http://wohlersassociates.com/blog Views, perspective, and commentary from Terry Wohlers Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:01:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The first time I phoned Autodesk (1983), Mike Ford, the vice president of marketing and sales, answered the phone. That’s how small the company was at the time. Autodesk’s most recent annual revenues were $2.17 billion, making it the largest CAD company in the world. Who would have ever guessed ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/08/autodesk-is-now-the-giant/ My wife, daughter, and I visited Costa Rica last week and part of this week. We spent our time in the western half of the country near Playa Hermosa and Lake Arenal. Our previous visit to the country was 11 years ago, so the trip served as a reminder of ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/07/costa-rica/ Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Mike Mullane chronicles much of his life leading up to his three shuttle missions into space. An engineer friend, Boris Fritz of Northrop Grumman, highly recommended the book. ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/07/riding-rockets/ The U.S. has dropped to tenth place worldwide in high school completion, according to the September 2007 issue of Manufacturing Engineering. In 2004, the average annual income for a high school drop out was about $16,500, compared to more than $26,000 for a graduate. What can be done to reduce the ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/06/engaging-students-is-key/ Many years ago, at least one person predicted the use of additive fabrication (AF) to “3D print” household items. If the bread toaster breaks, a new one—or part of one—would be created on the home 3D printer. The convenience and speed would make it compelling. I disagreed then and I do ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/06/home-manufacturing-in-the-future/ Some of you may recognize his name. Cohen helped pioneer the additive fabrication (AF) industry. At 3D Systems, he was instrumental in the development of the SLA 250, once the most popular AF system in the world. Cohen subsequently co-founded Soligen, a Southern California company that used inkjet printing (3DP) ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/05/adam-cohen/ In January 2008, Tata Motors of India unveiled its $2,500 automobile. It is believed to be the least expensive production car anywhere. The car is expected to reach Indian consumers in October. Click here to see the interior and exterior of this small, no-frills car. According to Wikipedia, the car ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/05/25k-to-95k-cars-from-tata/ Last week I visited EOS GmbH (Krailling, Germany), a company that manufactures laser-sintering machines for plastics, metals, and foundry sand. By the end of my visit, it became clear to me that EOS is rewriting the rules for metal part fabrication. Conventional methods will not disappear, but a range of ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/04/rewriting-the-rules-of-making-metal-parts/ Can you believe it? Ninety-one percent of our nation’s manufacturing companies were involved in one or more new lawsuits in 2007, according to Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, a law firm in Houston, Texas. The report, published in the January 2008 issue of Manufacturing Engineering, went on to say that 56% ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/04/corporate-litigation/ A lot has been published over the past couple years on the suspected lack of engineering graduates in the U.S. Some articles suggest that countries, such as China, are producing many more engineers than the U.S. In determining whether it’s true, one must know how these countries define an “engineer.” ... http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/03/lack-of-engineering-graduates/