ASME TechCast

From the ever expanding use of automation to keeping employees safe and comfortable on the production line, manufacturers continue to face hurdles as they seek to optimize operations. Doug Backinger, senior vice president of solutions engineering and innovation at Caster Concepts, joins ASME TechCast to discuss some of the issues facing today's manufacturers, strategies that his teams are using to recruit and retain talent in this critical space, and why it's so important to not neglect the caster.

For commercial buildings, heating and cooling have long been known as the dominant energy draw. But manufacturers devote a lot of resources to HVAC in their factories and other facilities as well. Forooza Samadi, assistant director of the Alabama Industrial Training and Assessment Center in Tuscaloosa describes the scope of the challenge for small and medium-size manufacturers to reduce HVAC costs and improve efficiency.

Gabriella Coloyan Fleming and Abdulrahman Alsharif join ASME Techcast to discuss the technical and professional skills students need to move from higher education into their engineering careers.

Solar electricity generation is on the rise. In fact, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported in late 2023 that more new solar generating capacity was installed in the U.S. during the first eight months of 2023 than any other renewable or fossil fuel-based energy source. But imagine if the solar panels generating all this power were able to capture even more energy. That’s where perovskites are coming into play. Researchers have been investigating this nanomaterial for its ability to improve the efficiency of solar cells for years and commercialization could be on the horizon. Here to talk about perovskites and their potential here on Earth and even out in space is John Iannelli, president and founder of Caelux, a company that is working toward commercializing the use of perovskites to make solar energy more powerful and cost-effective.

University of Maryland professor Ryan Sochol shares how he created an entire syllabus around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. His course leverages the advanced physics and engineering featured in the game to teach machine design and CAD software to university students. Read more on the topic and get links to the referenced video and research paper here on our website.

Teresa Curvin speaks about women, golf, and the future of STEM. She joins ASME Techcast from South Carolina where she is working to help the next generation understand and grow to love engineering. 

Sustainability is top of mind across industries. For engineers, designing and building the solutions of tomorrow not only requires a keen mind and attention to detail, but navigating the multitude of requirements set forth by industry and regulators. To speak about what’s happening on the sustainability regulation front in the construction industry, ASME TechCast welcomes Tommy Linstroth, the founder and CEO of Green Badger, a software as a service (SaaS) provider simplifying sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in the built industry. Green Badger is accelerating environmentally responsible construction worldwide by equipping the industry with affordable technology and the knowledge to automate and easily report LEED compliance and ESG metrics.  

The sensors and connected systems that make up the Internet of Things produce more data than most managers can handle. According to Rich Masulis of Wesco this means engineers and production managers are missing some signals that could make their factories more efficient. Masulis discusses how artificial intelligence can be trained on IoT data to produce insights for manufacturers.

Tracy Brower speaks about happiness, work-life, and the future of work. Advisor and coach, the vice president of workplace insights for Steelcase, offers advice for engineering without regret.

"The future is going to be the clean industrial revolution." AtmosZero is on a mission to electrify and decarbonize steam. The startup's co-founder and CEO, Addison Stark, shares his mechanical engineering story, what led him to rethink the boiler, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurial engineers.

Where is the former Miss America now? Nuclear engineer Grace Stanke recently received her degree and moved to the East Coast for the next big step in her exciting career. In this episode, we talk about how her journey started and what 2024 holds in store for the Wisconsin native.

The workforce shortage and war for talent continue. One area that’s being hit particularly hard is the technical workforce, which is facing headwinds such as rapidly advancing technological requirements and antiquated perceptions. Despite growing demand across industries, from energy to manufacturing and beyond, there’s a widening gap between available positions and qualified candidates. And the engineer-to-technician ratio is widening, even though the need for critical hands-on skillsets is growing as well. Parminder Jassal, CEO and co-founder of Unmudl, a skills-to-jobs marketplace that connects learners and employers via a coast-to-coast network of leading community colleges, joins ASME TechCast to discuss these challenges and how industry, the public, and educators can turn this trend around.

Mechanical engineer, author, speaker, and trainer, the executive vice president of RMF Engineering in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., discusses how firms can recruit, retain, and train young professionals.

Mars has been a longstanding target for exploration, but for nearly 50 years, we've been sending robots to examine the Martian surface. Elizabeth Jens of Jet Propulsion Laboratory is one of the engineers working on systems used by the Perseverance rover and other missions. In this podcast, she talks about her work and the importance of encouraging young women to consider science and engineering careers.

Mechanical Engineering magazine's June/July cover story delves into the minds of early career engineers to hear their diverse stories, from humble beginnings to great achievements, and how they're paving the way forward for future engineering generations. In this sneak preview, we hear from Amy Elliott about her work in 3D printing and robotics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as her public outreach initiatives representing women in STEM and helping kids find their passion in engineering.

Identifying, training, and retaining talent continues to be a challenge for all fields of engineering. At the same time, diversifying the mix of engineering graduates to include more underrepresented groups is critical. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), minority serving institutions (MSIs), tribal colleges and universities, and others are making significant strides in growing the number of underrepresented groups entering engineering through a variety of strategies.In this episode, Craig Scott shares insights into engineering workforce challenges and some possible solutions. Scott is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of Engineering at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He is also president of the Inclusive Engineering Consortium (IEC)—a non-profit organization comprised of historically minority serving institutions working to produce a larger and better prepared pool of African-American, Hispanic, and Native American engineering graduates.

Lauren Neal talks about her experience as a working engineer in a male-dominated field. She covers strategies for recruitment, retention, DEI, and leadership.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just for faking voices or generating images. The technology can also sift through mountains of data and extract actionable insights. Humberto Moreira, principal solutions engineer at the software development services company Gigster, explains how these insights can assist manufacturers become more flexible and be more attuned to consumers.

When it comes to research and development, engineers lead the way across a wide range of industries. But when it’s time to translate cutting-edge research and prototypes into commercial applications and technologies, the process can be quite complex. Paul Cherukuri helps shed some light on that process, from strategies to challenges to real-world examples. Cherukuri is Rice University’s vice president for innovation and he also serves as Chief Innovation Officer, Adjunct Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, and Associate Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Risk-adverse, technical professionals find securing new business takes understanding a new generation of buyers and how they build relationships, assess services, and ultimately purchase products.