Electronics, energy and space

Semiconductors, telecom, electric vehicles, batteries, clean power and space.

29 stories · 23 Aug 2026 to 29 Oct 2026

Where are electronics, communication and energy engineering heading?

The hardware side of engineering is being pulled in two directions at once: towards ever smaller and more specialised chips, and towards very large systems such as power grids, satellite networks and electric-vehicle charging. Nepal sits close to both, as a hydropower exporter, a fast-growing electric-vehicle market and a country that depends on mobile networks. This section follows the stories that change what an electronics, communication or information engineer will design, test or maintain, with the source for each and a note on what it means for a BEI student.

All programmes 20BCE Civil 4BCT Computer 8BEI Electronics 20

Electronics, energy & space4 Nov, 8:05 am · 5 min read

Spacewalkers fit the seventh roll-out solar array to the space station

NASA says the new arrays will lift the station's power generation from 160 kW to about 215 kW. The eighth and last is due on 5 November.

For you: The space station runs entirely on the power it generates and stores. Its original arrays have degraded over more than two decades, so the new roll-out arrays are a lesson in maintaining an ageing power plant without switching it off, the same problem utilities face on Earth.

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Electronics, energy & space29 Oct, 7:40 am · 3 min read

NIO Firefly adds a 60 kWh pack with CATL Qilin cells and 560 km CLTC range

The larger pack raises rated range from 420 km to 560 km and keeps the three-minute battery swap.

For you: Range and cost trade off through pack size and chemistry. Here one car offers two packs with different chemistries, which makes the trade-off easy to read. The launch also shows battery swapping used for a small, lower-priced car.

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Electronics, energy & space18 Oct, 2:10 pm · 5 min read

Nvidia adds AI agents to chip and fab workflows

The new cuPotential library targets molecular simulation, while partners report faster fab simulations and inspection workflows.

For you: AI infrastructure requires more than faster model training; chipmakers also need to design, simulate, inspect and manufacture hardware efficiently. Applying accelerated computing to tools used in fabs could help shorten development cycles, though each claimed speedup depends on the workload and baseline.

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Electronics, energy & space18 Oct, 2:07 pm · 5 min read

ASML says AI chip demand may outrun tool supply through 2028

The chipmaking-equipment supplier raised its 2026 outlook and said current production plans will not meet customer demand in 2027 or 2028.

For you: ASML’s lithography systems are a key part of advanced chip manufacturing. A shortage of production tools can limit how quickly chipmakers expand capacity, even when they have funding and demand. The report adds a manufacturing bottleneck to the AI infrastructure debate.

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Electronics, energy & space18 Oct, 2:04 pm · 5 min read

Qualcomm unveils 5G fixed-wireless platform with Wi-Fi 8

The Dragonwing FWA Gen 6 Elite combines a 5G modem, satellite-network support, tri-band Wi-Fi 8 and an onboard neural processor.

For you: Fixed wireless uses cellular networks to provide a home or business internet connection. Combining 5G, satellite features and a newer Wi-Fi generation could broaden connectivity choices, but service quality depends on spectrum, signal, backhaul and network capacity.

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Electronics, energy & space18 Oct, 2:01 pm · 5 min read

Rovers inspect dangerous mines before crews enter

An Australian robotics firm uses lidar, cameras and gas sensors on remotely operated rovers to survey hazardous tunnels before workers go in.

For you: This is a physical-AI example with a clear safety purpose: move sensors into places that are dark, hot, unstable or lack GPS before sending people. It also shows how robotics depends on rugged hardware, communications, sensing and maintainable software working together.

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Electronics, energy & space17 Oct, 4:10 pm · 7 min read

US grid plan combines wire upgrades with live line ratings

DOE says the Virginia and West Virginia project could add an estimated 290 MW on Appalachian Power's Virginia system by upgrading existing corridors.

For you: The announcement is about a U.S. project, not a new Nepal grid plan. Its engineering relevance is how utilities can increase transfer capability by changing conductors and measuring real operating conditions on existing lines. BEI students can connect the topic to electrical circuits, line heating, sag limits, protection and system operation, while keeping the project's estimate separate from the general engineering principles.

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Electronics, energy & space17 Oct, 4:00 pm · 6 min read

TE launches Mini FAKRA for faster vehicle data links

The new connector system is rated for RF performance up to 9 GHz and data transmission up to 24 Gbps, aimed at cameras, ADAS and connected vehicles.

For you: Vehicle systems increasingly join cameras, radios and central computers through high-speed links. The engineering lesson for a BEI student is to distinguish the connector's RF performance claim from an end-to-end data rate, then check cable, transceiver, protocol and test conditions. This is a global component announcement, not evidence that Nepali vehicles currently use this system.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 3:03 pm · 6 min read

Sodium-ion batteries scale up, but deliveries are still unconfirmed

CATL has added 40 GWh of sodium-ion capacity and signed a 60 GWh deal, yet no storage delivery had been independently confirmed by early October.

For you: Sodium-ion cells use no lithium or cobalt and work in cold weather, which could suit Nepal's hills and cheap home storage if prices fall. The current tender prices show they are not yet cheaper than lithium iron phosphate. Students should learn to separate announced targets from delivered products. For BEI projects, the practical point is that a different chemistry changes voltage curves and battery management settings, so charger and BMS design must be adjusted for each cell type.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:59 pm · 6 min read

Nepal Telecom to lay 2,216 km of fibre in Gandaki and Lumbini

A Rs 2.01 billion rural fund grant will carry fibre broadband to 194 local levels and 432 mobile towers in two provinces within three years.

For you: Fibre backhaul is what decides whether a hill-district tower gives usable 4G and, later, 5G. A project of this size needs engineers who can plan routes, splice and test fibre with an OTDR, configure DWDM and IP routing, and keep remote sites powered. These are core BEI topics in optical and data communication, and the routing side overlaps with BCT networking courses. Rural rollouts like this one are also where many Nepali telecom graduates get their first site jobs.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:53 pm · 6 min read

India's green hydrogen plants run far behind announced capacity

India has about 65 to 70 MW of electrolysers running against 25 GW announced, as weak demand and high costs slow big projects.

For you: Nepal has often discussed using surplus monsoon hydropower to make green hydrogen for fertiliser or transport. India's experience shows the bottleneck is cost and buyers, not only technology. An electrolyser is a large power-electronics load, so engineers who understand rectifiers, grid connection and the economics of running on cheap off-peak power will matter if Nepal tries it. Students writing a project or thesis on hydrogen should start from the cost gap these figures show.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:47 pm · 6 min read

India targets 1 billion 5G users by 2030 and claims 7,700 6G patents

At India Mobile Congress, the telecom minister said 5G users should double by 2030 and that India will host the ITU's top conference that year.

For you: India is Nepal's nearest large telecom market and a major employer of Nepali engineers. Its 5G expansion and 6G research create demand for radio planning, network operations, and RF and baseband design, which grow out of BEI communication courses. Patent counts show research intent, not products, so students should read them with care. Nepal still has no commercial 5G, so engineers with hands-on Indian 5G experience may be well placed when Nepal's own rollout happens.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:41 pm · 6 min read

General Fusion heats plasma past 1 keV by squeezing it with metal

General Fusion's LM26 machine pushed plasma electrons above 12 million degrees Celsius using slow mechanical compression instead of lasers or magnets.

For you: Fusion experiments run on electronics. LM26 depends on pulsed-power circuits that dump huge currents in milliseconds, fast data acquisition and plasma diagnostics like Thomson scattering, which needed custom optics and timing to fit a cramped machine. These are instrumentation, power electronics and signal processing problems taught in BEI. Students should treat company timelines for net energy with caution; the measurable result here is the temperature, confirmed by two instruments and a national lab partner.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:35 pm · 5 min read

US approves construction of its first commercial small modular reactor

The NRC gave TVA a permit to build a 300 MW BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Tennessee after a 14-month review.

For you: Small modular reactors are being pitched to countries and industries that need steady power without building a gigawatt plant. Nepal has no nuclear plans, but the same story drives demand for engineers in instrumentation and control, grid protection and plant electrical design, fields that BEI and electrical graduates enter abroad. Civil engineers see it in containment and seismic structural work. The main lesson for students is that licensing, safety cases and standards take as long as the engineering, and that documentation skills matter.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:29 pm · 5 min read

SpaceX Starship reaches orbit and deploys 26 Starlink satellites

Starship's 14th flight was its first to reach orbit and first to deliver working satellites, though engine faults ended it about seven hours early.

For you: Starship is meant to launch the larger third-generation Starlink satellites in bulk, which shapes the cost and capacity of satellite internet in remote areas. Low-earth-orbit broadband will keep coming up in Nepal's telecom policy debates and in the work of its telecom operators. The engineering behind it, phased-array antennas, inter-satellite laser links and handover between fast-moving satellites, is advanced communication material that builds on BEI courses in antennas and wireless systems.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:23 pm · 5 min read

India expects 45 to 50 GWh of grid batteries within two years

India's grid battery storage jumps from about 1 GWh to a planned 45 to 50 GWh by 2028, though rising cell prices put some projects at risk.

For you: Batteries are being added to India's grid to move midday solar power into the evening peak, the same problem Nepal faces in reverse with dry-season evenings. Each project needs power conversion systems, battery management, protection and control software, which are BEI power electronics and control topics. Indian storage developers and integrators are hiring now. Nepal will likely add grid batteries alongside solar and hydro, and engineers who understand inverter control and grid codes will be needed here as well.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:17 pm · 5 min read

China's 2026-2030 battery plan targets solid-state cells by 2030

Seven Chinese agencies set goals for early large-scale use of all-solid-state batteries, 15,000-cycle lithium cells and parts-per-billion defect rates.

For you: Most batteries in Nepal's electric cars, e-scooters and home inverters come from Chinese factories, so Chinese targets set what will be on sale here. A 15,000-cycle cell would change the cost of solar-plus-storage for rural Nepal. For students, the growth area is not only chemistry but the battery management system: cell monitoring, balancing, thermal sensing and state-of-charge estimation. Those are embedded systems and power electronics topics in BEI, and a used-battery recycling rule will also matter as Nepal's early EV packs age.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:11 pm · 5 min read

Mercedes gets first access to ProLogium's Gen4 solid-state cells

ProLogium claims 400 Wh/kg and a 5 to 80 percent charge in 6.4 minutes for its new cells, which Mercedes will put through independent tests.

For you: Claims of 400 Wh/kg and six-minute charging are the kind of numbers students see in headlines. The useful habit is to ask who measured them and how: here they are the maker's own figures until Mercedes and outside labs report. Fast charging at this rate also means very high currents, so charger design, cooling and grid connection become the hard part. Those are power electronics and thermal problems that BEI graduates working on EV chargers in Nepal will meet.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 2:04 pm · 5 min read

Five million industrial robots now work in factories worldwide

The IFR's World Robotics 2026 report counts more than 600,000 new robots installed in 2025, with China taking 59 percent and India rising 15 percent.

For you: Every industrial robot needs people to integrate, program and maintain it: motor drives, PLCs, sensors, machine vision and safety interlocks. India's steady growth matters most for Nepali graduates, because Indian automotive and electronics plants hire integration and maintenance engineers and are a common first job abroad. Students can prepare with control systems, microcontroller and PLC programming, and a robotics or mechatronics project. Nepal's own factories are only starting to automate, so the skill is still uncommon here.

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Electronics, energy & space11 Oct, 1:58 pm · 5 min read

3GPP Madrid meeting sets 6G groundwork for Release 21

The September 3GPP plenary closed the 5G-Advanced Release 20 architecture and settled how early 6G networks will run alongside 5G.

For you: Students who enter a BEI programme now will graduate just as 6G specifications are written and the first trial networks appear. Topics named at this meeting, such as sensing built into the radio, AI inside the network and spectrum sharing between generations, are likely to shape telecom job descriptions in the 2030s. Reading 3GPP documents is a learnable skill, and the basics of OFDM, MIMO and protocol stacks taught in communication courses are the foundation for all of it.

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How these are written

Each story names the outlets it came from and the date, and none of the wording is theirs. If a figure changes after we wrote it, the source link is the place to check.

21 earlier stories in this section were read against their sources by Kristaline Thapaliya, news editor, on 11 October 2026. 8 stories added 17 October 2026 are AI-assisted and have not yet been reviewed by faculty.

Updated 17 October 2026 by Imperial College of Engineering. 8 new stories added 17 October 2026 await faculty review.