Under African Skies
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THE ONLY STAIN IN KURT PETERSEN’S CAREER WAS The Marvelous ON A FLOOR TILE, AND IT HELPED LAUNCH Mr. MEMS THE MEMS ERA P. 44 FOR THE TECHNOLOGY INSIDER | 05.19 Under African Skies EVERY DAY, ZIPLINE’S UAVs ARE SAVING LIVES AND BLAZING A TRAIL FOR COMMERCIAL DRONE DELIVERY P. 24 Zurich Instruments ∏ Arbitrary Waveform Generators ∏ Impedance Analyzers ∏ Lock-in Amplifiers ∏ Quantum Computing Control Systems experience LabOne LabOne® provides users with a platform independent instrument control including proven measurement methodo- logies. It's designed to offer a great amount of flexibility for instrument usage and assures quick and efficient ope- ration. The browser based user interface provides an outstanding toolset for time and frequency domain analysis as well as sophisticated support to set up control loops, making noise measure- ments or to interpret measurement data. Let's discuss your application Intl. +41 44 515 0410 USA 855-500-0056 (Toll Free) [email protected] www.zhinst.com CONTENTS_05.19 24 THE BLOOD 32 JOURNEY TO THE 38 HERE COME THE 06 NEWS IS HERE CENTER OF THE HEARABLES 15 RESOURCES The world’s first SOLAR SYSTEM Devices tucked inside 20 OPINION THE commercial drone Here’s how the your ears will make delivery service is Parker Solar Probe technology more On the cover flying medical supplies can take the heat. personal than ever. Illustration for MARVELOUS through Rwanda’s By Andrew Driesman, By Poppy Crum IEEE Spectrum skies. Jack Ercol, by Tavis Coburn By Evan Ackerman & Edward Gaddy MR. MEMS Michael Koziol & Andrew Gerger Kurt Petersen, recipient of the 2019 IEEE Medal of Honor, helped launch the MEMS industry. Page 44 by tekla s. perry IEEE SPECTRUM (ISSN 0018-9235) is published monthly by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2019 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, U.S.A. Volume No. 56, Issue No. 5. The editorial content of IEEE Spectrum magazine does not represent official positions of the IEEE or its organizational units. Canadian Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40013087. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, IEEE Spectrum, Box 1051, Fort Erie, ON L2A 6C7. Cable address: ITRIPLEE. Fax: +1 212 419 7570. INTERNET: [email protected]. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: IEEE Members: $21.40 included in dues. Libraries/institutions: $399. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to IEEE Spectrum, c/o Coding Department, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST #125634188. Printed at 120 Donnelley Dr., Glasgow, KY 42141-1060, U.S.A. IEEE Spectrum circulation is audited by BPA Worldwide. IEEE Spectrum is a member of the Association of Business Information & Media Companies, the Association of Magazine Media, and Association Media & Publishing. IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying. For more information, visit http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html. PHOTOGRAPH BY Peter Adams SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG | MAY 2019 | 01 BACK STORY_ use LED Curing ADHESIVES? Cure in 30-45 seconds Under 405 nm light source User friendly Alternative to UV curing Variety of applications Bonds heat sensitive components FLYING INTO THE UNKNOWN Suitable in thick sections eporters used to head out into the field with nothing Up to 0.125 inch but a notebook. But when IEEE Spectrum associate editor Michael Koziol [left] and contributing editor Evan Ackerman [right] traveled to East Africa last October, they had plenty No mixing required more gear to schlep. In addition to their laptops and digital One component systems recorders, they brought two DJI drones and an assortment of 360-degree video cameras. R The trip was part of an experiment in immersive storytelling. Koziol and Ackerman journeyed through Rwanda and Tanzania to Specific grades offer optical report on pioneering companies that are using small consumer drones clarity, dimensional stability for such tasks as delivering medical supplies and surveying roads. The and biocompatibility two gathered material for several articles, including a feature story about a company called Zipline that’s delivering blood to Rwanda’s rural hospitals [see “The Blood Is Here” in this issue]. They also sent their own drones aloft bearing their cameras, capturing footage for videos that learn how can be viewed online as part of our special report on drones in Africa. to an In these 360-degree videos the viewer can rotate the point of view in a use complete circle, to see everything on all sides of the camera. LED curing adhesive The reporters had to overcome various logistical and technical challenges to get their shots. First they had to navigate the maze of regulations that govern the flying of consumer drones, rules that differ from country to country. Because the technology is so new, the rules and procedures are a work in progress. And filming with the 360-degree cameras presented novel technical issues, says Ackerman, as he and Koziol had to consider everything that the viewer might see in the shot. There were two questions they often asked themselves, Ackerman says: “How do we make the whole scene interesting? And Scan to watch how do we hide from the camera?” The technology and the travel were funded by a generous grant from the IEEE Foundation. We thank the foundation for supporting Spectrum’s mission: covering emerging technology that can change the world, and using cutting-edge technology to do so. ■ 154 Hobart St., Hackensack, NJ 07601 USA +1.201.343.8983 • mainmasterbond.com 05.19 www.masterbond.com ZIPLINE 02 | MAY 2019 | SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG CONTRIBUTORS_ EDITOR IN CHIEF Susan Hassler, [email protected] ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER EXECUTIVE EDITOR Glenn Zorpette, [email protected] Felicia Spagnoli, [email protected] EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SENIOR ADVERTISING PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Harry Goldstein, [email protected] Nicole Evans Gyimah, [email protected] Peter Adams MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth A. Bretz, [email protected] EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD, IEEE SPECTRUM Adams is a former tech entrepreneur who found SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Susan Hassler, Chair; Steve Blank, David C. Brock, Sudhir Dixit, his true calling as a photographer specializing Mark Montgomery, [email protected] Shahin Farshchi, Limor Fried, Robert Hebner, Jason K. Hui, in capturing the tech industry. For this issue, he SENIOR EDITORS Grant Jacoby, Leah Jamieson, Mary Lou Jepsen, Deepa Kundur, Stephen Cass (Resources), [email protected] photographed IEEE Medal of Honor recipient Kurt Norberto Lerendegui, Steve Mann, Allison Marsh, Sofia Olhede, Petersen [p. 44]. When Petersen showed Adams Erico Guizzo (Digital), [email protected] Jacob Østergaard, Umit Ozguner, John Rogers, Jean Kumagai, [email protected] Jonathan Rothberg, Umar Saif, Takao Someya, examples of the tiny microelectromechanical Samuel K. Moore, [email protected] Maurizio Vecchione, Yu Zheng, Kun Zhou, Edward Zyszkowski systems he’d developed, he warned, “Careful, Tekla S. Perry, [email protected] these are so small, you could inhale them.” Adams EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD, THE INSTITUTE Philip E. Ross, [email protected] is happy to report that “no MEMS were ingested David Schneider, [email protected] Kathy Pretz, Chair; Qusi Alqarqaz, John Baillieul, Philip Chen, Shashank Gaur, Susan Hassler, Hulya Kirkici, Cecilia Metra, during the course of the photo shoot.” DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Brandon Palacio, [email protected] San Murugesan, Mirela Sechi Annoni Notare, Joel Trussell, PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Randi Klett, [email protected] Hon K. Tsang, Chonggang Wang ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Erik Vrielink, [email protected] SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, PUBLICATIONS Eliza Strickland, [email protected] Michael B. Forster Poppy Crum NEWS MANAGER Amy Nordrum, [email protected] EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE Crum is chief scientist at Dolby Laboratories ASSOCIATE EDITORS IEEE Spectrum, 3 Park Ave., 17th Floor, and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. Willie D. Jones (Digital), [email protected] New York, NY 10016-5997 Michael Koziol, [email protected] She has spoken frequently for the IEEE Tech TEL: +1 212 419 7555 FAX: +1 212 419 7570 SENIOR COPY EDITOR Joseph N. Levine, [email protected] BUREAU Palo Alto, Calif.; Tekla S. Perry +1 650 752 6661 for Humanity Series at the SXSW Conference. COPY EDITOR Michele Kogon, [email protected] A neuroscientist by training, Crum is dedicated DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Alan Gardner, [email protected] to developing technology that augments human MEDIA & ADVERTISING Mark David, [email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT capacity. In this issue [p. 38], she describes the Ramona L. Foster, [email protected] ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Naylor Association Solutions, benefits of upcoming hearable devices that will CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Evan Ackerman, Mark Anderson, Erik Henson +1 352 333 3443, [email protected] Robert N. Charette, Peter Fairley, Tam Harbert, Mark Harris, listen to our environments as well as our bodies, REPRINT SALES +1 212 221 9595, ext. 319 David Kushner, Robert W. Lucky, Prachi Patel, Morgen E. Peck, to know what we’re thinking and what we need. REPRINT PERMISSION / LIBRARIES Articles may be Richard Stevenson, Lawrence Ulrich, Paul Wallich photocopied for private use of patrons. A per-copy fee must EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE INSTITUTE be paid to the Copyright Clearance Center, 29 Congress Kathy Pretz, [email protected] St., Salem, MA 01970. For other copying or republication, ASSISTANT EDITOR, THE INSTITUTE contact Managing Editor, IEEE Spectrum. Andrew Driesman Joanna Goodrich, [email protected] COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS IEEE Spectrum is a Driesman, along with coauthors Jack Ercol, DIRECTOR, PERIODICALS PRODUCTION SERVICES Peter Tuohy registered trademark owned by The Institute of Electrical and Edward Gaddy, and Andrew Gerger, works at EDITORIAL & WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER Roy Carubia Electronics Engineers Inc.