Putzeys is one of the world's top designers of a type of audio amplifier known as class-D. These ultraefficient models are already dominant in multichannel sound systems, portable media players, cellphones, car stereos, and computers. Lately they have made inroads into the ostentatious world of high-end audio, where a component can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Their success there is due mostly to Putzeys.
In 2001, while working at Philips Applied Technologies in Leuven, Belgium, Putzeys designed a compact, versatile class-D amplifier module that he called UcD, for ”Universal class-D.” Over the past few years, dozens of amplifier models, with prices ranging from US $500 to $8,500, have been built around Putzeys's modules, which are now manufactured by Hypex Electronics of Groningen, Netherlands. The amps have received mostly ecstatic reviews.
For Putzeys, the success of the UcD boards has conferred professional freedom that's pretty rare for a 34-year-old EE. In May 2005, he followed his modules to Hypex, where he is now the chief tech guru".
Please see Hypex Electronics and Mola Mola Audio Products.
