F unction often relates to form, and this is particularly true within the world of manufacturing.

Each day we receive data that seek to quantify the Covid-19 pandemic. These daily values tell us how things have changed from yesterday, and give us the current totals, but they are difficult to understand simply because they are only a small piece of the puzzle.

We are all familiar with flash memory storage devices, the inexpensive “thumb” drives that you stick into your laptop to store and transfer data.

How can the KTM racing team inspect motorbike parts of various shapes, sizes, and complexity, and account for minuscule material variations and deviations between laps? The team trades microns for milliseconds.

Scanning laser confocal microscopy (SLCM) has become a popular inspection tool in both research laboratories and manufacturing production lines.

‘Engineering is about building things to help others.”

Unlike diamonds, solar panels are not forever. Ultraviolet rays, gusts of wind, and heavy rain wear away at them over their lifetime. 

Analytical balance scales are a part of many laboratories. If you use them regularly, you need to keep the analytical scales well-maintained. They are extremely sensitive, and factors like dust, vibration, and air drafts will throw off the accuracy of the scales.

Additive manufacturing (AM, aka 3D printing) is increasingly accepted as an end-product manufacturing method, rather than just for prototyping.

Perhaps for as many as 40,000 years, people have been protecting their feet with some type of covering, initially using animal hides and fur.