The COVID-19 pandemic changed so much around our jobs, from how we work to where we work. It brought Zoom into the daily vernacular of the office, and for many of us, that office now bears a striking resemblance to our living room or den or study. One thing that COVID-19 didn’t seem to change…

Engineering leaders are not immune to that constant management mantra of motivate, motivate, motivate. In fact, some managers I’ve known seem to do little more than try to motivate others, with flowery speeches and too-long-to-read emails ending in statements like “This is going to be THE YEAR!!!” But in his book, What to say when…

According to research company BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) newly released 2022 Carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) Market Outlook, the global capacity for carbon capture in 2030 is set to increase sixfold from today’s level, to 279 million tons of CO2 captured per year. Drastic growth in the market has led to a 44% increase in expected…

With the new year always comes change. Here at Design World, we’re bidding adieu to two fantastic editors who are retiring after long and fruitful careers. Leslie Langnau, who served for more than a decade as this publication’s Managing Editor, has truly been my mentor here. She’s covered a bit of everything for us, with…

As a child, Antoinette Gant didn’t dream about a career in engineering or the military — she wanted to be an actress. Gant was part of a theater group in school, and that seemed like the perfect career to her, something in the theater arts. But her parents’ careers and influence showed her a different…

A digital transformation (DX or less commonly DT) is the application of software, programmable hardware, and operational technologies (OTs) to fundamentally transfigure a company’s operations and end products for the better. DX programs can be undertaken by industrial organizations, machine builders, or a vast array of other businesses; the involved OTs typically include machine-monitoring systems,…

Engineers who move up the so-called corporate ladder and become team leaders sometimes struggle with managing other employees. That can be because it was simply not part of their educational experience — or because their organizations are lacking in meaningful internal leadership development programs. One habit that new leaders can fall into is becoming advice…

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler If you are a kid living in the UK and want an engineering degree, you can get a free one by attending the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. James Dyson—probably best known for his invention of the bagless vacuum cleaner—set up…

I attended the recent Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston, and one of the highlights was hearing Jon Hirschtick’s keynote. Hirschtick is General Manager, Onshape and Atlas, PTC — and is famous in engineering circles as being the fellow who created Solidworks. He was also a member of the famed MIT Blackjack Team, which was the…

At the recent NFPA Annual Conference, I was eager to hear Peter Ziehan, the famed geopolitical analyst, and his take on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ziehan has been predicting this type of aggression from Putin for years, based on his country’s terrible societal demographics, which indicate a country slowly imploding. But what I came away…

By Dr. David Rizzo The F-35 Lightning II is an all-weather stealth combat aircraft built to perform warfare strike missions and electronic surveillance capabilities at speeds up to 1.6 Mach. Composites comprise 35% of the airframe weight, with the majority being bismaleimide, as well as some carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy — which has a tensile strength…

By Charles Tschaggeny, Tschaggeny Design In 1984, Lockheed ceased production of the L1011 TriStar airplane and exited the world of commercial aircraft for good. For Lockheed, its latest passenger jet had been heralded as a technological marvel but was, in fact, a business disaster. The TriStar is a fascinating story that clearly illustrates fundamental concepts…

In January, I talked about how engineers and scientists really are kindred spirits, as they play on the same team of knowledge seekers. And hopefully you read the fascinating “Leadership in Engineering” feature article on Dan Arvizu, the Chancellor of New Mexico State University, who has been a leader and a trailblazer his whole career.…

The first time Dan Arvizu thought about anything related to science or engineering was in the sixth grade. His teacher, John Price planted the seeds about a pathway that Arvizu hadn’t anticipated when he assigned the young student to write a paper on what matter was. Price was “one of the first people who gave…

Although I am a degreed engineer, I’ve always felt a kinship with scientists; I suppose it’s that we’re playing for the same team of knowledge seekers. As a kid, I was attracted to subjects like meteorology and astronomy, and on many nights, you could find me in the backyard or at a star party with…

By Timothy McCrea, Market Segment Manager – Aftermarket, Hägglunds – Bosch Rexroth Corp. Hydraulic systems are proven, versatile and dependable technologies used in mining operations on equipment such as auger drives, drilling machines, mobile crushers, apron feeders, breakers, belt conveyors, and more. In particular, radial-piston, direct drive hydraulic motors are well-suited for these applications because…

At last month’s NFPA International Economic Outlook Conference, John Manzella, of the Manzella Report, spoke on “Labor, International Trade, and What’s Ahead,” an insightful talk to the 200-ish attendees, many of whom were manufacturing executives in the fluid power realm. Manzella had few kind words for politicians on either side of the aisle, and I…

At the National Fluid Power’s annual International Economic Outlook Conference, Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics spoke on “U.S. & Global Macro Trends and Impacts,” and the overall outlook is positive for the manufacturing world. In examining the U.S. economic leading trends, it seems clear that there will be a slowing ascent in the next calendar…

After a full 15 months of being homebound, it was exciting — and a little daunting — to take my first business trip since the COVID-19 pandemic began. But it was great to see other fully vaccinated people meeting and networking at the NAHAD Annual Convention in Scottsdale, and wonderful to feel even a little…

By Leslie Langnau Early in the 3D printing industry, there were efforts to take wood byproducts and use that material to make parts. These early efforts were interesting for the novelty. Today, however, there’s a more serious effort to turn wood into a usable 3D printable material. Desktop Metal launched Forust, a process to sustainably…

As we move through our careers, it’s often interesting to watch the trajectory of our peers and compare their paths to our own. In many companies, there’s a natural corporate ladder we all climb, sometimes in stops and starts, depending on the overall structure. But we’ve all seen coworkers who rise faster, deftly navigate past…

When it comes to sustainability, plastics have a bad reputation among many consumers. “The problem here lies less in the explicit use thereof, for plastic has a number of positive material properties. It’s not just unbreakable and flexible, for instance, but also effectively protects the packaged item from various damaging factors,” said Martin Thyssen, packaging…

By Chris Noble, Business Development F&B/IIoT Consultant Emerson Automation Solutions Today’s packaging machines are becoming better equipped with sophisticated automation systems that often include some type of pneumatics technology for actuation, filling, positioning, palletizing, depalletizing, etc. However, the digitalization and IoT benefits that can be realized from modern pneumatic systems are often overlooked. The packaging…

The news has been filled with cyberattacks on a number of companies’ networking systems, several of which are critical to the U.S. economy. As the IoT, IIoT, Industry 4.0, and similar networks inch forward, recent digital events on networking held sessions on how to secure the transmission of data. One of those sessions was at…

Pneumatic solenoid valves make it possible to remotely operate and automate equipment, with a range of product and technology options available for upgrading designs. By Kevin Kakascik and Pat Phillips, AutomationDirect Pneumatic systems provide one of the essential methods designers can employ to create motion and force for equipment and manufacturing systems. These systems are…