The reshoring trend got a boost last week at the Reshoring Summit: Bringing Manufacturing Back to the U.S., held right here in Cleveland. The summit’s focus was on educating manufacturer’s on the benefits of bringing manufacturing work back to the U.S., which included making the business case for such a move, as well as hearing […]
Editor Blogs
Where are the Women Engineers?
Today is International Women’s Day, and it’s as good a time as any to reflect on the role and number of women in the engineering profession. The holiday itself originated as part of the women’s rights movement at the beginning of the 20th century as a way to raise awareness of issues including women’s rights […]
National Instruments Expands in Austin
Recently, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that National Instruments (NI) plans to expand its operations in Austin by investing over $80 million and adding 1,000 technical and engineering jobs in the Austin area. The company, with sales of $1.1billion in 2012 and employing over 6,800 people worldwide, will receive some help from the state of […]
Can Manufacturing Save Our Economy?
President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday night placed a heavy emphasis on wind and solar energy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education initiatives, and manufacturing. In particular, he mentioned a manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, OH, halfway between the rustbelt stalwart cities of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, where workers are learning the […]
Whither the Apprenticeship?
News from Siemens this week revealed that the company has instituted an apprenticeship program in North Carolina, in partnership with both the University of North Carolina and Central Piedmont Community College, to train engineers for their gas turbine factory in Charlotte. According to the company, the move was necessary because of a “shortfall of adequately […]
Is Automation a Job Killer?
A recent report on CBS’ 60 Minutes news program spotlighting the increasing use of robotics in automation is causing quite a stir. The report includes the input of two MIT Professors, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, who claim that despite corporate profits having returned and business investment on the rise, the one thing that hasn’t […]
Editorial Roundtable – January 2013
The Design World editorial team shares the news and trends from their respective beats. Editor Paul Heney talks about what’s new in the fluid power world, Leslie Langnau updates us on developments in 3D printing, Miles Budimir talks about the top trends in motion control from 2012 and going forward in 2013, and Natasha Townsend […]
2012: The Top 5 Storylines in Motion Control
In the time-honored end-of-December tradition of looking back over the year coming to a close, here are some of the most significant storylines that we saw throughout the year in the motion control industry. While they may not have first sprung up in 2012, they certainly came to our attention this year and folks in […]
Scanning the News in Motion Control: From Chip Level Hardware to System Design Software
If I had to make a list of the 2012 hot topics of the year in automation and motion control, energy efficiency would be high on that list. In fact, last month I wrote about some new tools from several automation suppliers aimed at improving energy efficiency of machines and motion systems. It turns out […]
Interactive Robotic Seal Shows Therapeutic Benefits
Most of us are familiar with robots in many different areas of life. They’ve long been a staple in factory automation and are increasingly found in homes as vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers as well as children’s toys. But robots can also act as therapeutic aides, helping improve people’s cognitive and psychological well being. Meet […]
