Industry + job trends

To assist manufacturers on their Industry 4.0 journey, global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has partnered with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT), USA. This applied technology demonstration and training center validates, demonstrates and assists with the adoption of leading-edge industrial technologies into the global manufacturing supply chain. The two organizations will assist businesses in…

An increase in the pace of innovation and emphasis on expanding its digital presence in the face of a worldwide pandemic helped igus increase online sales by 30% in 2020. Innovations range from telescopic robot tube packages to dry-running ball bearings with 21 times the standard service life to large-scale 3D printing. Engineers and OEMs…

As industry professionals are still unable to visit Dorner in person due to trade show cancellations, Dorner is bringing the trade show to them. Dorner is hosting its own virtual showcase that includes nine demonstrations covering sanitary, automation, and industrial applications. Each demonstration contains a video narrated by Dorner experts who point out features, benefits,…

mk North America, Inc. is excited to announce the appointment of Todd Buchanan as Sales and Business Development Manager, Canada. Todd began his tenure with mk on August 24, 2020. Todd comes to mk North America with over 20 years experience in the conveying and industrial automation industries. Prior to joining the mk team Todd…

An interdisciplinary team of engineers and medics is addressing ways to increase the UK’s capacity for ventilator manufacture. Engineers, anaesthetists and surgeons from the University of Oxford and King’s College London are building and testing prototypes that can be manufactured using techniques and tools available in well-equipped university and small and medium enterprise (SME) workshops.…

Sadaf Irfan, a versatile and target-oriented professional was appointed Inside Sales Representative to Lafert North America. Irfan brings more than six years of experience in technical sales and customer relationship management combined with a specialized focus in manufacturing, engineering consulting, and project management. Sadaf will have the ability to enhance Lafert’s customer relationships through her…

With the current state of the internet and the interconnectivity of devices and equipment, it is in the best interest of any company that wants to optimize the productivity of their associates tasked with technical tasks to take a look at the eLearning available. eLearning offers a wonderful ROI due to its low cost, ease […]

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler One of my college classmates during my sophomore year was a guy who majored in aerospace engineering. He consistently got poor grades in his engineering classes mainly because he had trouble with the math that was involved. I later heard that he’d…

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler I once worked at a company where the people in the HR department seemed to be fixated on justifying their jobs. One way their fixation manifested itself was in a complicated and time-consuming goal-setting exercise foisted upon everyone in the firm. As…

There’s value in searches led by attorneys capable of analyzing results … and guiding inventors before patent-application filings. By George Likourezos • Patent attorney and partner | Carter, DeLuca & Farrell LLP Technologists and thinkers can have eureka moments at any time: They see a problem and instead of just accepting that problem, they create…

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler Long ago, the engineering magazine that employed me explored the idea of working with local universities on an educational program. Our concept involved instructing engineers on newly emerging technologies, but without requiring them to actually sit in a classroom. This was long…

How does it work? That was the question few people asked about the mythical supertechnology supposedly at the core of Theranos — a Silicon-Valley unicorn overvalued by some $9 billion during a 2013-2014 hype height. Not that it would’ve mattered anyway, as the fictional heart of secretive Theranos changed continuously over its 12 short years.…

Emerson is reminding U.S. engineering students that the deadline for its 2019 ASCO Engineering Scholarship program is rapidly approaching and that the program will continue to accept applications through April 23, 2019. The program rewards students who have the potential for leadership and contributions to the engineering profession. Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to two U.S.…

Teschler on Topic Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler Examine Silicon Valley and some of the other notorious high-tech hotspots and you can’t help notice the building boom in research labs. Researchers of yesteryear often referred to themselves as lab rats partly because their surroundings were usually dark and dank. In…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler The N.Y. Times grabbed a lot of attention recently when it published an article about Apple’s travails trying to source a tiny screw in the U.S. for its Mac computer. According to the report Apple could get vast quantities of custom screws in China on short…

Leland Teschler • Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW—LeeTeschler The beginning of a new year is often seen as a time for fresh starts. So it may be appropriate that this new year could mark the first time in decades that engineering is considered a lucrative profession. The lament in recent years has been…

Leland Teschler Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler It has become trendy for scientists to try their hand at political office. The Huffington Post reports hundreds of scientists in the U.S. had their names on ballots in the recent midterm elections. The reason seems to be widespread worries about a downplaying of scientific conclusions…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler Engineers who do electrical work may be familiar with Mike Holt whose website (mikeholt.com) specializes in educational material mainly devoted to deciphering the National Electrical Code. Holt also hosts a forum where someone recently posted this query: Should I get my PE license? I meet all…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler Engineers tend to have a dim view of managers, often with good reason. The comical scenarios depicted in Dilbert cartoons are popular precisely because they hit so close to home for the techies who make up much of the cartoon’s readership. But despite the impression you…

This article is part of Design World’s Women in Engineering series. Kristen (Robinson) Wegielewski is a CAPA Quality Engineer and Team Lead at Philips Healthcare at their operations in the Seattle area. For the uninitiated, CAPA stands for corrective action and preventive action — an approach for monitoring and improving organizational processes to eliminate anomalies…

My older son, Joshua, is a high school senior, and — without any pushing from me — has decided that he wants to pursue either biomedical engineering or robotic engineering. It’s been an interesting experience looking at colleges here at home and far away, everything from Case Western Reserve University to Georgia Tech, and Lawrence…

Smalley was presented with the 2017 General Motors Supplier Quality Excellence Award, marking the sixth consecutive year Smalley has achieved this prestigious honor. 175 suppliers were presented with this award in 2017 … but Smalley was just one of five who have received it six years in a row. GM has been recognizing its notable…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler YOU MIGHT THINK the way to make better engineers is to improve engineering education. Although there may be something to that idea, it is becoming apparent that factors outside the formal learning process may outweigh anything done on a campus. For example, it increasingly looks as…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @ DW—LeeTeschler One of the strongest tendencies in the human thinking process is what’s called confirmation bias. It is a propensity to interpret new data in ways that support the opinions you already had. Now, consider that most engineers are highly analytical people. Generally speaking, they have a…

Leland Teschler, Executive Editor [email protected] On Twitter @DW_LeeTeschler Back in the dark ages when I was a young engineer, a colleague told me an interesting story. He’d just finished a lengthy project developing a complicated piece of test gear. He happened to visit another division of his company and was shocked to find they’d developed…