What do your users think of your products? Any smart website designer or software company tests its products, not just for things like basic functionality, but for how the end user interacts with it. San Jose-based UserZoom recently published the results of a survey on user experience trends, and the results are fascinating. Survey respondents…
Special Edition: Women in Engineering
The growing number of women in leadership roles Women are less likely to be in leadership positions at bigger medical device companies, but the disparity is slowly shrinking. That’s the takeaway from this year’s Women in Medtech issue. Just 18% of executive roles at the top 100 publicly traded medical device are held by women,…
November 2019 Special Edition: Motion System Applications
IoT, smart components help improve motion systems Welcome to the (now) 5th annual Motion System Applications special issue. Our editorial team here at Design World puts together four issues on motion control each year, with the last one of the year focusing on motion system applications. Here, we look at some top application examples and…
November 2019 Issue: Linear Motion Systems – Only As Strong As The Weakest Link
Designing around gendered data This month, our magazine is producing its second annual Women in Engineering special edition. This endeavor has been a labor of love for our staff, and we’re proud of how the issue turned out. (If you haven’t received a copy yourself, visit designworldonline.com and check out the digital editions, where you…
November 2019 Special Edition: 2019 Robotics Handbook
In this issue… DHL on state warehouse robotics DHL recently opened a 28,000-square-foot Americas Innovation Center in Rosemont, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. This is DHL’s third innovation center, joining the initial center in Cologne, Germany, and a center in Singapore. DHL’s U.S.-based Innovation Center showcases the latest in logistics technology, including robotics. TRI teaches…
October 2019 Special Edition: Power & Energy Efficiency Handbook
How to electrocute yourself in a few easy steps Here’s a fun project: Pop open an old microwave oven and scavenge the high-voltage transformer powering the cavity magnetron vacuum tube. Then use it to make yourself a Lichtenberg generator. But be sure there’s someone nearby to call an ambulance. Lichtenberg generators are used to create…
October 2019 Issue: Parametric modeling: What have we learned in 30 years?
Not a rosy outlook in industrial markets Scott Hazelton of IHS Markit gave an overview of the industrial markets for hydraulics at the recent NFPA International Economic Outlook Conference in Chicago. His outlook wasn’t a sunny one (“not a lot of roses,” he said), dovetailing with many of the other economic speakers at the conference…
September 2019 Issue: 2019 Additive Manufacturing Handbook
Additive technology expands in multiple directions Welcome to the second annual edition of the Additive Manufacturing Handbook. This dynamic industry continues to find new ways to make parts faster, and some of these new methods are included within this issue. But one of the bigger stories on additive this year is the growth of service…
September 2019 Issue: Compare roller-screw to ball-screw actuators
Celebrating more engineering creativity Last year, we launched the LEAP Awards, a competition to honor the best engineered components across the mechanical and electrical engineering spaces. Not sure what to expect with a first year’s awards program, we kept things rather simple … and were pleasantly surprised when we received well over 100 entries, making…
August 2019 Special Edition: Motion Systems Handbook
What ancient myths can teach us about today’s technology As our editorial team was preparing this year’s Motion Systems Handbook, covering the basics of motion technologies as well as their ongoing evolution, I began to wonder about the origins of the technology we cover. This got me thinking about the idea of control systems and…
August 2019 Special Edition: Autonomous & Connected Vehicles
V2Clueless – Next generation of connected apps If you had been watching the Saturday Night Live TV show in mid January of 2012, you would have seen a skit called the Headz Up App. It was an ad for a fictional app aimed at people so distracted by texting on their smartphone that they were…
August 2019 Issue: Transport System rethinks linear drive technology to boost machine building
Death of the shadetree mechanic? Technology has shifted many former engineering functions to software or electronics over the past couple of decades, and that trend shows few signs of slowing. Let’s take mobile hydraulics as an example. In my career, I’ve met a lot hydraulics people — from system designers to founders of component manufacturers…
July 2019 Issue: Wheel bearings move telescope to new heights
Creating a “wayback machine” for IT security any people are familiar with the “wayback machine,” the useful internet archive at web.archive.org. But until now, there’s been no similar type of system for cyber security professionals. An attack may happen today and not manifest itself for months or years … by then, it’s impossible to do…
June 2019 Issue: Step into CAD
The legality of dealing with problem employees One of the more interesting speakers I’ve heard in some time was Pamela Krivda, who recently spoke at NAHAD Annual Meeting & Convention in Las Vegas. She’s an HR legal expert and she presented the audience — many of whom were smaller, family-type hose distributors (along with some…
June 2019 Special Edition: Test & Measurement Handbook
Will 5G be lethal? Peruse a certain kind of website these days and you’ll find warnings about the lethality of RF transmissions in the frequency ranges slated for 5G networks. One site quotes Devra Davis, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, who warns that our sweat…
May 2019 Special Edition: POWER TRANSMISSION Reference Guide
Power transmission components — the mainstays of motion Motion designs continually evolve but will always rely on mechanical devices … particularly where the drive of an electric motor engages a load to execute machine tasks. In fact, as the technical features in this 2019 Power Transmission Reference Guide explain, applications for mechanical motion components continue…
May 2019 Issue: A look into factor 1 proximity sensors
Building a digital plant from scratch Last month, I toured the brand-new manufacturing plant for Rittal in Haiger, Germany. Built a few miles from its current headquarters, the plant represents a 250-million-euro investment for the company, as well as a bold step forward toward the future of Industry 4.0. Uwe Schard, Managing Director of IT…
April 2019 Special Edition: Internet of Things Handbook
Everything you thought you knew about IoT security is wrong Listen to the advice being given for securing IoT devices and you are likely to be told that the level of security should be scaled to meet the probable threats. Internet-connected home thermostats, for example, should be designed to prevent compromise by hobbyists and serious…
April 2019 Issue: Step motors keep it clean
Why should you worry about traceability? Mention traceability to a lot of engineers, and they’ll say that their industry doesn’t require it, and so they don’t get involved with that. And it’s true — a lot of traceability requirements have come from industry or governmental mandate, in areas such as medical, automotive, aerospace, and food…
March 2019 Special Edition: Motion System Trends
An apocalypse that wasn’t – The rare earth mineral shortage Scan the news pages from about eight years ago and you will likely notice a lot of hand-wringing about shortages of “critical materials” crucial for high-tech motors. The materials in question were rare-earth metals used for, among other things, making magnets with a super-high energy…
March 2019 Issue: Roller-screw actuators: what’s new
How will AI affect engineers? Richard Pak is an associate professor in Clemson’s psychology department and director of the Clemson University Human Factors Institute. We spoke recently about how he sees the relationships between humans and machines advancing over the next five years. Pak said that the relationship will grow much closer simply because more…
Special Edition: Power Electronics Handbook 2019
Now or later? No time for time-of-use energy savings One of the big justifications for smart home electronics and internet-of-things pipedreams is a concept called time-of-use electricity billing. Long used for industrial concerns, the plan is to bring TOU billing to households, so they’ll be charged more for electricity they use during periods of peak…
February 2019 Issue: Keeping the elements at bay
Taking tech jobs to the people Is there a tech worker shortage? We’ve seen this sort of thing reported in the media a lot, but not as much about solutions or approaches to filling these jobs. When I spoke with former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith for last month’s Leadership in Engineering profile, one…
January 2019 Issue: Leadership in Engineering 2019 – Leadership Section
Design World: 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…
January 2019 Issue: Leadership in Engineering 2019 – Main Issue
Expanding the reach of digital twins It’s incredible to think about how much engineering has changed, and continues to change, in the 25 years since I received my degree. Large and small steps forward each year in everything from CAD to 3D printing have bettered the manufacturing world and improved how we design for it.…