Austin has been senior editor for ASSEMBLY Magazine since September 1999. He has more than 21 years of b-to-b publishing experience and has written about a wide variety of manufacturing and engineering topics. Austin is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Engineers at Tesla Inc. have developed a new process that they claim will reduce EV production costs by 50 percent, while reducing factory space by 40 percent.
As any college football fan knows, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) takes sports seriously, with numerous gridiron rivalries. An engineering professor at the University of Tennessee has come up with a way to transfer some of that competitive spirit to the world of manufacturing.
Water heaters are one of the least glamorous types of home appliances. The vertical metal tanks typically sit out of sight in dark corners of basements or behind closet doors. Most homeowners never think about the devices—until there’s no hot water.
In the circus world, tightrope walking requires incredible balance and finesse. One wrong move can have dire consequences. Optimizing workflow on an assembly line is not as dangerous, but it requires a similar set of skills.
The aerospace industry recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of supersonic flight. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on Oct. 14, 1947, aboard the Bell X-1 rocket plane.