Welcome to Outside the Box!

Welcome to the “Outside the Box” blog-site!  “Outside the Box” will add frequent commentary about the modular instrument industry, embedded test, and other topics outside the domain of traditional box instrumentation.

Of course, there’s a second meaning to the phrase “Outside the Box”, which means to think creatively or from new perspectives. I hope to accomplish that as well. View this blog as a forum for these types of discussions.

The blog posts will be written by me, Larry Desjardin.  Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I’m a 34-year veteran of Hewlett Packard, now Agilent Technologies.  I retired late last year.  “Retirement” means something different for me than others. I started a consulting company, Modular Methods, and joined the four consortiums most critical for the modular instrumentation industry: VXI, PXI, AXIe and IVI.  You can read my bio here.

I have a passion for modular instrumentation.  I received the John Fluke Sr. Memorial Award for my role in helping create the VXIbus standard. I’m equally proud in having conceived and defined the legal structure of the VXIbus Consortium.  VXIbus was the first test and measurement standard governed by a consortium structure, and set the model for PXI System Alliance, LXI Consortium, IVI Foundation and the AXIe Consortium that followed. I’ve been part of teams that have created products based on all of these standards.  You will see in my blogs that I am a huge supporter of open systems based on industry standards. Compared with proprietary systems, these benefit the entire industry.

My career has largely been in R&D, though I have had stints in marketing, strategic planning, finance, and even human resources!  My final position at Agilent was General Manager of the Modular Product Operation, responsible for the massive launch of 48 products in September 2010.

Though I have a rich history with Agilent, my commentary will not favor any vendor.  I will call it the way I see it, and shine the spotlight on innovative ideas from across the industry.  This is what I like about modular instrumentation and the software and system architectures that surround it: it is a rich environment for innovation and creatively solving customer needs.

My topics will vary. Sometimes I will cover a major event in the industry. Other times I will offer perspectives that are not apparent from merely reading the straight news. My goal is to add a new post once a week, and more often if the situation demands or I feel particularly inspired. Some posts will confirm the obvious; others may be controversial and provocative. I hope all add some insight about the modular instrument industry and other alternatives to traditional test.

My final comment is a request: Please comment! Whether you agree, disagree, or have some other insight, post a comment. Let’s make this blog a forum where we can discuss some of the more disruptive changes affecting our industry, and modular instrumentation certainly is one of them.

It’s up to all of us to think outside the box!