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A team of engineers has built and tested a radically new kind of airplane wing, assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces. The wing can change shape to control the plane’s flight, and could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight, and maintenance efficiency, the…
(Association for Manufacturing Excellence: Rolling Meadows, IL) -- Learn about the historic and cultural roots behind the people-development concepts and principles underlying the Toyota Way at the “Isao Yoshino seminar on lean leadership and the Toyota Way” to be held April 25, 2019, 8 a.m. to 12…
According to the International Labor Organization, around the world every day 7,600 people die from work-related accidents or diseases—that’s more than 2.78 million people every year. To address the issue, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed a standard, ISO 45001…
I discovered my affinity for attractive instruments while working a job before coming to NIST. My boss at the time had a love affair with the common hose clamp—the one with the worm gear.
Whenever we had to fasten a component to an apparatus he said, “Why don’t you use a hose clamp?” With every…
In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software and automated systems—as opposed to the friendly pilots sitting in the cockpit.
Older commercial airliners, such as the Beechcraft 1900…
In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software and automated systems—as opposed to the friendly pilots sitting in the cockpit.
Older commercial airliners, such as the Beechcraft 1900…
With medical cannabis being legal in Canada since 2002, and recreational use becoming legal in 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to his country has caused a storm.
This legal framework has given Canadian companies the leverage to lead the cannabis industry to new heights. Not only…
Customer experience has become pivotal to growth and profitability strategies of businesses worldwide. There is now a deeper understanding of customer experience as an incredibly important piece in the success (or failure) of any brand. Research states that by 2020, customer experience will…
Traditionally, technical jobs have been underrepresented by women. But that's changing, says Emily O'Dea, commercial services process manager at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.
“Without a doubt we're definitely outnumbered,” says O’Dea. “I started [my career] in a smaller company. It was…
Whether you love or hate his work, Andy Warhol eating a Whopper for 45 seconds during one of the most expensive ad slots in television this year was astonishing.
Super Bowl Sunday—the most macho of American sporting events—coupled with the quintessential pop artist had people talking the morning…
In this column I’ve written about embracing change because it prepares you to think more creatively, and it’s part of the innovator’s lifestyle. I’ve also written about accepting change even if you’re not completely comfortable with the idea because of the potential for emotional and intellectual…
In Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film, Ready Player One, based on the 2011 book by Ernest Cline, people enter an immersive world of virtual reality called the OASIS. What was most gripping about the futuristic tech in this sci-fi movie was not the VR goggles, which don’t seem so far off from the headsets…
In Steven Spielberg’s 2018 film, Ready Player One, based on the 2011 book by Ernest Cline, people enter an immersive world of virtual reality called the OASIS. What was most gripping about the futuristic tech in this sci-fi movie was not the VR goggles, which don’t seem so far off from the headsets…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a nonregulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has announced the fiscal year 2019 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Notice of Funding Opportunity. The program encourages domestic small…
In August 2011, a can of Great Value peas joined the nonperishables in my pantry, one of several panic purchases as Hurricane Irene barreled toward my home on the northeast U.S. coast. But the emergency passed, and the can, with its unassuming blue-on-white outline font, remains on my shelf seven…
In August 2011, a can of Great Value peas joined the nonperishables in my pantry, one of several panic purchases as Hurricane Irene barreled toward my home on the northeast U.S. coast. But the emergency passed, and the can, with its unassuming blue-on-white outline font, remains on my shelf seven…
Core values are the fundamental beliefs of an organization; they guide executives and employees in identifying which behaviors and actions are right and which are wrong. Everything you do must be aligned with your core values, and core values should be integrated into everything you do. When in…
As soon as we have two or more instruments for measuring the same property the question of equivalence raises its head. This paper provides an operational definition of when two or more instruments are equivalent in practice.
Churchill Eisenhart, Ph.D., while working at the U.S. Bureau of…
As soon as we have two or more instruments for measuring the same property the question of equivalence raises its head. This paper provides an operational definition of when two or more instruments are equivalent in practice.
Churchill Eisenhart, Ph.D., while working at the U.S. Bureau of…
In a crisis, time is not on your side. A crisis creates a vacuum, an informational void that gets filled one way or another. The longer a company or other organization at the center of the crisis waits to communicate, the more likely that void will be filled by critics.
That’s exactly what’s…
Given the number of meetings most organizations have, you’d think everyone couldn’t help but be on the same page. Sort of a natural, automatic byproduct of spending so much time together. Nice idea, but not really true.
In fact, organizing is one of the most difficult things for an organization to…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely acknowledged as a crucial aspect of what is broadly referred to as Industry 4.0. Although no one knows yet how AI will be incorporated into the next phase of the Industrial Revolution, most agree that it will allow greater connectivity between people, machines…
For me, the operational essence of the leader dilemma is this: How do I say “yes” to the few and “wait” to the many? How do I decide?
The so-called “natural-born leader” is a mysterious (to some, controversial) concept: an individual for whom achievement, direction, and drive seem to come…
A new measurement approach proposed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) could lead to a better way to calibrate computed tomography (CT) scanners, potentially streamlining patient treatment by improving communication among doctors.
The approach, detailed in…
(Teledyna DALSA: Montreal) -- Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies company and global leader in machine vision technology, has added to its successful 1D and 2D camera portfolio by introducing its high-accuracy 3D laser profiler series for industrial imaging and factory automation.
The Z-TrakTM…