by Alastair Trower | Mar 11, 2024 | Product Design
Back in 1997, the public reaction upon first seeing the Vacanti Mouse (the laboratory mouse who appeared to have an ear grown on its back) was a mix of shock and fascination. The striking image spawned several concerning, yet rather ill-informed protests. But once the...
by Alastair Trower | Jan 22, 2024 | Marine
Being a captain ain’t easy. Critical, life and death decisions, ensuring the seaworthiness of the ship, handling payroll, staffing, and grievances all while being responsible for all persons and cargo on board; the daunting weight of all these responsibilities are...
by Alastair Trower | Jan 16, 2024 | Industry 4.0
In August 1987, the world was in a deeply dire state. Sixty years of chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) filled refrigerators and aerosol spray cans had depleted a large part of the ozone layer to a perilous level. A future of blinded children, scorched earth and extreme...
by Alastair Trower | Jan 5, 2024 | Aerospace & Defense
noun: also skunk works, skunk·works [skuhngk-wurks] .Slang. an experimental laboratory or department of a company or institution, typically smaller than, and independent of its main research division. The summer of 1943 was a hot one. The world was mired in an...
by Alastair Trower | Dec 20, 2023 | Electronics, Mechanical, Product Design
Barely three weeks before Christmas, Mike Rizkalla looks out of a window on American Airlines flight 134 and reflects upon the beauty of the Jundu mountains below. The electrical engineer and serial entrepreneur is heading back to his family in New Jersey after...