DIGITAL ISSUES • DESIGN WORLD

The January 2026 issue of Design World opens the year by looking at emerging engineering innovations, from robotic microfactories rebuilding homes after natural disasters to power-dense motors pushing the boundaries of supersonic flight. This issue explores what’s possible when advanced mechanics, motion control, and intelligent systems converge. You’ll also find practical guidance for working engineers…

It’s been a vibrant year for engineering content. In this December 2025 issue, we cover advanced technologies that enable new design possibilities, improve efficiency and productivity, and give companies a competitive advantage. We also showcase the rebranding of the Engineer’s Edge, our 3x-per-week newsletter that brings you educational, up-to-date news right to your inbox. If…

 This issue of Design World (the 2025 Casebook) details how smart motion is redefining manufacturing. For example, hydraulics retrofits recently doubled throughput in one Canadian operation. Another operation’s robotics are now scalable through advanced embedded control. Across applications, mechanical precision is meeting digital intelligence to transform decades-old equipment as well as new installations. Whether…

A note from the editor As 2025 winds down, engineering innovation shows no signs of slowing. This month’s issue explores the rise of intelligent automation — where AI, data, and design converge to create smarter, more efficient systems. From smart bearings that fuel predictive maintenance to ultrasonic sensors and next-gen motion control, our features highlight…

A note from the editor Every October, our publications celebrate diversity in the workplace by sharing stories of successful engineers from various walks of life. Design World’s annual Engineering Diversity + Inclusion special issue highlights some of these stories, and you can find many more timeless tales of engineering successes on engineering.com/category/edi. This year, we…

A note from the editor As we enter the final quarter of 2025, we remain amazed by the continued advancements and refinements in technology and engineering. This issue focuses on applied innovation across manufacturing, motion, and automation, with an emphasis on solutions that improve performance, reliability, and sustainability in production environments. Features include additive manufacturing…

Inspiration courtesy of Uber I wasn’t looking to be inspired when I called for an Uber to the airport. I was flying to an industry conference and simply wanted safe transportation — and the opportunity to unwind from an already busy morning at work. But the ride proved eye-opening and put some things in needed…

Help wanted: AI-enabled manufacturer seeking intelligent people and robots Technology is no substitute for talent, but when you lose skilled labor and neglect to nurture a pipeline, technology solutions can help bridge the gap. Most industry reports published within the past few years indicate that manufacturers worldwide are prioritizing upskilling and reskilling their current workforce,…

Motion control marches on 2025 marks the 15th year that Design World has published a Motion Systems Handbook special issue. The first one was way back in 2011. In that first handbook, the focus was on the basics of individual components used in motion systems, with subsequent editions emphasizing selection criteria as well as interesting…

How much do you earn? Quite a few years ago, I recorded a video for our publication’s YouTube channel entitled, “What is your engineering degree worth?” The video really took off, eventually racking up more than 150,000 views, and it’s still going today. The video delved into the cost of an engineering degree here in…

It starts at the kitchen table Partnerships have been a recurring theme at the industry events I’ve attended thus far this year. Many organizations understand the need for manufacturers, academia, and government to work collaboratively to understand where we’re at, where we need to go, and how to get there. Technology is catching up to…

Looking at the state of geopolitics in 2025 At the recent National Fluid Power Association’s Annual Conference in Tucson, brothers Alex and Eugene Chausovsky of the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy spoke about geopolitical disruption and what it can mean for manufacturers. They highlighted how today we have a multipolarity in the world,…

Remember what Beaulieu said about tariffs. In late January of this year, I was fortunate enough to see our industry’s beloved economist Alan Beaulieu present at the A3 Business Forum in Orlando. As he’s announced his retirement, that keynote was likely the last time folks in our industry will get hear him speak. Beaulieu will…

Is your company a top workplace for engineers? What makes a company a great place to work? Is it the flexible hours or lunchroom ping pong tournaments? Is it the paid time off or tuition reimbursement? Or maybe the medical benefits and retirement matching? Everyone has different values and priorities when it comes to employment…

Trends include the practical and exotic This year Design World is taking a different tack for its coverage of Trends. We begin the year covering a representative collection of stories (as found in this issue) that typify larger shifts we’re seeing in the industry. We’ll follow with in-depth pieces in coming months highlighting the input…

Blending custom built with assembly line One of the more interesting site visits I’ve been on was a recent tour of Celebrity Cruises’ forthcoming ship, the Celebrity Xcel, at shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s drydock in Saint-Nazaire, France. The facility is the largest assembly dock in Europe, with 3,800 employees and another 6,200 contractors on site.…

27,300 engineers are missing from the future The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) predicts that 114,800 new jobs will be created in the U.S. semiconductor industry by 2030. However, it expects more than half of those jobs to go unfilled. Of the 67,000 vacancies, nearly 27,300 are pegged for engineers at the bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D.…

What will manufacturing look like this year? Although it may seem to some that manufacturing rarely changes these days, being a relatively mature fixture of American life, there are definite fits and starts. Over the past few decades, we’ve seen globalization, trade deals like NAFTA, offshoring, reshoring, supply chain crunches, local-for-local manufacturing, and other political…

What are the top workplaces for engineers? We’re going to find out! Over the past year, we’ve been busy working with our new sister publication Engineering.com, striving to create more meaningful content to help you in your engineering career. We’ve always brought you exceptional technical engineering content and pertinent industry news, but we’ve had feedback…

The devil is in the details Design World’s annual Casebook is one of our favorites. After all, there are few things more satisfying than a well-detailed application story about how a certain set of components and systems solved a specific set of requirements. Such case studies are notoriously hard to procure, in large part because…

In this special edition: Kawasaki works with partners on CL Series cobot applications Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc. demonstrated the latest additions to its portfolio, including the CL Series collaborative robots, at IMTS. Plus One introduces dual armed InductOne; Pitney Bowes automates parcel induction As they pass through warehouses and other facilities, many items are handled…

Congratulations to this year’s LEAP Award winners It’s that season when we recognize and celebrate engineering innovations through our annual LEAP (Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program) Awards. Each year, we receive a sample of the outstanding contributions engineers make to industries worldwide. Our esteemed judging panel, which includes experts from various fields in academia and…

The importance of the ally When I was young, a certain celebrity was afflicted with a medical condition. After their diagnosis, the celebrity suddenly became an outspoken advocate for pouring money into research to treat that condition. People kept calling this person brave, which struck me as odd and inaccurate. At the time, all of…

Adding to your career knowledge One of the most exciting things we’ve experienced over the past year has been Design World’s steady growth, especially around our acquisition of Engineering.com, with its excellent coverage in areas such as design and design software, 3D printing, simulation, digital transformation, and manufacturing. Our work together with their staff provides…

 Make it easy to do the right thing Startups have it made. With a single match, they can ignite engineers’ creativity and fuel collaboration and quality naturally within their emerging cultures. Light the same match in a long-standing company, and many people flee and protest, clinging to the way things have always been. In…