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In an August 2022 interview, newly appointed EE Times editor-in-chief Brett Brune described a goal for the publication: make technically rigorous coverage more useful to design engineers through direct reporting, clearer storytelling and sustained follow-up. The conversation is best read as a statement of intent—not as evidence of what changed afterward.
The episode and its moment
“Meet EE Times’ New Editor in Chief, Brett Brune” is Episode 180 of EE Times’ Weekly Briefing, published August 1, 2022. Hosted by Eric Singer, the 20-minute, 29-second interview includes a full transcript. Brune was speaking on his first official day in the role, as EE Times marked its 50th year of publishing. The Weekly Briefing archive describes the series as an electronics-industry podcast; this particular episode is shorter than the series’ roughly 30-minute description.
The timing matters. The episode frames electronics—from sensors and connected devices to semiconductors and power systems—as increasingly woven into everyday life. Against that backdrop, the interview asks what kind of journalism EE Times should offer engineers and industry readers. It is an introductory leadership profile, not a technical tutorial or a later assessment of Brune’s tenure.
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The episode presents Brune as a journalist and editor with experience connected to major US newspapers, including The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle, as well as technology publications Smart Grid Today and Smart Manufacturing Magazine. These are credentials as described in the interview, not a complete independently verified résumé; the roles varied and should not be read as identical positions at each outlet.
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Brune said he grew up in Iowa, studied abroad in Portugal and Austria, and developed an early interest in journalism through school broadcasting and student newspapers. He also described college internships at The Des Moines Register. His career examples ranged widely: investigative reporting on a real-estate developer’s treatment of retirement-home residents, healthcare business and proteomics reporting, and coverage of power systems, semiconductors and manufacturing.
One investigative story, as Brune recounted it, helped lead to land and money being returned to residents. He also discussed reporting on the selection of a team to develop a national smart-grid roadmap during the Obama administration. These examples illustrate the kind of consequential reporting he valued, but the episode is the source for the accounts and does not independently document their outcomes.
“Shoe-leather” reporting for technical subjects
Brune described himself as devoted to “shoe leather reporting”: going out to meet people, conducting face-to-face interviews, listening carefully and following curiosity rather than relying only on secondhand accounts. The approach connects investigative instincts with technical journalism. A story about a factory, a power network or a chip process becomes more than a summary of announcements when reporters examine how it works, who is affected and what practical consequences follow.
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That method is particularly relevant in engineering coverage, where a product claim or policy announcement can obscure the trade-offs beneath it. Brune’s stated ideal was reporting that can influence how institutions and industries act. It is an editorial philosophy he expressed in 2022, not proof that every subsequent EE Times story used this method.
The technology territory he brought to EE Times
Rather than laying out a formal department plan, Brune discussed fields that overlapped with his previous work and interests. They span several connected areas:
- Chips and photonics: semiconductor manufacturing, photonic integrated circuits, lasers integrated onto PICs, silicon photonics, co-packaged optics and silicon carbide chips.
- Power and electrification: power distribution and storage, smart grids, electric vehicles, wind farms, green energy and broader electrification.
- Manufacturing and industrial technology: automation, industrial IoT, smart factories, robotics, advanced manufacturing institutes, flexible hybrid electronics and functional fabrics.
- Security and connectivity: cybersecurity, embedded security, RFID, ZigBee and smart cities.
- Biomedical and life sciences: healthcare technology and business, including proteomics.
The range reflects how electronics cuts across sectors: a semiconductor process affects factory operations; power infrastructure shapes electrification; and sensors or connectivity can connect products to larger systems. Breadth can help readers see those links, though it also creates an editorial challenge: a publication serving many industries must keep each story specific enough to be useful.
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What “actionable” coverage means for engineers
Brune said EE Times should continue providing actionable information for design engineers, rather than directing its attention only to C-suite readers. In practical terms, that ambition points toward coverage that explains application context and engineering consequences—not just who announced what. Readers need to understand constraints, design choices, manufacturing implications and where a technology fits, while executives may also need the business and market context.
He also advocated more human, multidimensional stories: explain the people solving problems, use anecdotes to make developments understandable, and identify technologies that may create both opportunities and new difficulties. Storytelling can make a complex subject easier to follow, but it cannot substitute for technical evidence. The challenge is to make the engineering legible without smoothing away the details that matter.
Brune mentioned concrete industrial examples, including a MetraLabs mobile robot that, according to his account, Infineon used to cut clean-room data-collection time from 300 minutes to 10 minutes. He also highlighted three semiconductor-manufacturing developments: lasers on photonic integrated circuits, silicon-based PICs and co-packaged optics. Those figures and descriptions belong to the interview’s account; they are not independently verified measurements here.
Other examples included the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America initiative, with applications in aerospace, defense and medical products, and the US manufacturing innovation institutes NextFlex and PowerAmerica. Together, the examples show why Brune saw manufacturing and infrastructure as central to electronics journalism: innovation is not limited to the chip itself, but also involves materials, processes, facilities and deployment.
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The interview raised a familiar tension for a fast-moving industry: publish more and respond quickly, but do not sacrifice readability or care. Brune said volume mattered, while rejecting output at the expense of clear, considered writing. He recalled an editing practice from his Los Angeles Times experience in which major stories were read aloud before publication—a way to catch awkwardness and test whether prose could be followed by a reader.
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That emphasis is not a call to make technical coverage shallow. It is a case for presenting complexity in a form engineers can absorb and use. Calm writing can distinguish what is known from what remains uncertain, and keep a development’s significance in proportion rather than amplifying every announcement as a breakthrough.
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Follow the story, not just the announcement
Brune’s stated approach combined speed with continuity. A useful coverage cycle would identify an important development, explain its technical and business context, connect it to applications, and return to it as evidence or consequences emerge. That means treating a first report as the beginning of coverage rather than the entire story.
For readers, the distinction is meaningful: an initial alert may establish that a product, policy or process exists; explanatory reporting can show why it matters; and follow-up can test early claims against deployment, manufacturing realities or industry response. Brune advocated iterative updates and developing-story coverage. The episode records that ambition, but does not establish how consistently it was carried out later.
What the interview establishes—and what it does not
The podcast is a useful historical source for how Brune introduced his background and described his editorial priorities in August 2022. It establishes the episode’s date, format and stated plans, and provides Brune’s own account of experiences and interests. It does not establish his current position in 2026, measure the results of his tenure, or show that EE Times implemented every idea discussed.
The episode page also closes with a promotion for the 2022 edition of EE Times’ Silicon 100, described as covering startups in areas such as materials, packaging, quantum computing and security. Its mention of a 15% discount code was part of that historical promotion and should not be treated as a valid current offer.
Read on its own terms, the interview presents Brune’s editorial proposition as a combination of reporting discipline, broad technical curiosity, practical relevance for engineers and follow-through. Whether that proposition reshaped EE Times is a separate question requiring evidence beyond this introductory conversation.
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