In this interview, we chatted with one of the leading LED illumination experts in the world, Julius Muschaweck. If you want to know how to super-precisely measure and model LEDs for illumination, this is the guy to talk to. The former “Osram grandpa” worked as a go-to LED expert within Osram and now works as…
In this interview with Dr. Logan Rodriguez Graves, we learn about how gigundous, expensive mirrors in observatory telescopes are made, medical imaging, and other things you can do with a degree in optical science. https://youtu.be/MT0BLowdjlw Medical Imaging for Diagnosing Colon Cancer As an undergrad, Graves worked in a University of Arizona group that researched new…
Do you ever wonder how class-A surface modelers get their jobs putting the polish on race car CAD? We interviewed Adam Kenney, a pro, class-A surface modeler who’s worked on projects for Lotus and McLaren to find out! https://youtu.be/0G0esw_dXe8 What Exactly IS Class-A Surfacing? Adam tells us he is often mistaken for the industrial designer…
OddEngineer.com + Free Giveaway with Consultation and Bose Noise Canceling Headphones! While some got prison swole or Hot Cheetos swole in 2020, I got nerd entrepreneurship swole. I built a new thing for us freelance physical product engineers: OddEngineer.com. There, you can immediately book and pay for appointments with niche, hard-to-find engineering pros. Got questions…
Pablo Sobron, PhD gave us a tour of the R&D company, Impossible Sensing, which he founded in St. Louis, Missouri. See the video below for a look inside their lab: https://youtu.be/okNBlVQI1XY Most of the systems Impossible Sensing builds are to be used in aerospace by NASA. Others are for deep ocean and oil & gas…
Two years ago, we interviewed Anthony Mattana, founder of Hooke Audio, about his comically arduous hardware startup story. And today, he’s back. His first product, the Hooke Verse, are wireless headphones that record in binaural 3d audio. More than just stereo sound, this tech gives listeners a literally jaw-dropping feeling of physically being where sounds…
The tour of this makerspace just outside Denver and Boulder, Colorado took place in September 2019, long before COVID-19 flipped spaces like these on their heads. However, as of today, TinkerMill is open for business, albeit with several precautions in place. Take a peek inside this massive, and well-equipped space in the video below with…
Right now, an NYT article on the #vanlife business boom is trending on LinkedIn. It looks like a lot of professionals are dumping cash into glamping vans with so many of us barred from offices during these lockdown times. You’re geographically free! Might as well travel the country and live in a van, right? Hold…
Have skills and itching to make a difference with the shortages in coronavirus-related supplies? There are lots of individuals, companies, and communities organizing and many other open-source personal protection equipment (PPE) designs available. Investigate the list below to find a way to put your vital CAD-modeling, 3D-printing, nunchuck skills, and other talents to use! There’s…
We saw Core, a “meditation trainer”, popping up all over at CES 2020, covered here! Now, they’re sharing the physical product engineering challenges behind creating this wellness device. And there were MANY engineering prob… er, lessons to be learned. Watch the video below to see our interview with Sara Weber, Director of Marketing & Partnerships,…
The second installment of Hardware Massive’s Hardware Summit took place in San Francisco, at Mind the Bridge, on November 6, 2019. In spite of fires raging around the Bay Area complete with power outages, around 200 hardware nerds came out to connect and learn. There were three talks with experts in the physical product space…
What are the tech trends for 2020 and the decade to come? Read on and watch the video for all the gadget goodness that catches a HW engineers’ eyes at CES 2020! This year’s show in Las Vegas expected over 170,000 attendees and took up literally millions of square feet of exhibit space. That’s a…
Between September 16th-20th this year, Denver was overflowing with out-of-towners for Denver Startup Week. (Which was much to the dismay of native Denverite Uber passengers.) Here, you can read about the many physical product development related goings-on at this free conference. There were a lot. See below for the video: The Venue I try not…
Roam Robotics is doing some awesome stuff in San Francisco, California, and here we get an exclusive, inside look! Their first commercial product is a robotic ski exoskeleton which you can try out this upcoming season. Read on to learn more about how it works and see inside Roam’s office. Or, you can watch the…
The 2nd annual Hardware Summit put on by Hardware Massive will be held in San Francisco on November 6, 2019. It turns out I’ll be moderating a panel talk there. That scores me a discount code to share with my closest friends: you! The Super Secret Code is: SAVE15-EM If you use to get your…
This tour of MADE Makerspace in Barcelona, Spain was my last stop of jet setting through Europe to learn about HW startup culture there. Watch the video below to take the tour with me, or read on for details! I’d like to give a big thank-you to Oriol Fernandez of “MAking props” for taking the…
On the 3rd installment of “How to Network with HW enginerds in Europe,” we fly to Kiev, Ukraine! (AKA Kyiv, Ukraine.) I only had two days in this city but managed to tour three facilities and pack in four meetings, proving Ukrainians are awesome. In this short visit, I learned a lot of interesting facts…
We head to Berlin, Germany in the 2nd installment of my Euro tour learning about HW tech development across the pond. Here, I interview the CTO of Next Big Thing, Jasmin Skenderi. There’s also a video of their facilities at Factory Berlin, and an interview with a portfolio company, Sensry. Some Thank-Yous As with the…
Recently, I toured Europe to learn about how hardware startups grew there. Where is the Euro Silicon Valley? How are startups treated there compared to in the U.S.? How does networking, funding and team-building work over yonder? One of my stops was Warsaw, Poland. Here, I’ll share what I learned touring the FabLab powered by…
If you’re engineering hardware that has any one of: a camera, an LED, a display, an IR sensor, a lens, a laser, a reflector, or an optical fiber, guess what?! You’re working with an optical system. What’s more, there’s an entire branch of engineering that specializes in optics. And, if you’re not involving an optical…
TechDay New York took place this year at the Javits Center in Manhattan on May 2nd. This event boasted over 300 startups on display, tech talks, and demos. I didn’t stand around for any talks, however, and went straight for the toys shown off in the booths. Here are some of the coolest hardware-type-tech things…
As I travel around the world searching for fellow HW nerds, I’m happy to share my findings with you, dear SolidSmack reader. In this article, I bring you the best events and organizations to check out in the San Francisco Bay area. There more than, perhaps, anywhere, the term “tech” gets conflated with “software”. However,…
We stopped by Gowanus Audio in Brooklyn, NY to get a step-by-step rundown of their DIY Bluetooth speaker class. Founder, Pete Raho, generously shared details and tips in the video below so you can make it yourself! Watch the Video For Explanation on All the Things: 3 Options for How You Can Build This: Go…
On January 30th, 2019, an impressive concentration of hardware pros could be found at Synapse Product Development’s downtown Seattle office. Usually, HW people are in the minority at tech events, but not this time. What was the buzz about? Dragon Innovation was there to sponsor a HW startup panel which also included representation from Hackster,…
Did you know there’s a packed, 11,000 square foot makerspace just 15 miles north of Seattle? We stopped by The Facility Makerspace to see the toys inside this new space funded by Edmonds Community College. If you’re worried about not being a student there — don’t! This makerspace is open to the public and you…
In San Francisco, Hardware Massive put together their first “HW Summit SF” on November 7, 2018. This organization was also behind April 2018’s HardwareCon which we covered here. Apologies for not getting this coverage out sooner (some HW engineering stuff got in my way), but the insights shared here are still relevant — especially if…
TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin brought together startups and tech enthusiasts from all over Europe November 29-30, 2018. I stopped by to bring you the highlights. The scale of the event in Berlin, Germany was noticeably smaller than the one in San Francisco, which we covered here. Disrupt San Francisco reported around 7,500 attendees while Disrupt Berlin expected…
We did a story earlier this year on where to find other HW nerds in Seattle. But what if you want to specifically find VR nerds? Wonder no more! In this article, we give you a peek inside a huge monthly VR MeetUp in Seattle. It’s a sure spot for a chance to demo VR…
What happens when a business leader with the core of a true maker and engineer gets his hands on the resources to build whatever he wants? No, I’m not talking about Elon — I said, “true maker and engineer”. We’re talking about Carl Bass and his wood and metal shops. They’re stocked for projects requiring…
This year’s TechCrunch Disrupt had a reported 7,500 attendees bustling through the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, September 5th-7th, 2018. There were a ton of interesting talks, the Startup Battlefield competition with a $100k prize, exhibitors small and large at the expo and, yes, we’ve got all the highlights for you. See the details in…
We stopped by Circuit Launch in Oakland, California to get a tour of this electronics hardware co-working space and its toys. They boast 31,000 square feet of space, mechanical and electronic prototyping tools, VR and mixed reality studios, educational opportunities and, at the time of our visit, about 80 members/quirky HW nerds. If you want…
We talked with the founder of Hooke Audio, Anthony Mattana, in a crazily candid interview on July 27, 2018. His invention, the Hooke Verse, brings binaural 3D audio recording capability to all of us consumers. Read on to learn more about 3D audio tech and hear how Anthony bootstrapped the %*&# out of his HW…
As I travel around the country, one of my most challenging tasks as an engineering service provider is figuring out where to connect with other physical product development pros. Where do the HW nerds come out to play? This month, I was in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Here I’ll cover the networking gems I discovered there.…
Introducing the newest Hollywood star about to shock audiences everywhere: The DJI Zenmuse X5S camera aboard the Inspire 2 drone in a film called The Ascension of Ava Delaine. Oh, and also the lead actress, director, and producer of this single-take, all mobile device-shot film, complete with multiple wardrobe changes: Tonya Kay. I had the…
If you went to college on your path to becoming an engineer/designer/maker you may have learned there are a lot of occupational hazards you were not warned about in that schooling. Even if you didn’t, I bet there were a lot of nasty surprises. Like, what about being cursed? I don’t mean in a profanity…
On April 19-20, 2018, Hardware Massive put on the 4th Annual HardwareCon in San Jose, CA. For a while, the flashy shine of new hardware tech has been overshadowed by new software tech. In Silicon Valley especially, there’s a kind of cultural notion that software is high tech and exciting and hardware is not. I…
On March 9th, 2018, mHUB in Chicago celebrated surviving its first year and it’s showing a strong start to its 2nd. A product of Chicago’s rich manufacturing history, mHUB refers to itself as a “manufacturing and physical product innovation center”. It provides incubator-type resources, fabulous and expensive prototyping equipment & software, and coworking spaces. Their 1st…
If you’re involved in the engineering of products manufactured globally, chances are you’ve been personally affected by SNAFU’s on an epic scale. Despite your best efforts, you probably had to sacrifice some weekends, or late nights, or quality time with your kiddos, or at the very least, your blood pressure. Hey, it happens to the…