Photo courtesy of Stanford d.school

Stanford Builds Strong Innovators with New “Design Thinking” Curriculum

PALO ALTO, California—The skylit atrium that serves as the centerpiece of Stanford University’s d.school spans two of the campus’s stately old red-tile-roofed, Spanish Revival-style academic buildings. It’s a metaphor for the way the center, spun off by the School of Engineering, bridges other parts of the university to teach something that was once believed innate: how to think like an …

Posted in Future Engineers | Tagged ,

GoldieBlox Makes Engineering a Girl Thing!

Goldie-Blox-Engineering-Toy-Just-Girls

Listen up, girls! Engineering is cool! That’s the message that GoldieBlox inventor Debbie Sterling, a Stanford University-educated engineer, is passionate about sharing. Designed for girls ages six and older, GoldieBlox is a storybook and construction set that challenges girls to help the inventor protagonist Goldie, build things. We can all remember reading childhood fairy tales about princesses in distress ultimately …

Posted in Future Engineers | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Manufacturing Growth Holds Less Promise for Women

women and manufacturing

Today in the United States more women graduate college, they make up nearly half of the working population, and one-third of women out-earn their spouse. So why are women losing their footing in the manufacturing sector? A report released this week by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., vice chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) seeks to answer this …

Posted in Connections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

World’s biggest 3D Printing Store Opens in London

iMakr Store

If you ever wondered what the next-generation FedEx or OfficeMax might look like then the new 2,500 square-foot iMakr store in Central London might be it. The bright loft space is filled with a variety of 3D printers, like the $1,000 Solidoodle and the Makerbot Replicator 2, costing close to $3000. There are hands-on workshops where curious shoppers can learn …

Posted in Innovation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Defining Value for PLM Solutions: What to Measure

PLM Value

While countless companies across industries have realized tremendous payback on their investments in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software, they often don’t reap the full value for years after the first phases of go-live. Part of the challenge is simply deciding what and how to measure, especially since PLM is often a multi-year, multi-phase initiative that strives to improve a set …

Posted in Strategy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

SFO-BOS: The Geekiest Flight in the Air?

San Francisco to Boston

The guy in 28C works for a cutting-edge Boston-based energy company with California clients whose name is a collection of random-seeming consonants and vowels that sounds like a parody from Office Space. He flies this route only once a quarter, which makes him pretty much an interloper on the Boston-San Francisco nonstop. But somewhere over Colorado, he pulls out a …

Posted in Connections | Tagged | Leave a comment

Managing Product Parts for Better Field Service

Service Parts

When we think of field service our minds jump to trends around mobility, tablets, and BYOD (bring your own device). The topic of service parts is often overlooked, yet it’s absolutely vital to field service. According to Aberdeen Group’s recent Field Service 2013: Workforce Management Guide the number one reason organizations were unable to resolve an issue the first time …

Posted in Best Practices | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Quality Lifecycle Management: Striking a Balance between Product Reliability and Over-Design

Quality Lifecycle Management

When it comes to product design, companies must balance four competing goals: cost, time to market, feature set, and reliability. The key is to get the right mix and create the greatest customer satisfaction with the product. Too often, however, companies downplay the importance of reliability when weighed against the other three goals. They prioritize cost, time to market, or …

Posted in Strategy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lockheed Martin Helps Tackle Global Water Crisis

Water Crisis

Earth, otherwise known as the blue planet, is 75 percent surface water, and yet only 2.5 percent of it is usable fresh water. Now add in over population and urban sprawl, deforestation, climate change, and unsustainable agricultural and manufacturing practices, and we’ll have, within the next few decades, a global water crisis. In fact, by 2050, one in five developing …

Posted in Innovation | Tagged | 1 Comment

Science-Minded Kids to Show Projects at MIT

Photo courtesy of MSSEF

The weather is finally turning to Spring… so what’s up for the weekend? At our house, the schedule is often packed with the kids’ sports and other activities and the weekends fly by too fast. But, maybe you can find time to squeeze in something different – the state science fair. The Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF) for …

Posted in Future Engineers, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment