CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 7

When Phononic, a maker of temperaturecontrol devices and systems, decided
several years ago to enter the cloistered
solid-state cooling market, its founders
took a traditional approach to new
product development.
Thermoelectric coolers-solid-state devices
in which an electrical current passes from
one conductive material to another-
hold many advantages over traditional
mechanical refrigeration systems. They
are small, silent, easy to maintain, and
allow for precise temperature control. But
their relatively high cost and limits on
their cooling effectiveness begged for a
technology solution.
Phononic began with a "feeds and speeds"
mindset, according to Mark McClear,
until recently Chief Operating Officer at
Phononic. The aim was to build a better,
cheaper version of the products that the
small number of existing manufacturers
had been making for years.
"We tried that for a year or two-trying
to convince people to switch to a product
that was 10% or 20% better than the
one from the vendor they already had a
relationship with," says McClear, a veteran
of the semiconductor industry. It didn't
work. That's when they decided to try
something different: to begin the product
design process with the customer in mind.

The company hired systems and
applications engineers from companies
like GE, Whirlpool, and Electrolux who had
decades of experience serving heating
and cooling customers. "They knew what
customers' pain points were," McClear says.
Phononic also began working directly with
future customers to develop entirely new
thermoelectric designs. Legacy vendors
had taken a standardized approach to
product forms-"the old Henry Ford
approach: you can have any color car you
want as long as it's black," McClear says.
"We started making products that were
application specific-the exact size and
power our customers needed. We were
able to develop products that go into
spaces people didn't believe could
be done."
The user-centric approach to product
design, marrying customer input with
new technology development, resulted
in an array of new products. For
example, Phononic has collaborated with
customers to create a custom cooling
system designed to safely dispense
vaccines. It has drawn on user input to
craft tiny thermoelectric devices for
cooling high-speed, fiber-optic cables.
"A big part of our success," says McClear,
"has involved good old-fashioned
listening to customers."

07



CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3

Contents
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover1
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover2
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 1
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Contents
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 3
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 4
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 5
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 6
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 7
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 8
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CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue3
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue2
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue1
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