Designatronics Inc. has announced that it has appointed Simon Brazier as its Director of Sales and Marketing, following a wide-ranging search process. In this newly created role, Brazier will assume responsibility for leadership and growth for both domestic and international business development.  “We’re extremely excited to add Simon to our sales and marketing team. His…

By Mark Jones “Save water. Shower tomorrow” is the message on a billboard I just passed. It stood out from the others along I-75 near Flint, Mich., a mix of personal injury lawyers, fast food, and cannabis shops. As it happened, I was listening to a podcast on water. Seemed fitting. Flint is synonymous with…

Bivar, a manufacturer of LED and light pipe solutions has announced its new surface area light guides. These guides combine advanced light pipe technology, lensing, and control techniques to uniformly illuminate surface areas in a space-saving design. Bivar’s high reliability PLCC surface mount LEDs onboard ensure vibrant color output, attractive appearance, and long-lasting performance. The…

By Mark Jones The cause of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse seems clear. The Dali, the cause of the bridge’s demise, sits grounded with parts of the bridge strewn across its bow. Drifting after losing power, the ship hit one of the bridge’s supports, bringing it down in an instant. Removal of the support…

By Mark Jones I was relieved at Acadia National Park when I didn’t see the plastic trash I was expecting. It was the same in Anguilla. I expected fouled beaches I never found. It was the same in Florida. Sadly, I found the plastic trash where I wasn’t expecting it: Kentucky. Cave Run Lake, in…

Germany’s Hannover Messe can be a show of excesses, with too many halls to visit, too many new products to see, and never enough time — or walking stamina — to take it all in. But the show is full of little nuggets of information that help engineers and designers find solutions to do their…

It can’t be easy being a plastics manufacturer these days, with a barrage of news reports about plastic particles being found on remote beaches or the seabed itself. But count on Rumford, R.I.-based igus Inc. to turn that story on its head, with some innovative ways that they’re using plastics to help the environment —…

The LEAP Awards (Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program) celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking products serving the design engineering space. This dynamic competition honors the most innovative engineered products/components across several of our flagship brands: Design World, Fluid Power World, EE World, and Engineering.com. Submissions for the 2024 LEAP Awards program are being accepted starting today,…

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ newest production facility in Parets del Vallès, Spain (near Barcelona) is a fully carbon-neutral plant. The facility manufactures automotive components and replaces an existing plant at the same location. The company said it is boosting its production capacity by 15%. In all, more than  11 million euros have been invested in the…

By Mark Jones “Scientists find about a quarter million invisible nanoplastic particles in a liter of bottled water” was a recent AP headline. It was one of hundreds of stories prompted by a recent scientific publication. In a first in this column, I’ll give you some fun experiments you can do with the water. You’ll…

With special emphasis on clean energy and industry 4.0, a selection of companies will demonstrate Norway’s ambitions for a low carbon society and its key role in developing solutions necessary to transform the industry and reach net-zero. Norway is honored to be Partner Country at Hannover Messe. Norway’s highly skilled work force, advanced industry and…

At last year’s Hannover Messe, igus CEO Frank Blasé showed off the company’s brand-new igusGO app, a brilliant use of AI to help customers identify where igus products could be implemented on a particular machine. He demonstrated taking a photo of a nearby bicycle, which the app correctly identified, and then showed the various bearing…

At the upcoming Hannover Messe in April, Altair will focus on a theme of “The Science of Possibility,” highlighting the company’s technologies for simulation, high performance computing (HPC), data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI). Areas of interest will include: Simulation-driven design AI-powered engineering Digital twins, and AI on the factory floor We spoke to Mirko…

By Mark Jones My initials were visible on the structure protruding from the roof of the white Jaguar as it approached. The car pulled up and the app signaled I could unlock the door. With a tap, the door handles extended. I entered for my first ride in a fully autonomous vehicle. I found myself…

I’m going to veer off the normal engineering focus of this column for a month to dabble in a scientific field that’s close to my heart: astronomy. We’re a month out from this year’s big heavenly spectacle in the U.S., the total solar eclipse on April 8th. This eclipse will sweep across the country from…

Emerson is changing some things up for this year’s Hannover Messe trade fair, scheduled for April 22-26 in northern Germany. The engineering and automation company is moving to Hall 11, known as the Automation, Motion & Drives area, to better represent its vast product and solution range. Last year, Emerson invited attendees to see how…

At the official Press Preview for the 2024 Hannover Messe tradeshow this week, Dr. Fabian Bause, Product Manager, Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG was the keynote speaker, discussing how AI in automation is something that will affect the entire manufacturing process. Bause noted that AI is simply a tool that can be used to…

I recently saw my first icicle of the year. It was a small, wiggly thing. I know why thanks to some of the ice-related discoveries of the past year. Written by Mark Jones In an example of curiosity driven research, the observation that icicles aren’t perfect cones led researchers to ask why. No one had…

This year’s Hannover Messe trade fair (said to be the world’s largest industrial trade show) takes place from April 22-26 in this northern German city, and some may say the outlook for manufacturing is uncertain. For sure, in his opening remarks, Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairperson of the Managing Board, Deutsche Messe AG listed many reasons…

By Mark Jones ChatGPT can write code. All who have written code likely thought it required human creativity. It can now be done by a computer. I’ve played with ChatGPT. I’m growing less impressed. ChatGPT is not creating code; it is copying code. It simply regurgitates what it finds on the internet. It turns out,…

At this year’s Hannover Messe industrial trade show in Germany, visitors will be able to experience the Application Park in Hall 5, which has a strong partner in the German Robotics Association (DRV). The DRV has made it a mission to promote and foster the use of robotics in Germany. Given the shortage of skilled…

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…

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…

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.…

Engineered fastener and components distributor, EFC International, continues to “Redefine the World of Distribution”, exhibited in part by the company’s recent implementation of Power BI (from Microsoft).  Power BI is linked to their internal SAP operating system and CRM software. EFC has been at the leading edge of the industrial distribution industry, embracing and implementing…