Synopsys with Ansys may be too big to be acquired by a design software company. By Roopinder Tara | Director of content at engineering.com Synopsys’ acquisition of Ansys for $35B, expected to close the first half of 2025, will be the biggest deal ever in the design and engineering software industry, dwarfing the $4.5B acquisition…
A look back at some remarkable forward-thinkers
As a technical writer in engineering and IT, I have spent countless hours documenting procedures, equations, laboratory instructions, manuals, specifications, and the like. As critical and satisfying as that work is (to me and my kin), something was always missing. And it took more than 15 years and many professional iterations to figure out what.…
Emerson executive elected to lead Valve Manufacturer Association of America Board
Emerson announces that the Valve Manufacturers Association of America (VMA) has elected Andy Duffy as chairperson of its board of directors for 2023-24. In his new role, Duffy will help ensure the organization provides the most value to its members and advances the valve industry at large. Duffy, vice president of sales at Emerson´s discrete automation…
2024 PTDA Foundation board ready to pioneer new programs
The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) Foundation Board of Trustees begin their leadership terms. Matt Pavlinsky, director of power transmission products, Applied Industrial Technologies (Cleveland, Ohio) assumes the role of president. Pavlinsky has been involved with the PTDA Foundation since 2018. Most recently he served on the Board of Trustees and the PT WORK Force…
Ansys SimAI promises to finally democratize engineering simulation for the masses
By Shawn Wasserman The first, of likely many, AI-powered simulation tools to come in 2024! Disclaimer: Shawn Wasserman is a former employee of Ansys and holds minor stocks in the organization. Engineering.com predicted that 2024 will bring an AI revolution within the engineering simulation software space. Though announced in early 2023, Ansys SimAI is the…
Hannes Leichtfried named head of Danfoss Drives in North America
Danfoss Drives has announced that Hannes Leichtfried has been appointed head of sales and marketing for the Drives business segment in North America. With nearly 30 years of experience at Danfoss in Austria and Germany, Leichtfried, an Austrian native, is excited to continue to build the North America Drives business. “I am thrilled about my…
Synopsys to buy Ansys for $35B?! What engineers need to know
By Shawn Wasserman Engineers using both Ansys and Synopsys tools can expect big changes, but when? Disclaimer: Shawn Wasserman is a former employee of Ansys and holds minor stocks in the organization. He has no inside knowledge of the Ansys/Synopsys acquisition. All statements not in line with public knowledge are speculation or opinion. Frequent followers…
Deutsche Messe invites entries for the Hermes Award 2024
Deutsche Messe is once again inviting entries for the Hermes Award — the world’s most important industrial prize. It will be presented by Germany’s minister of education and research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, at the opening ceremony of Hannover Messe on April 21. The deadline for companies and institutions participating in Hannover Messe to submit their entries…
Siemens Digital Industries and Voltaiq optimize battery manufacturing
Siemens Digital Industries Software and Voltaiq combine their strengths to offer unparalleled capabilities for battery manufacturing-focused companies. This collaboration aims to bring together the production-proven capabilities of both Siemens’ Insights Hub and Voltaiq’s Enterprise Battery Intelligence (EBI), customers can gain access to unparalleled capability specific to battery-domain companies to help rapidly scale operations smoothly, from…
ABB acquires Sevensense, expanding leadership in AI-enabled mobile robotics
• Swiss start-up Sevensense, a leader in AI-based navigation, enables the highest levels of speed, accuracy, and autonomy of mobile robots, one of the fastest-growing robotics markets • Acquisition underlines ABB’s strategic investment focus on innovative AI solutions transforming industries, such as logistics and manufacturing • ABB becomes leader in next-generation AMRs, integrating Visual SLAM…
Technology could have prevented the Tokyo airport accident
By Roopinder Tara Airport runway crashes are increasingly common. Automated systems could address the problem. The January 2, 2024 incident at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport involved a Japanese Airlines’ A350 landing and ramming a fuel-laden Japanese Coast Guard plane on the runway ended with all 379 people aboard the A350 safely disembarking. It’s a miracle that…
Brian Nowak and Andrew A.O. Brown leading PTDA in 2024
The recently elected 2024 Board of Directors and Manufacturer Council of the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) begin their leadership terms. Brian Nowak, president & CEO, Kurz Industrial Solutions, Neenah, Wisconsin, assumes the leadership of the association as president. Nowak began volunteering for PTDA in 2015, serving on the Education & Training Committee. Since then,…
Motion names new senior vice president of strategy & markets
Motion Industries, a distributor of maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts, and a premier provider of industrial technology solutions, named Chris Cleland to Senior Vice President of Strategy & Markets, effective immediately. Mr. Cleland’s career spans over 25 years in consulting, strategy, marketing, branding, e-commerce, business development, and transformation. In his previous role as Principal…
Jeffrey F. Koehl appointed chairman of SPIROL International Holding Corporation
SPIROL International Holding Corporation’s board of directors announces the unanimous decision to appoint Jeffrey F. Koehl as chairman of SPIROL International Holding Corporation. Jeff joined the company in 1997 and has been serving as chairman and CEO of SPIROL International Corporation since his appointment in 2010. Jeff succeeds his father, Hans H. Koehl, who passed…
PTDA hosts the 2024 Industry Immersion Conference for new talent development
The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) will host a new talent development event, the PTDA 2024 Industry Immersion Conference, in Hollywood, Fla., on February 29, 2024. This intensive program is designed to help those who are new to the power transmission and motion control (PT/MC) industry grow interpersonal skills, networking capabilities, and industry essentials for…
Thinking outside the bus
I love learning about engineering colleagues who are innovating in new ways — people who are rethinking problems that seem to be up against the proverbial brick wall. Take the current issues with renewable energy. While strides have been made in many areas of solar and wind, the daily (or hourly) variability of these technologies…
Light conveyor platform bridges fixed systems with flexible AMRs
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) can streamline material handling in manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and more, yet many facilities still primarily rely on conveyor systems. To serve as a flexible bridge between fixed conveyors and production lines, Interroll designed a light conveyor platform (LCP) to facilitate the handling of lightweight goods with AMRs from Mobile Industrial Robots…
Technical Thinking: The long road to Lego sustainability
By Mark Jones Many readers of Design World will likely recall gifts of Lego, and maybe some of them will be giving Lego (curiously, a word that is both singular and plural) this season. Lego bricks, as we know them today, came on the market in 1958. Other shapes have been added. Electronic controls have…
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 manufacture machines mostly for North American customers.…
SI Group appoints Frank Yang as VP and managing director, Asia Pacific
SI Group, a global developer and manufacturer of performance additives, process solutions, pharmaceuticals, and chemical intermediates, announced it has appointed Frank Yang as vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, effective January 1, 2024. As the VP and Managing Director, of Asia Pacific, Frank will lead SI Group’s Asia Pacific management team to optimize the…
Hans Koehl, former chairman and CEO of SPIROL, has died
It is with great sorrow that SPIROL announces the passing of Hans Koehl, former chairman and CEO. Hans’ vision, dedication, and passion led to the transformation of the company from being a small, family-owned business located in Northeast Connecticut into a world-renowned manufacturing company with locations on 4 continents and in 13 countries. Hans retired from…
Mitsubishi Electric Automation to exhibit in Booth #S-10147 at AHR Expo 2024 in Chicago
Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. is proud to attend the AHR Expo 2024, taking place January 22-24. Mitsubishi Electric has been demonstrating at AHR for almost two decades as one of the leaders in the HVAC industry. The AHR Expo this year will be held at McCormick Place in Chicago to showcase the industry’s newest technologies…
ABB breaks ground on US facility, supporting electric utility sector and renewable energy
As parts of the United States power grid pass the century mark, increasing electric demands and extreme weather conditions are straining the aging infrastructure’s ability to support capacity. In response, ABB Installation Products broke ground on its new manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to meet increased demand for ABB’s leading Elastimold cable accessory solutions…
Digitalization is creating technology jobs, new Schneider Electric report shows
New research from Schneider Electric has revealed that almost half (45%) of industrial companies believe digitalization will be the primary reason that new operational technology (OT) job roles will be created in the next three years. The research, commissioned by Schneider Electric and carried out by global research leader Omdia, polled 407 industrial companies ranging…
ABB Robotics partners with XtalPi to build intelligent automated laboratories
ABB Robotics and XtalPi have entered a strategic partnership to produce a range of automated laboratory workstations in China. The new, automated laboratories will boost the productivity of R&D processes in biopharmaceuticals, chemical engineering and chemistry, and new energy materials. “Our collaboration with XtalPi marks another milestone for ABB’s collaborative robots in the life sciences…