Second Order Effects

05/26/2023

Join us for our LA happy hour and panel discussion on "Engineering the Space Economy" on Tuesday, June 6th at 6:00pm.

We have collected a group of accomplished founders and leaders working in the fields of space and engineering. Our featured panelists include Jaret Matthews of .space, Thomas Mueller of , Neel Kunjur of K2 Space Corporation, István Lőrincz of , and Max Haot of , as well as our moderator, Dennis Fong of .

Find out location details and register for your ticket with the event link in our bio.

01/17/2023

To further their climate research, JPL / NASA is flying the Airborne Scanning Microwave Limb Sounder (A-SMLS) aboard the ER-2 high altitude aircraft in order to measure naturally-occurring microwave thermal emission from the limb of Earth. SOE supported this mission by designing a PCB to test an analog-to-digital converter capable of 14 giga samples per second (GS/s).

To read about this project and others, visit https://soeffects.com/case-study/jpl-sx/

01/13/2023

In support of JPL/NASA, Second Order Effects (SOE) designed and built an evaluation board that tests a custom Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) capable of processing 14 Giga samples per second (GS/s) to measure naturally-occurring microwave thermal emission from the limb of Earth to remotely sense and analyze atmospheric gasses.

SOE embedded with JPL's Sub-Millimeter Wave Advanced Technology group, managing services like solving existing design challenges with part obsolescence and shortages to electrical verification and part delivery. Our design process follows a rigorous quality assurance verification that ensures hardware quality and reliability. To read more about this project and others, visit

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally-funded research and development center, managed by Caltech. Responsible for developing new technologies to further explore the universe, JPL has been at the forefront of climate change research. JPL / NASA is flying the Airborne Scanning Microwave Li...

01/12/2023

In support of JPL/NASA, Second Order Effects (SOE) designed and built an evaluation board that tests a custom Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) capable of processing 14 Giga samples per second (GS/s). This ADC will be used to measure naturally-occurring microwave thermal emissions from the limb of Earth to remotely sense and analyze atmospheric gasses.

For JPL, SOE provided a service that expedited the turn-time, cutting the leadtime to a quarter of what JPL expected internally. We designed to circumvent part obsolescence and shortages, developed a custom RFIC footprint for eventual wirebonding, managed the hardware through fabrication and assembly, performed electrical verification, and delivered hardware to support R&D testing for prospective flight-qualified hardware. To read more about this project and others, visit https://soeffects.com/case-study/jpl-sx/

12/27/2022

To reduce carbon emissions and food-delivery costs, Coco is developing food-delivery robots. Their vehicles can be spotted driving in Santa Monica, California as well as Austin and Houston, Texas.

In order to reduce the maintenance needs and increase the operable distance of their next generation vehicle, Coco’s engineering team wanted to replace their mechanical brakes with a regenerative electronic braking system.

Learn how Second Order Effects helped Coco by reading our case study. Visit http://soeffects.com or click the link in our bio.

12/26/2022

This evaluation board tests a custom frequency synthesizer covering the frequencies from 70-120GHz developed by JPL's own Sub-Millimeter Wave Advanced Technology group. This synthesizer is targeted at applications for radioastronomy, Earth and Planetary science.

For JPL, we provided a quality service that expedited the turn-time, cutting the leadtime to a quarter of what JPL expected internally. SOE embeds with our client's engineering team, managing services ranging from solving an existing design's issues with part obsolescence and shortages all the way through electrical verification and part delivery. To read about this project and more, visit soeffects.com.

12/22/2022

This evaluation board tests a custom frequency synthesizer covering the frequencies from 70-120GHz, developed by JPL's own Sub-Millimeter Wave Advanced Technology group. This synthesizer is targeted at applications for radioastronomy, Earth and Planetary science.

For JPL, we provided a service that expedited the turn-time, cutting the leadtime to a quarter of what JPL expected internally. We updated their evaluation board's design to circumvent part obsolescence and shortages, developed a custom RFIC footprint for eventual wirebonding, managed the hardware through fabrication and assembly, performed electrical verification, and delivered hardware to support R&D testing for prospective flight-qualified hardware. To learn more about this project and others, visit soeffects.com.

12/04/2022

Second Order Effects designed, simulated, prototyped, and completed a production run of 24 microwave downconverter modules for satellite communications for ground stations around the US. Designed to to study atmospheric propagation in W-Band, our module uses a frequency of 3.6 GHz and an IF output of 25 MHz with an adjustable gain of 75 dB.

12/03/2022

Second Order Effects designed, simulated, prototyped, and completed a production run of 24 microwave downconverter modules. Designed for satellite-to-ground communication, these modules filter and mix differing input and output signals and were specially made to focus on reducing image noise.

Read more about the project by checking out our case study at soeffects.com