New Waves
Technology has leapt forward since November 2011, when Thomas Grose’s first story on advanced manufacturing appeared in Prism. New techniques of the time—3-D printing and other additive manufacturing, robotics, telematics, and nanotechnology—represented “the first stirring of an American industrial revival,” he wrote. By now, 3-D printing is a fixture of maker spaces, and robots clean floors at Walmart. But the hoped-for manufacturing renaissance hasn’t exactly made heads spin, despite a historic, long-running economic recovery. In fact, a June 2019 report by MForesight, a think tank at the University of Michigan, notes: “In many respects, with the exception of aerospace, the United States is no longer an advanced manufacturing economy, focused more on mid-tier industries than the advanced, high-technology sectors needed to maintain high living standards and superior military capabilities.” Manufacturing enthusiasts haven’t given up, however. They’re encouraged by the adaptation of prominent breakthroughs of the past decade to production. Collectively titled the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, they include the Internet of Things, big data, regenerative medicine, and a variety of new materials. Grose once again brings us up-to-date in October’s cover story, “The New Factory Floor.”
For faculty members outside the tenure track, this is a season of discontent. Many of them bristle at being saddled with lower pay, deprived of benefits in some places, and denied a say in governance and departmental policies. As Mary Lord writes in “Rumbling in the Ranks,” these “professional track” faculty fill an important role. With tenured and tenure-track academics expected to compete for scarce research dollars, their nontenured peers assume much of the teaching burden, preparing the next generation of professionals. Lord writes about several who are raising their voices and organizing colleagues for better treatment.
If you teach electronics and like to encourage active learning, you’re probably familiar with the problem encountered by Michael Peshkin, professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern University: not enough lab equipment for all the students who need it. In a perfect world, he thought, students would each have a set of test instruments. So he set about making that happen. The eventual result was nScope—an oscilloscope and a kit of electronic parts that could be plugged into a laptop and allow students to build, measure, and test electronics. It’s available online for $94 and has been adopted by several leading schools. In “Lab in a Box,” Margaret Loftus spins a fun tale of inventive teaching.
We hope you enjoy the October Prism.
Mark Matthews
m.matthews@asee.org