The Amp Hour

Scott Hanson is founder and CTO of Ambiq, a pioneer in ultra-low-power semiconductor design based in Austin, Texas. He joins Chris to discuss tech transfer from his PhD research at the University of Michigan, sub-threshold and near-threshold transistor operation, building relationships with foundries like TSMC, and how Ambiq is leveraging edge AI, neural codecs, and scalable hardware architectures to redefine energy efficiency in embedded electronics.

Dave and Chris catch up on appliance repair nightmares, SDRs, open source silicon, LCD panels, and hardware security threats. In longer term news, Chris announces his new role as Developer Relations Lead at Hubble Network,

Eric Pan is the founder and CEO of Seeed Studio, an open-source hardware and manufacturing platform based in Shenzhen, China. He joins Chris to discuss Seeed’s journey from early open-source roots to modern robotics, navigating the hardware ecosystem in Shenzhen, bridging the gap between semiconductor companies and developers, and how physical AI and low-cost hardware platforms are transforming innovation.

Kjetil Meisal, CEO and co-founder of Norwegian semiconductor startup ONiO, joins Chris to discuss the development of ONiO.zero, a revolutionary batteryless microcontroller powered entirely by ambient energy harvesting.

Dave and Chris catch up on the shift toward practical hands-on engineering education at universities, open-source robotics, calculator forensics, mentoring young engineers, AI-assisted PCB layout tools, reverse-engineering scope RF sections, and why Chris wants to be “the Walmart greeter of electronics”