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.

Issue Archive: Automotive
Magazine Archives
2022 September August July June May April March February January 2021 December November October ...
Articles: Software
Bolstering Product Design Success with Supply Chain Strategies
In the high-tech sector, there's been a shift from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case” inventory strategies.
Articles: Electronics & Computers
A Measured, Agile Response to Supply Chain Disruptions
Supply chains run best when all the stakeholders involved stay keenly focused on their core competencies, says Tom Vanderheyden from TTI Americas.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Mask Prototype Can Detect COVID-19 Infection
The sensor technology could also be used to create clothing that detects a variety of pathogens and other threats.
Special Reports: Electronics & Computers
Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - November 2021

In this new report from the editors of Medical Design Briefs and Tech Briefs magazines, discover how the latest advances in 3D printing, machining, molding and more are changing the way...

Blog: Software
Feature-Based Modeling vs. Bill of Materials (BOM)
A reader asks an industry expert from IBM: How is feature-based modeling better than a bill of materials?
Application Briefs: Materials
BioPod Takes One Step Closer to Life on Mars
Interstellar used Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud to design and develop its first prototype: BioPod.
Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA CO₂ Removal System Integrates High-Speed Blower
After rigorous ground testing, NASA’s Four Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber will be installed on the ISS.
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
How the Scalable 'Coventor' Stacks Up to a Traditional Ventilator
Learn how a low-cost machine known as the 'Coventor' stacks up to a traditional ventilator.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
International Space Station Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED)
Terrestrial uses include physical therapy, clinical diagnosis, athletic training and performance, and robust exercise equipment.
Briefs: Materials
Nature-Inspired, Manufactured, Non-Cuttable Material
The material could be used in security, health, industrial, and safety applications.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Heated Facemask Filters and Inactivates Coronaviruses
The reusable mask would include a heated copper mesh powered by a battery and surrounded by insulating neoprene.
Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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: Imaging
Technology Leaders: Industry Renaissance Transforms Invention, Learning, Production, and Trade
Digital technologies are enabling an "Industry Renaissance" of virtual experiences.
NASA Spinoff: Aerospace
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
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.
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: Aerospace
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: Materials
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: Regulations/Standards
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: Energy
Nanotechnology Repairs Engine Damage in Cars
The NASA-funded nanoparticle lubricant also works in satellites and space vehicles.
Podcasts: Robotics, Automation & Control
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: Design
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: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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: Regulations/Standards
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.

Top Stories

Q&A: Energy

A New, Low-Cost Aluminum-Sulfur Battery

Articles: Materials

Plastic-Eating Enzymes Chomp into the Future

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Thin Device Triggers One of Quantum Mechanics’ Strangest Phenomena

Application Briefs: Energy

New Screening System May Point the Way to Clean, Renewable Hydrogen Power

5 Ws: Materials

5 Ws of the Artificial Leaf

Quiz: Propulsion

How Much Do You Know About Electric Aircraft Advances?

Webcasts

On-Demand Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

Modeling Inverse Kinematics: Improving Actuation Control in Industrial Robots

Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement

Full-Field Optical Strain Measurement Systems for Materials and...

Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI

Advances in Unmanned Aircraft: AI and Autonomy – Threats,...

Upcoming Webinars: Photonics/Optics

When Milliseconds Count: The Impact of Adaptive Lidar on...

Upcoming Webinars: Defense

Sensors Rated for Cryogenic Measurements

Upcoming Webinars: Medical

Product Development Lifecycle Management: Optimizing Quality,...

Trending Stories

Articles: Materials

Plastic-Eating Enzymes Chomp into the Future

INSIDER: Information Technology

Thin Device Triggers One of Quantum Mechanics’ Strangest Phenomena

Application Briefs: Test & Measurement

New Screening System May Point the Way to Clean, Renewable Hydrogen Power

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Highly Conductive Aluminum Can Equal Copper

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Two-Stage Variable Sample-Rate Conversion System

Q&A: Energy

Focusing the Sun – A Big Gain for Solar Power Efficiency

Videos