Reclaiming Our Freedoms in the COVID-19 Era July 28, 2020 From ideas to concept sketches converted to scaled drawings to parts, I had products from flying jet packs to entire underwater cities all worked out, except just one minor thing…my jigsaw and rasp could not get me past a crude prototype stage.
Learning the True Value of Adaptability June 18, 2020 I stepped onto campus last August as a freshman engineering student at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. As eager and worried as I was, the next chapter in my education and young adult life was beginning to unfold.
Italian Technology Award: Opens Doors, Enriches Engineering Education May 29, 2020 About 30 years ago, I was introduced to the amazing world of manufacturing. The Universal Co., a well-established home appliance manufacturer in Tehran, Iran, had already started to be equipped with advanced mechanisms and robots. There, my new work as a manufacturing engineer/die designer produced a deep, passionate love for manufacturing.
Blockchain: Great for Manufacturing Supply Chains April 24, 2020 In 1994 I was 11, and my dad brought home a Canon PC with a 486 Intel processor running Windows 3.1. Yes, believe it or not Canon used to make PCs; before that, we had a Tandy 1000 at home.
Reaching, Imagining and Making the Unmakeable January 6, 2020 Every journey into manufacturing is different. Mine started more than 30 years ago and has taken many paths; these collective experiences led me down the path that allowed me to become SME’s 88th president.
Be an Advocate for Manufacturing August 14, 2019 As a marketer for software serving the manufacturing industry, Graham Hargreaves partakes in routine communication with peers, customers, prospects and industry insiders. He hears a similar sentiment echoed by attendees at trade shows and industry events that he also hears from customers on a regular basis: The skills gap is not shrinking.
Bridging the Gap Between Research and Industry June 11, 2019 It is a great honor to serve our manufacturing community as the president of SME’s North American Manufacturing Research Institution in 2019-20. I will start this position after SME’s 47th North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC 47) takes place June 10-14 in Erie, Pa.
Inevitable Change Equals Opportunity January 10, 2019 A single phone call changed my life forever. In 2003, I was sitting in my office at a fuel cell manufacturing company where I was vice president of operations. A voice on the other end of the line said, “Hello, my name is Mark Tomlinson. I’m calling as a representative of the SME Manufacturing Enterprise Council.”
For an SME Member, Anything’s Possible May 8, 2018 I’ve been involved with SME for over 19 years—first as a scholarship winner and then as a student member at the Oregon Institute of Technology. Little did I know that I would go on to become even more involved in SME both locally and nationally.
Creating An Engaged and Sustainable SME February 8, 2018 It seems like it was yesterday, but the reality is that it has been almost 25 years since I first became an SME student member. Yes, the face of manufacturing has changed quite a bit since then, including SME’s name. In line with those changes, the level of the service, opportunity and impact of SME has grown quite a bit too.
