From the Editor's Desk

Highlights

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Innovative UAVs and Robots at AUVSI Unmanned Systems 2014

I spent a couple days last week looking around at exhibits in the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) show in Orlando. We made a number of short videos...

How to get an engineering job at SpaceX

SpaceX, the company founded to revolutionize space technology, has been making headlines recently with its successful test of the reusable Falcon 9 rocket, along with some pretty...

What's inside GM's recalled ignition switch

We recently took a quick trip to a junk yard to get a steering column from a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. The steering column, of course, also comes with the ignition switch that is the...

The Art of Product Design

An interesting book crossed my desk recently. Called "The Art of Product Design," by Hardi Meybaum, its title is perhaps a bit misleading. The phrase "art of design," for most...

Infiniti searches for a few good Formula 1 engineers

I continue to be amazed at the cool opportunties available for today's engineering school grads. The latest example comes from the Infiniti Performance Engineering Academy...

Suit claims Silicon Valley firms conspired to hold down wages of techies

Well, this is interesting. There is a lot of chatter this morning about a class action suit scheduled to come to trial in May which claims tech giants in Silicon Valley informally...

Are "weed-out" courses a good idea for engineering school?

Most of use who have gone through engineering school have not-so-fond memories of "weed out" courses. These are classes set up to be so hard that they convince people who are ...

3D printing may end product liability suits

There is an interesting paper posted on the SSRN site by a Stanford law professor who concludes that 3D printing may make product liability suits obsolete. Nora Engstrom points...

U.S. EE jobs decline --- Should we still encourage kids to pursue STEM?

A recent article in the IT journal Computerworld has fanned the flames of the ongoing debate about the advisability of pursuing careers in engineering. The CW article doesn'...