Manufacturing & Prototyping

Custom & Contract Manufacturing

Find the latest news and technical briefs in custom and contract manufacturing. Review the applications that design engineers are using to meet their manufacturing design challenges.

Application Briefs: Materials

Innovation on a Larger Scale: Robotic Fiber Placement and 3D Printing

“The disruption promised by Industry 4.0 has already begun,” says Jason Melcher from the aerospace manufacturing company Ingersoll.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Special Section: The Winners of the 2020 'Create the Future' Design Contest

Your 2020 winners include a bacteria-repelling wrap, an advanced prosthetic leg, flash graphene, and more.

Articles: Materials

2020 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Category Winner — RadiBond

RadiBond technology, based on nanometer-thin coatings, provides ultra-strong and ultra-tight bonding between metals and plastics.

NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Zero-Gravity Body Posture Influences Acupressure Massage Chair

NASA’s neutral body position research was used in the design of a medical massage chair.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Technology Leaders: Industry Renaissance Transforms Invention, Learning, Production, and Trade

Digital technologies are enabling an "Industry Renaissance" of virtual experiences.

Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Would You Use 'Tsugite' Software for Woodworking?

A recent INSIDER story highlighted a new tool for architects, furniture-makers, and woodworking beginners. The interactive software from the University of Tokyo, known as "Tsugite," provides milling machine instructions and on-screen design guidance so that users can piece an object together...

Special Reports: Medical

Additive Manufacturing - November 2020

AM/3D Printing is fundamentally changing how products are prototyped and produced in aerospace, medical, electronics, and many other fields. To help you keep pace with the latest advances, we present...

5 Ws: Manufacturing & Prototyping

5 Ws of Algae-Based Flip-Flops

Would you take a walk in biodegradable flip-flops?

Products: Software

Product of the Month: October 2020 Tech Briefs

Users can edit the shape of a model while viewing results and watch the simulation update immediately.

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

NASA's 'VITAL' Ventilator: A Choice Between Licensing and Open-Source

As Brazil begins mass-producing a NASA-developed ventilator, a Tech Briefs reader asks why NASA didn't go open-source.

NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Nanotechnology Repairs Engine Damage in Cars

The NASA-funded nanoparticle lubricant also works in satellites and space vehicles.

Podcasts: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Here's an Idea: A Morphing Airplane Wing Built by Tiny Robots

Ben Jennet is a PhD student at MIT and a former space research fellow at NASA. He is working with NASA to develop a new kind of aircraft wing that's flexible and changes mid-flight.

Blog: Software

Even NASA Needs Effective Parts Sourcing

You can design the best product in the world but what if the parts, assemblies, and sub-components for your idea aren’t there?

Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Do You See Yourself Someday Printing in 4D?

You’ve heard about 3D printing, but what about 4D?

A Tech Briefs TV video this week showcased how Rice University researchers’ new way of making shape-shifting materials. The “4D-printed” objects can be manipulated to take on alternate forms when exposed to changes in temperature,...

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Starting In the Garage, NASA Engineer Makes Oxygen Helmet for COVID-19 Patients

See how NASA engineer Mike Buttigieg is creating a device that will free up ventilators for patients with COVID-19

Blog: FDA/Regulatory

NASA's 'VITAL' Ventilator Gets FDA Approval

A low-cost, low-complexity ventilator developed by NASA engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Executive Roundtable: 3D Printing

Tech Briefs posed questions to 3D printing/AM industry execs, to get their views on issues like metal printing, new materials, and environmental sustainability.