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Digital manufacturing is an ever-growing, expanding world that is leaving the world of design and permeating into the world of manufacturing. Fictiv’s platform introduces a digital ecosystem that directly connects designers and makers with manufacturing facilities, eliminating the traditional back and forth of production quotes, lengthy design iterations, and long lead times. In the last seven years, Fictiv has manufactured over 12 million parts for some of the world’s most innovative companies — building the next rockets, self-driving cars, medical devices, and IoT devices. On this episode of ASME TechCast, Dave Evans, co-founder and CEO, highlights Fictiv’s journey from conception through the COVID-19 pandemic and shares tips for how engineers can accelerate development cycles by transitioning to a digital sourcing workflow.

As Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States, his administration promises big changes in policies affecting science, energy, environment, trade, and more. He will have to work with the new 117th Congress, which also brings new faces as the Democrats take control of the Senate by the slimmest of margins. The House of Representatives continues to be led by Democrats but their majority has been greatly reduced. Paul Flakes, ASME's senior manager of government relations, talks about these changes and how they will impact the industries in which engineers participate.

Artificial intelligence has seen a rapid implementation in several industries. When talking about AI in automotive engineering, the first thought that comes to mind is autonomous vehicles. What role do mechanical engineers play in this intersection of AI and autonomy and what are the opportunities for them? What skills will become increasingly valued in automotive companies with the advancement of AI? Dragos Maciuca, executive technical director at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center, answers these questions, and more, in this episode of ASME TechCast. 

The editors of Mechanical Engineering magazine tried something different this year with the annual Emerging Technology Awards. Listen as editor in chief Jeffrey Winters talks with editors John Kosowatz and Carlos González about five innovations that are taking on COVID-19.

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s new report shows offshore wind generation growing in the U.S. and globally. Turbines are getting larger and developers want to site them in ever deeper water. Design of floating foundations has advanced to where deepwater sites are feasible, while fixed foundations may prove more economical in deeper water. NREL’s Walt Musial, principal engineer and offshore wind lead, talks about the offshore market and what can be expected in the coming year in this podcast.

Technology writer Jean Thilmany has followed software-enabled engineering for decades. In this episode of ASME TechCast, Thilmany talks with Jeffrey Winters, editor in chief of Mechanical Engineering magazine, about how digital engineering is expanding into the manufacturing sector.

The CEO of Protolabs, Vicki Holt, has almost 40 years of experience in world-class manufacturing companies in various executive roles. In this episode of ASME TechCast, she provides insights into the digital trends shaping manufacturing and how companies can prepare the current and future workforce for this rapid transition accelerated by the pandemic.

Lockheed Martin designed and built the new OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. The spacecraft will collect samples from the asteroid Bennu which may provide insight into our solar system’s early formation. To help construct the spacecraft, Lockheed Martin Space utilized the power of the digital twin. Lockheed’s journey with the digital twin can serve as an example of how other organizations can adopt the digital twin methodology for a more efficient design. Noah Fehrenbacher, digital twin portfolio manager for Lockheed Martin Space, speaks with ASME TechCast on how Lockheed Martin uses the digital twin as an advanced design tool.

A collaboration between Cornell and Penn Engineering has resulted in the first microscopic robots that incorporate semiconductor components, allowing them to be controlled—and made to walk—with standard electronic signals. In future, these microbots could be injected into human blood for medical treatments. In this podcast, Itai Cohen, professor of physics, who is leading the research at Cornell, discusses the cross-disciplinary research that led to this breakthrough.

Chinese factories produce a huge chunk of the world’s manufactured goods. Recently, global companies have begun to reconsider their dependence on China. Some have looked at bringing critical manufacturing to the United States, while others have set up factories in Vietnam and Mexico. Mechanical Engineering magazine editor in chief Jeffrey Winters asked senior editor John Kosowatz to explain the issues and whether it was possible for multinational firms to leave the China market. 

NASA recently recognized Robo-Glove, a soft robotic exoskeleton for the hand, as its commercial invention of the year. Its original application was meant to assist astronauts by making it easier to perform simple tasks that become more cumbersome in space. Its potential, however, is beginning to be realized in manufacturing and health care. General Motors co-developed the system, now being commercially produced as IronHand by Sweden’s Bioservo. In this episode, Stephen Krajcarski, GM’s senior manager of global ergonomics, talks about how the company is testing the glove and other exoskeletons on the factory floor.

Chad Huyser is the regional director and North America president of Lely International. Lely was founded in the Netherlands and, for over the last 70 years, has introduced new mechanized methods to help eliminate redundant processes or labor requirements on the farm, particularly in dairy farming. Lely’s latest Astronaut-5 is a milking unit that uses automation and artificial intelligence for cows to feed and milk themselves. Huyser shares his thoughts on automation in farming today, how COVID-19 impacted the supply chain, and how the future may look like as farmers transition to new automation techniques.

The Chief Executive Officer at Girl Scouts of the USA, Sylvia Acevedo, is a woman engineer, rocket scientist, author, entrepreneur, and more. Since becoming the CEO, she has led the organization’s largest rollout of 125 new Girl Scout badges that include 42 new STEM badges such as cybersecurity, robotics, design thinking, coding, data analytics, and space science. In this episode of ASME TechCast, Acevedo shares her passion for all things engineering and talks about the long-term benefits of a focus on STEM, especially for girls. Girl Scouts of the USA now offers 109 STEM badges and award programs compared to 22 in 2014.

Metal pipes have dominated the pressure piping market for decades. Today, however, innovations in material science have resulted in companies considering plastic pipes that can support high pressures and temperatures. Many companies have started to shift from metal to plastic for several high-pressure applications across a range of industries. In this podcast, Charles Henley, chief engineer, piping and material applications, Kiewit, talks about ASME’s new standard that could help simplify nonmetallic pressure piping projects. Henley is also vice chair of ASME’s nonmetallic piping standards committee.

Lisa Seacat DeLuca is a Distinguished Engineer and the director of IBM Watson’s Internet of Things division and one of their most prolific inventors, with more than 500 patents to her name. In this episode, she discusses the future of IBM’s IoT goals, how STEM is vital to the future of engineering, and how her works in children’s literature were inspired by her want to provide STEM awareness to her children.

For decades, utilities have been concerned with reliability, which is a measure of how well the grid can avoid short-term blackouts. But resilience goes deeper and covers multiple, intersecting factors. It’s not just preparing to recover from devastating storms, but also taking steps to avoid a pandemic from incapacitating utility control rooms. To learn more about what companies are doing to build a grid that can bounce back quickly from multiple, unexpected challenges, ASME’s Carlos González talks with two engineers with a deep understanding of resilience issues. Mike Bryson is senior vice president for operations at PJM, the regional transmission organization for the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. And Nirmal Paudel is a consulting R&D engineer at ABB, the global manufacturer of electrical and electronic equipment.

Mechanical Engineer Matt Carney, who recently completed his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, works at the MIT Media Lab Biomechatronics Group, where he designs and builds personalized bionic limbs. In this podcast, Carney discusses his interest in humanoid robots as well as the importance of design aesthetics and user experience in developing prosthetics.

Engineers are being forced to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To help these engineers as they transition to the home environment, Siemens Digital Industries Software is looking to provide manufacturing solutions for those engineers working at home. By using the power of the Internet of Things, data analytics, and the digital twin, Siemens is helping engineers connect via a digital manufacturing network, from the factory floor to additive manufacturing products. We spoke with Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens digital industries software and Robert Meschel, Director at Siemens Additive Manufacturing Network about how they are tackling the ongoing challenges.

Durable, fast-charging batteries are essential to the development of electric vehicles and evolution of the smart grid. StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf talks about the breakthrough in battery technology, eliminating carbon and using nano and other materials to make a battery that can charge an electronic device in 60 seconds. The next step is overcoming obstacles to a full-sized battery.

With no vaccine expected for Covid-19 anytime soon, preventing its spread could be as important as treating it. In this special edition of ASME TechCast, Managing Editor Chitra Sethi speaks with Professor Qingyan Chen, the James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, who has researched the spread of viruses through ventilation systems in passenger vehicles. He believes cruise ship air conditioning systems are not designed to filter out particles as small as the coronavirus, allowing the disease to rapidly circulate to other cabins. Prof. Chen’s lab is currently developing a ventilation system that would prevent the airborne transmission of pathogens like Coronavirus by allowing each person to breathe in only his or her own air.