Not too long ago, graduating from an Ivy League School was among one of the best ways to ensure a high-paying and dignified career. Now, a new study has shown that despite what history may have taught us, the new high-paying jobs are demanding skills that aren’t offered at Ivy League schools at all -…
Like many others who love to create, one of my heroes is Adam Savage — Mythbuster, science communicator, movie prop collector, and maker. In one of the many hours I had spent absorbing his philosophies and skills watching Youtube videos, he said something that put into words a concept that had taken me many years…
If disassembling an object and having to reassemble it back into its original state is something that makes your knees buckle with nervousness, 9 times out of 10 you’re probably not a watchmaker. Known for their still hands and ability to organize hundreds of tiny pieces, there’s a reason why some watchmakers can earn just…
Crowned as one of the best iPad Apps of the year by Apple, the GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine App is super-crazy and super-delightful. Designed used alongside the GoldieBlox Movie Machine engineering toy for girls (and boys!), I had the time of my life simply exploring this creative engineering and movie-animation app. First things first:…
Founded by three former Mercedes engineers in 1967, AMG was created as a way for Mercedes-Benz to experiment with new technologies in the automotive racing world before passing those technologies down the line to consumer automobiles. Regardless if you’re a fan of Mercedes-Benz or not, it’s hard to not appreciate the level of detailed engineering…
What happens in the top-secret design lab at Apple’s Cupertino HQ has been a topic of interest for years now. Regardless if you use and appreciate Apple products or are a devoted Dell or Samsung user, it’s hard not to appreciate the contributions to industrial design that Jony Ive and team have cooked up in…
Can you even imagine what you get when you have three young girls and Brett Doar (of OK Go fame) spending two weeks with a crew creating a Rube Goldberg machine made completely out of toys, putting it to music with a rewrite of the Beastie Boys’ Girls? Only the most awesome video in the…
We’ve been seeing an onslaught of great Maker-inspired ad campaigns from various alcohol makers in the past few months ranging from DeWars’ 3B Printing Project campaign to Ballantine’s Ballance. The latest to join the ranks is Baileys with their Baileys Chocolate Luxe campaign that will really, really, make you want to have some chocolate after…
This week EngineerVsDesigner sat down with one of the guys who is ridding the world of peanut butter knuckles one screw thread at a time…Mr. Spencer Vaughn! Spencer is one of the engineers behind the viral hit ‘Jar with a Twist’—a new take on packaging design that gives the user a constant ‘full jar effect’.…
Outside of Need for Speed and other driving simulator videogames, the knowledge of ‘real’ manual transmission driving is dying out with younger generations of drivers. Ford engineer Zachary Nelson is aiming to change all that with a new 3D printed shift knob that tells you when to shift based on haptic feedback—essentially creating the physical…
Somewhere in a galaxy far, far away the LEGO Deathstar is silently weeping laser tears as it hides under the blanket. Yes, the LEGO Deathstar has been dethroned as the coolest lego project ever…by a DIY project that yes, YOU can build if you feel so inclined. The LEGObot is the brainchild of engineering student…
This week we have the great pleasure to speak with the one and only Conor MacCormack, CEO and Co-founder of MCor Technologies, makers of the paper-based 3D printer currently in use at Staples locations around Europe. We’ll talk with Conor about what led him into the 3D printing industry and how he even thought to…
When a girl is applying that special shade of chemical-infused eye-liner to their lids, the last thing going through their heads is all the science and incredible amounts of process that go into it. Unless they’re a girl in science… or interested in science… or forced by their parents to watch sciency videos on making…
What magic is this praytell?! The SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is BACK with a vengeance that can only be described as what you would get if you mixed kitteh paws with the lipless howls of a woodland badger… I know, intense and scary and cute all rolled up into 3-minutes of awesome!…
While there may be enough endearing puppet shows on the web waves, there are certainly not enough puppet shows that take on the build, hack, solder, crack, spark, squeeze and flow of electronics and circuitry. Adafruit is changing that with a new show airing next year called Circuit Playground. The show is set to premiere…
I feel privileged to tell you that, not only, do you look fabulous in that new summer jacket/defense system, you have also cause excess perspiration in 80% of the alien super race that was this close to completing their plan for world domination. Good thing you listen to the SolidSmack Cool Tool of Doom n’…
“Brilliant, you say?” Why, it’s only half a cockle shell I’ve fashioned into a sturdy set of gills at the base of my torso. Fortunately, they’re embedded beneath my skin, providing endless amounts of highly concentrated oxygen due to being soaked overnight in the SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff! Have something cool you’ve…
Deep with in the dark crevasses of time, there were other, smaller crevasses and deep within those, there lived a people. A people so furry, they were known only by one name. A name we do not know. Anyway, they lived rich and bountifully off the land, all thanks to the SolidSmack Cool Tools of…
The battle raged on. All the small onion people had skinned their last layer, leaving nothing but their tender underbellies ripe for the squeezing. Fortunately for them, they were joined by the herbaceous chive, the sharp scallion, the assertive garlic–ripe, juicy and subscribers to the Cool Tools podcast. Have something cool you’ve come across? Don’t…
When you thought that mossleaf tepee was the best idea in the world, then met it’s doom to a herd of wild boar searching for your hidden cask of clover honey, just remember, SolidSmack was there to help with the finest concoction of useful resources, tool and DIY you have yet to see… for the…
The shards of glass have been tossed in the air. You have but 5 seconds to roll across the floor to the protection of your desk, escaping the falling glass and weeks of applying bandages to the small, uncomfortable gashes. The SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff is here to help. Have something cool…
As you gaze far off into the distance, a quiet rumble begins. The tremor is felt through the ground. Your ear hairs quiver. Your nostrils quake. Then suddenly, like a caffeinated clown exploding amidst a plume of fire, it appears, the SolidSmack Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff. Have something cool you’ve come across? Don’t…
Rock and roll is here to stay… and so is the new Cool Tools of Doom n’ stuff! We received some letters (sent to ourselves from across town) saying how helpful the resources and sites are. We’ve got a whole new pack of sites spanning graphics, apparel and DIY to make your life way more…
There should be five things that you do today. They should all involve string, live bait and an assortment of wild animals. Oh, and this, KICK IT.
When the bluebonnets are dancing in the field and you feel a large antler near your spine, it’s best you not turn around. Simply put your headphones, tighten your belt on and scream, KICK IT.
I know it’s the weekend. Time to work on the tan, take the horse for a ride, wax your bike and maybe even make that crumpet basket you’ve been reading about. But before you do all of that, sit back, relax and enjoy 3 minutes and 42 seconds of bliss. KICK IT.
Why, it looks like you’re enjoying your weekend. Spring hat, drink in your hand, veggie or steak kabob of your choice grilling on the hood of your neighbor’s car. If only life could be just a touch more exciting. May I introduce the SolidSmack Update? I may. KICK IT.
Turns out good, energy efficient engineering is a lot more than removing a few extra ribs on a design and slapping a low power motor in it. James Dyson has something to say about that. This story at Fast Co.Exist gets the vacuum innovator’s take on lazy engineering.
This week, a deep, thought-provoking poll that really matters. One that paws like a toothless rat against the marshmallowy film of time. Everybody knows drawing revisions are better represented as… what? Letters or numbers? How about letters and numbers? Should we even have a choice? Should 14 year old standards been thrown out with the…
Little did you know it, but that engineering degree you spent 100k and 5+ years completing, fueled by cafeteria food, long nights and the occasional nervous breakdown… may actually be making you less useful, or at the very least need some flare. In an article at Techcrunch, Vivek Wadhwa goes up against some thoughts from…
Put the crackers down. The shop is calling. Nope, not to tell you they have to remake everything, but to let you know the part-makin’ is going perfectly. Why? You knew what to look out for. On the screen it looks spectacular, right? but can it actually be made? For many designers and engineer’s designing…
Pull up your socks. It’s about to get ruckus up in the CAD Engineering Software world. The Conference is going down the next few days in Scottsdale, Arizona at the Palace Resort. COFES 2009 (Conference on the Future of Engineering Software). The topics focus on ‘Innovation’*, from how software affects design to predicting the future…
Look out unemployed and soon-to-be-unemployed engineers and designers… SolidWorks has gone and done the nearly unimaginable… free software. For a limited time, they are offering a free trial download of SolidWorks 2009 to stimulate the corpuscles out of your ever-loving, unemployeed facial pores. And although your excitement may instantly look like a bad case of…
If you’ve taken a look outside your cubicle lately you’ve probably noticed that the sky has not only fallen for many engineers, but has also nearly imploded due to the increasing supply of talent. What to do. It’s really easy to get down about this even if you still have a job, but it’s also…
News travels fast up har in the hills and mountains o’ CAD country… stimulatin’ news… news on the magnitude of HUGE and TIMELY. This is just such news. SolidWorks announced at SolidWorks World 2009 the enormous plans of helping every ailing engineer that has meet the cold hand of unemployment. The SolidWorks Engineering Stimulus Package…
It may not be enough that you know how to sort desktop folders, write a cordial email or sketch a straight line, you may actually need to know some software that allows others to see what’s going on in the recesses of your analytically-primed imagination. There are hundreds of software apps that help Industrial Designers…
I warned you. Tonight, October 15th, four uniquely qualified engineers will begin a series to entertain your analytical mind with mind controlled cars, space-age sleeping pods, giant robots and anything else that borders on cool and impossible. Discovery Channel’s Prototype This! premiers TONIGHT. Not only will they be creating concepts that shock your senses, they’ll…
So, yesterday in Switzerland, a bunch of subatomic particles busted out a lap around the largest, most powerful particle accelerator ever conceived by us tiny humans. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is up and running, but it’s not the only project testing the vast limits of scientific discovery. Japan’s Large Helical Device has some fancy…