Distribution: Direct Feedback from the Market +++ Microcontrollers: He Knew Them All +++ SoM Including 2D Graphics Engine for Beginners
“He Had Them All!” –
Embedded Industry Pioneer Harald Frank Retires
After 25 years with GLYN, Harald Frank (pictured on the left) is retiring and beginning a well-deserved new chapter. For many customers, manufacturers, and colleagues, he was far more than the Office Manager at GLYN’s Nettetal branch:
Harald was a microcontroller specialist, a SUPPORT legend, a motor-control enthusiast, and a source of ideas with an exceptional instinct for technical solutions.
Together with his PR colleague Bernd Haberzettl (pictured on the right), he looks back on a time filled with innovation, memorable trade-show campaigns, and legendary customer projects.
Bernd Haberzettl: Harald, if you had to describe your career at GLYN in just one sentence, what would it be?
Harald Frank: (laughs) Probably: “I had them all!” And by that, I really mean microcontrollers. From the first Mask-ROM systems and OTP devices to Flash technology, I had the opportunity to accompany virtually every stage in the evolution of the embedded world.
Bernd: Let’s go back to the year 2000. The embedded industry was on the verge of major change.
Harald: Absolutely. That was when the big transition began—from traditional custom microcontrollers to Flash-based systems. At the time, the Mitsubishi M16C was the controller everyone wanted. GLYN and Rein were direct competitors back then, with exhibition booths literally back-to-back at the Embedded Systems trade fair. Rein’s slogan was “Have you been flashed today?”, and GLYN replied with “This is where you flash it right.” Those were legendary days.
Bernd: And GLYN essentially invented the low-cost evaluation board back then?
Harald: Yes, it was truly revolutionary. A German-language supported M16C starter kit for just 50 Deutsche Marks. Today that may sound perfectly normal, but at the time it was a real game changer. Small and medium-sized businesses suddenly had an affordable and straightforward way to enter the world of modern microcontroller technology.
Bernd: Shortly afterward came your move to GLYN.
Harald: That was actually a special story. Under the influence of its then-owner Memec, Rein lost the Mitsubishi distribution agreement. For my eight-member MCU project team and me, the situation was clear: if we were going to continue, we wanted to do it properly. And so, on July 1, 2001, the GLYN Sales Office in Nettetal was established. Looking back, it was probably one of the most important decisions of my career.
Bernd: And at the same time, the beginning of GLYN’s incredible growth in the MCU business.
Harald: Those years were crazy. Demand for microcontrollers exploded. We won an enormous number of projects and developed into one of Germany’s leading MCU distributors. But that was only possible because engineering, support, and sales worked together perfectly.
Bernd: (laughs) SUPPORT was always your favorite topic.
Harald: Definitely. I have always believed that good technology alone is not enough. Customers need solutions and fast assistance. That belief also inspired many of our trade-show campaigns.
Bernd: For example, the legendary GLYN SUPPORT gas station at Embedded World?
Harald: Exactly! Visitors could “refuel” their knowledge by downloading information from USB sticks at a fuel pump. Back then, that was quite unique. Or our “GLYNOSAURUS Rex” campaign at the Senckenberg Museum, featuring motor- and microcontroller-driven dinosaur models. It was technically demanding—and wonderfully crazy at the same time.
Bernd: One of your best-known ideas, however, originated from a real customer problem involving cigarette vending machines with embedded technology and touch controls.
Harald: That was a classic case of practical thinking. The machines were running on PC boards. The problem was that pub owners would simply switch off the power at the end of the day. The next morning, the systems would regularly get stuck during boot-up. Our solution was a small M16C microcontroller acting as a piggyback module that managed the boot process reliably. The cost was around two euros per machine. Almost 1,000 vending machines were retrofitted overnight—and the problem was solved for good.
Bernd: That actually describes you perfectly: pragmatic, fast, and technically creative.
Harald: I think that’s exactly what I always enjoyed most. Not just selling products, but finding real solutions.
Bernd: Harald, thank you for 25 years of passion, creativity, and extraordinary dedication. And now the most important question: what comes after microcontrollers and motor control?
Harald: (smiles) Maybe it’s finally time to move things that don’t require a debugger.