I love learning about engineering colleagues who are innovating in new ways. Take the current issues with renewable energy. While strides have been made in solar and wind, the variability of these technologies often doesn’t match up with when power is most needed. That’s created much research over the years into ways to store power…
January 2024 Issue: 2024 Leadership in Engineering
Keeping a focus on engineering leadership Within each January issue of the magazine, we focus on the topic of leadership in engineering. And while that’s usually focused on the leadership qualities of manufacturers as well as individual engineers, I’m proud to announce here that our parent company, WTWH Media, continues to take a leadership role…
December 2023 Issue: Custom cables help keep shipping channels clear
Reshoring manufacturing — and the Texas-Mexico connection JCB recently announced that it will build a new factory in North America, creating 1,500 new jobs over the next five years. The British company is a global manufacturer of construction equipment and also builds machinery for the agricultural and waste-handling industries. JCB said this new facility will…
November 2023 Robotics Handbook
In this special edition: Welding cobot delivers 10X production boost for marine exhaust manufacturer DeAngelo Marine Exhaust has increased weld speed, lowered lead times, and improved quality using its new cobot colleague. Inside the development of Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid The company’s R&D work on exoskeletons and bipedal locomotion for the U.S. government and Department of…
November 2023 Special Edition: Applications Casebook
UP WITH DEMOCRATIZATION IN ENGINEERING Recently our office received an article by electrical engineer Bernard Ang of Keysight Technologies (previously Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies) about new ways software tools are helping to advance engineering education for design engineers. If you want to get specifics on Keysight’s tools, visit 3dcadworld.com and search Bernard Ang. It’s one…
November 2023 Issue: Putting power-off brakes on a self-driving robot
Engineering … illustrated I write a lot in this space about the need to get more young people from all backgrounds to consider engineering as a career. We rarely end up as a sexy occupation on television. That’s relegated to doctors, lawyers, and heck, even crime scene investigators and morticians. (I don’t think we can…
October 2023 Issue: EDI – Engineering Diversity + Inclusion
Let’s address the culture-war issue Welcome to Design World’s Engineering Diversity and Inclusion issue, a staff -driven evolution of our popular Women in Engineering issues started in 2018. The editors of Design World are honored to bring you statistics and distilled information on this topic as well as inspiring stories about engineers of various…
October 2023 Issue: Spotlight on linear encoders
A soft-ish landing for manufacturers? The National Fluid Power Association’s annual International Economic Outlook Conference, held recently in Chicago, provided an overview of the current economic landscape, exploring both U.S. and global macro trends and the ramifications for fluid power and motion control manufacturers. Here’s a breakdown of some of the main ideas: U.S. dominance:…
September 2023 Issue: Direct-write technology drives additive manufacturing
According to the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2023, electric car sales saw another record year in 2022, despite supply chain disruptions, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and high commodity and energy prices. The growth took place in the context of globally contracting car markets: total car sales in 2022 dipped by 3% relative to 2021. Electric…
August 2023 Special Edition: Motion Control Handbook
THE BORING TRUTH ABOUT AI You can’t turn anywhere today without hearing about artificial intelligence or AI. Most AI coverage seems to exist on a kind of truncated spectrum with two dominant endpoints. On the one end is absolute AI triumphalism and cheerleading — as in “AI will solve X” with X being any and…
August 2023 Issue: Absolute encoders – facts and misconceptions
Science centers and STEM careers As the father of two sons, I’ve been to more than my share of science museums over the years, from Cleveland to Portland, Ore. and San Francisco to Rochester, N.Y. These institutions have been playing an increased role in recent years in encouraging students to pursue STEM careers — as…
July 2023 Issue: Single-pair Ethernet: Simplifying Ethernet connectivity
Working toward more inclusive engineering Over the past five years, our editorial staff has produced an extra issue each Fall to examine the challenges facing women in the engineering space, as well as celebrating the achievements being made by female engineers in the industry. We’re proud of the light we’ve shown on these readers, including…
June 2023 Issue: Industrial connectivity and digital transformation trends
Taking the electric leap According to AAPEX, adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the U.S. has increased substantially in recent years — they accounted for 6% of new vehicle registrations in 2022 and are forecast to reach 56% of vehicles sold in 2035 and 81% in 2045. This would translate to 19% of the…
May 2023 Special Edition: Power Transmission Guide
The value of learning…then learning some more Welcome to the 2023 edition of Design World’s special Power Transmission Guide. Each year, the motion editors at Design World prepare four special issues devoted to motion control; one surveying the newest trends in the industry, one spotlighting unique motion applications, and two special issues covering the basics…
May 2023 Issue: Five applications for smart mechatronics
Mobile equipment continues path toward electrification At the recent IFPE and CONEXPO shows in Las Vegas, there was plenty to see for fans of mobile hydraulic technology. Hydraulics has long been the technology of choice for many off -highway vehicles thanks to its excellent power density. In the past decade, it’s been increasingly married to…
April 2023 Issue: Piezos for delicate actuation
The in-person meeting returns from the brink 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…
March 2023 Special Edition: Trends 2023
Chips (semiconductor) chips, I dream of you “Chips chips da ti du di du … I dream of you …” skats Italian jazz musician Paolo Conte in his 1981 masterpiece Via con me. This is the manufacturing community’s refrain as international borders threaten to harden into chokepoints for semiconductor-related commerce. In fact, the chip industry…
March 2023 Issue: Precision motion stage has the right stuff
A new way of thinking One of the most valuable pieces of “real estate” in any magazine is the page facing the inside back cover. Over the years, I’ve known many publications — both trade and consumer — with must-read departments or columns in that sacred space. Many times, they’re on the lighthearted or even…
February 2023 Issue: Belt drives crank out the cartons
When team motivation becomes a dead end 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…
January 2023 Issue: Leadership in Engineering – Leadership Section
Leadership in Engineering Any time a manufacturer listens to and partners with its customers, its engineers will design and build the kind of products that can accelerate innovation. Engineers want to solve problems, whether with custom or off -the-shelf solutions — but they want their products to be reliable. After all, no one would build…
January 2023 Issue: Leadership in Engineering – Main Issue
A thank you to two impactful editors 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…
December 2022 Additive Manufacturing Special Issue
In this issue: Increasing supply to meet demand with 3D printing Partnering with 3D printing helps prosthetics developer create better products, gain workflow efficiencies, meet increasing demand, and shift to titanium 3D printing, all within in 6 months. Going small with 3D printing The scale of sizes that 3D printing machines can handle is impressive,…
December 2022 Issue: How the concept cars of tomorrow are made with 3D printing
STEM, diversity, and today’s manufacturer At the recent Danfoss Distributor Meeting in Orlando, I caught up with Eric Alström, the company’s President. The company is a year removed from the purchase of Eaton’s hydraulic business, and I asked him about some current issues facing manufacturers. One area discussed at the meeting was the importance of…
November 2022 Special Edition: 2022 Robotics Handbook
No, autonomous vehicles aren’t dead The hot-take artists wasted no time after the recent Argo AI shutdown. This was an unexpected move by Ford and Volkswagen, which were the two largest financial backers of the once-promising autonomous driving startup. But shortly after the news broke, many “experts” already signed the death certificate for the entire…
November 2022 Issue: Game on with power-off brakes
More on China’s strange future In June, I wrote about the insane-sounding predictions about China’s future and the repercussions they would have for the country’s manufacturing base. If you’ll recall, geopolitical analyst Peter Ziehan said the Chinese population is currently the fastest aging society in human history — and that, combined with a poor Covid-19…