When Alexander O’Brien sent in his application for graduate school at MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, he had a germ of a research idea already brewing.

At Metalworks Inc.’s main plant in Lincoln, Nebraska, co-founders Rob Ernesti and Doug Swanson walked past a new punch/laser system being tested, complete with part removal and stacking automation.

Flat screen TVs that incorporate quantum dots are now commercially available. But it has been more difficult to create arrays of their elongated cousins, quantum rods, for commercial devices.

We’re all familiar with photos of Ford’s production lines in 1920. But would we recognize them today? As part of a broader trend referred to as “Industry 4.0,” systems in many factories have modernized considerably in recent years.

Imagine grasping a heavy object, like a pipe wrench, with one hand. You would likely grab the wrench using your entire fingers, not just your fingertips.

Over the past decade, one of the biggest advances in enterprise resource planning (ERP) has been the ability to communicate and integrate with machines and external software programs to lower costs and increase efficiency.

A single atom-thick sheet of carbon known as graphene has remarkable properties on its own. But things can get even more interesting when you stack up multiple sheets.

It’s no secret the automotive sector is racing to find ways of tapping the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to design and build the next generation of vehicles.

Robots do monotonous workflows and less pleasant, repetitive tasks with brilliance. Combined with image processing, they become “seeing” and reliable supporters of humans.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere—and that’s something to marvel at. AI is powering everything from advanced web searches to social media recommendations and video game design. But it could do infinitely more.