLondon or New York, when it can open its international headquarters in Barnsley and hire the same talent. Meetings can be held anywhere due to communication efficiency. This is not a direct result of 5G as the examples before remote working are not new. It is the availability of the technology however that is changing the general culture which has an impact on society

In short the potential of 5G is only limited by our ability to embrace and trust the new technology.Holograms, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles are not new concepts. It is the potential of the technology we haven’t even thought about yet and how 5G now gives us the power to unlock these that really needs to excite us!

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