What will events look like in 2021? We’ve all heard, “necessity is the mother of invention.” The pandemic has certainly brought out some creative ideas regarding trade shows. With all the digital versions of nearly everything — meetings, education, tradeshows — one wonders if these changes will be permanent? A few months ago, I spent…

In this issue… Toyota Research Institute demonstrates household robot prototypes While most automakers have focused on robotics for manufacturing or on developing autonomous vehicles, Toyota Motor Corp. has also been investigating service robots for household use. Last month, Toyota Research Institute conducted a virtual open house of its research and development facilities in Los Altos,…

Spotlight on motion system applications It’s here – our annual Motion System Applications special issue. Each year our editorial team here at Design World puts together four special issues on motion control, with the last one of the year focusing on the many and varied applications for motion systems. This special issue highlights some top…

The slow rise of women in medtech leadership The gender disparity in medtech leadership is slowly shrinking as companies enlist more women to C-suite roles. That’s the takeaway from this year’s Women in Medtech issue. While women still make up a small percentage of medtech leadership roles, their numbers are up from 2019. Just 20%…

What geopolitical issues will most affect manufacturing? At the recent National Fluid Power Association’s International Economic Outlook Conference — this one held virtually, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sam Potolicchio of Preparing Global Leaders Forum, spoke about some of the key geopolitical trends likely to impact business in the coming months and years. Potolicchio explained…

Why lithium batteries won’t fill up landfills Consumers with an inclination toward sustainability have been bummed out over recent revelations that most of the plastics they have carefully separated, washed, and placed in recycling bins typically end up in the local dump. So it may come as good news that dead lithium batteries are increasingly…

Social change and the engineering world While this is an opinion column, I generally stay away from things of a political nature. Instead, here I mostly focus on engineering, manufacturing and management topics. But the social upheaval and protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd have surely caused many of us to…

Disruption! The year 2020 will be remembered for many things: a global pandemic that disrupted global supply chains, digital-based jobs shifting from offices to Work From Home (WFH), shortages in needed medical equipment, not to mention disrupted economies, educational institutions, travel, and so on. So many systems have been upended. A bright spot, however, is…

Terminology: A modest proposal Just what exactly am I talking about? I’m talking about some common terminology used in the software, industrial controls and IT worlds, specifically two words that refer to control and networking functions. Two words so frequently used that it’s easy to not notice them or think twice about using them. The…

What will engineers want from their jobs tomorrow? For many of us, our jobs have changed in some significant ways over the last five months. A lot of us are working at home, either part time or full time. Meetings with our teams have become mostly virtual. Travel to other manufacturing facilities or job sites…

Latest connected car feature: Germicidal lights A year ago, had you brought up the idea of adding germicidal lights to a connected car, you probably would have gotten back facial expressions suggesting you’ d lost your mind. Today, the same idea would be more likely to engender a lot of head nodding. Who knew a…

Why can’t we have innovation all the time? Recently, while listening to the excellent Freakonomics Podcast, one of the guests provided some great insight into our current situation. Marshall Burke, an Associate Professor at Stanford University explained that many times it takes an outside event to force society to move in directions that it had…

COVID-19 and its effects on industrial events The era of social distancing has not been a good one for trade shows and conferences, including those that we attend across the design engineering, fluid power, R&D and related spaces. The big news earlier this Spring was Hannover Fair moving from its traditional April dates to mid-July.…

Will your good samaritanism in the pandemic buy you a lawsuit? IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE INDIVIDUALS voluntarily spending your time on technology to help abate the COVID 19 pandemic, consider the experience of the vacuum cleaner company Dyson in the UK. Company founder James Dyson estimates his firm spent about $25 million and…

Maintaining a sense of positivity — 8 takeaways from Alan Beaulieu’s economic discussion First off , I hope that you are staying healthy and sane in these challenging times. What we’re all going through is difficult for all of us, to varying degrees, based on our jobs, our financial situation, our health, and more. I’d…

Automation in the time of coronavirus Welcome to Design World’s special issue on Power Transmission. Each year our editors assemble this special issue that focuses on the mechanical part of power transmission, the components responsible for keeping things moving, so to speak. These are the screws and actuators, the slides and rails and guide ways…

Are we focusing enough on research? One of the things that’s most enjoyable about covering the design engineering space is seeing, on a continual basis, the amount of new technology being used in so many industries, from the component to the system level. But it’s important to realize that much of what feeds that pipeline…

No, IoT RF radiation won’t cause a pandemic I once had a lengthy exchange with a guy who claimed RF from WiFi was making him sick. After numerous emails back and forth in which I tried to correct his misconceptions about WiFi signals, I gently suggested that he go find an RF screen room and…

Consumer products can be technology ambassadors I THINK AND WRITE ABOUT electric motors (and designs based on motors) every single day of my life. That’s why it’s a special satisfaction for me that after years of mediocrity, robot vacuums — those little bundles of motor arrays designed to reduce drudgery — are finally worth their…

A snapshot of the additive industry It’s always interesting to examine who, how, and why engineers are using additive manufacturing (AM). Recently Stratasys Direct Manufacturing and SME Media conducted a survey on engineers and designers’ experiences with AM . The respondents either currently use or are considering using additive manufacturing. Of the nearly 700 respondents,…

Problem-based learning stands the test of time Engineering students at Stanford are well acquainted with the ME310 course. This year-long design course, now in its 53rd year, is built around problem-based learning. Students work in small teams, focusing on actual engineering problems presented by outside companies that partner with Stanford. The history and evolution of…

Why we don’t need energy efficiency standards for lighting HEADLINES WERE MADE RECENTLY when two national associations dropped a lawsuit attempting to squash light bulb efficiency standards in California. The California standards supposedly save Californians billions of dollars on their energy bills and avoid millions of tons of carbon- warming pollution. The suit was brought…

Leadership in Engineering When a manufacturing company listens to and truly 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 himself or…

Protecting yourself One of the more interesting talks I heard over the course of 2019 came at the recent Power Transmission Distributors Association’s Industry Summit. Frank Abagnale, whose early exploits as a con man and check forger were detailed in the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, spoke about his life and his lessons…

The significance of small choices Years ago, during a high-school woodworking course, our instructor would walk through the shop, repeating: “It’s the nuts and bolts that count!” Students would laugh or roll their eyes. Interestingly, he rarely questioned students about the type of wood selected for a project (though I still have the chestnut bench…