Our Research

Driving Innovation

Fundamental Research
Driving Your Growth

At NWES, we provide innovative companies the advice and insights they need to determine their path to further growth. We aid R&D and NPI efforts for new hardware and software products. We deliver the insight, benchmarks, and facts that allow our clients to make the right technology decisions.

Our PI has a broad range of experience and proven track record in a number of basic and applied research areas. This makes NWES the ideal choice for cutting edge research on topics in the physical sciences and engineering. We've worked with private industry and government on topics in the following areas:

• SI/PI-driven interconnect design for PCBs, HDI/UHDI PCBs, and IC substrates
• RF+digital systems, including mmWave and sensing applications
• Optical systems, lasers, and imaging systems
• Optimization techniques for engineering problems in these areas (heuristics, evolutionary algorithms, and AI-driven optimization)

Meet Our PI

Zachariah Peterson is the founder of Northwest Engineering Solutions. He conducted his Applied Physics Ph.D. research in ZnO random laser theory and stability and his M.Sc. Physics research in chemisorptive sensors for environmental monitoring at Portland State University. He also received his MBA (Leadership & Finance) from Adams State University. His research work post-academia includes topics in laser theory, electronics and optoelectronics, finance, and optimization problems applied to these areas.

Currently, Zachariah works with PCB design and manufacturing companies, as well as aerospace and defense electronics OEMs, bringing technological insights and foresight to their product development process. His goal is to help his clients remain competitive and demonstrate technical leadership in a quickly evolving technological landscape.

Signal Integrity in UHDI PCBs and IC Substrates

The next stage of miniaturization in electronics design is ultra-high density interconnect (UHDI), where PCBs start to resemble IC substrates produced with additive manufacturing processes. As designs are scaled down, signal inegrity requires a new approach to material selection, PCB layout, and routing.

• Signal Integrity in thin PCB layers - What happens to PCB signal integrity as layers get thin, particularly wideband impedance and crosstalk.
• Ultra-low Dk materials - Signal integrity and design approaches in low loss, low-Dk materials in standard UHDI builds.
• Interconnects at 224G and beyond - Design and analysis of transmission lines and vias to function at 224G-PAM4, upcoming 448G, and beyond.
• Manufacturing tolerances at UHDI - How pressout, etch and deposition variations, and misregistration impact signal integrity.

mmWave Interconnects and Emitters

As microwave systems become more advanced and run at higher frequencies, proper design and optimization of interconnects has become more important for ensuring signal integrity. We focus on wideband design optimization techniques and emitter designs to support client projects and contribute to the research literature.

• Interconnect design - Fundamental thoery and model extraction to support high-speed/high-frequency interconnect designs.
• Wideband optimization - Applying wideband optimization techniques to interconnect design for 100G+ digital and sub-THz RF systems.
• Waveguides and emitters - Design, analysis, and optimization of unique PCB waveguides and emitters for mmWave systems.

Electromagnetics in Random Systems

Random systems like PCB substrates, nanoparticle agglomemrations, and semi-ordered cavities present very rich mathematics and physics, as well as potential practical applications based on wave propagation in linear or nonlinear random media. Exmaple applications include tunable ultra-narrowband emitters, high-Q nanolasers for photonics applications, and light sources for high-resolution speckle-free imaging.

• Random lasing - Topics of interest include fundamental time-dependent theory, including nonlinear materials, nonlinear stability, and equilibrium approach issues during long and short pump pulse times.
• Propagation in random media - A new area for NWES, we focus on developing fundamental theory describing wave propagtion in random media, such as in fiberglass epoxy substrates for PCBs.