Time to read: 6 min
As an engineer, the peak in excitement and job satisfaction is the opportunity to create something that improves the lives of people around the world. While the field of biomedical engineering may be the most obvious area that directly helps people (which is why I began my studies in college in biomedical engineering) there are many ways to help people.
History has taught us that simple things can make colossal impacts, like the wheel and axle, screws, springs, electric motors, pulleys, pendulum levers, and the printing press. And an endless string of inventions comes from the aerospace, consumer products, automotive, medical, electronics, and even computer science industries that positively impact the people who use those products.
Read on to learn about some of the most impactful mechanical inventions and why we think they’re among the most innovative solutions helping folks around the world right now.
Medical Industry for Home Use – StairSteady
Ruth Amos was just 15 when she took an engineering course and was challenged to provide a solution for the teacher’s dad to utilize stairs after a stroke. Ruth designed an assistive handle that moves along existing staircase handrails and named it the StairSteady.
The StairSteady enables people with mobility issues to go up and down stairs safely, without extensive costs or complex installations. Traditional, motorized stairlifts cost thousands of dollars to install — you have to retrofit the space to fit the larger footprint of the stairlift, install electrical wiring, and add structural improvements to carry the additional weight. The StairSteady and similar products, such as the AssiStep, are a far cheaper alternative to a stairlift.
Ruth is also passionate about cultivating the next generation of inventors, specifically young girls aged 4 to 11. To accomplish this goal, Ruth and a fellow engineer named Shawn have started a channel on YouTube named Kids Invent Stuff where kids can submit their ideas, and Ruth and Shawn bring them to life. One of their latest invention challenges was to create an invention made entirely of leftover Easter chocolate. It’s a fun way to get kids excited about engineering and STEM, and to ensure the future of mechanical engineering.
Consumer Products – VICIS Zero2 Trench Football Helmet
If you, like me, have a child who’s interested in playing football or are just a fan of the sport (definitely NOT me), you should know that head injuries (especially concussions) are prevalent in the sport. So, the engineers at VICIS developed a helmet specifically for offensive and defensive linemen (whose play is most physical) that protects against head injuries through impact mitigation. After all, the ability to absorb an impact can make a collision less impactful — remember linear momentum equations?
Currently utilized by many NFL and top college football teams, the Zero2Trench helmet uses a super absorbent, deformable plastic front shell and a MATRIX fit system composed of a flexible microfilament structure as interior padding — though he MATRIX fit system is only available for pros or D1 college athletes.
The technology provides a unique fitting process that ensures a perfect fit, regardless of a player’s head shape or size. Virginia Tech, an engineering school that’s the authority on rating football helmets, gave the Zero2Trench helmet a perfect score. Parents of budding players can rejoice too, as VICIS sells a youth helmet for your young football players.
Safe Drinking Water Solutions – Fluorine Ring Desalination
About 10% of people on the planet lack access to clean drinking water — that’s about 771 million people, or more than double the population of the United States. While access to clean water has improved over the last two decades due to a greater focus on the problem, there’s still a global water crisis. Saltwater has the potential to solve the crisis as the ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, and 97% of the water on Earth is salty.
The process of converting saltwater into freshwater is known as desalination, and it typically has extensive energy and footprint requirements while only yielding about 50% freshwater from input saltwater.
A new solution is under development by engineers at the University of Tokyo in Japan. This new method utilizes fluorine in nanosized tubes of fluorine rings embedded on a water-tight layer of lipid molecules to capture salt molecules from the saltwater. In the prototyping phase this process produced clean water in a fraction of the time required for traditional desalination processes like reverse osmosis. Desalination with fluorine rings is an emerging technology to watch, and the benefits could be massive.
Check out this video to learn more about the global water crisis and how desalination is likely to be the best solution: Can desalination end global water shortages?
Aerospace – Terran 1 3D Printed Rocket
When you think of 3D printing, you may think of small plastic components used for repairs or visual prototypes — not reusable rockets. Relativity Space, however, thinks that 3D printing is the future of rockets. Relativity Space developed a factory of the future by creating the world’s largest 3D metal printer with AI-driven controls. The printer, named Stargate, uses machine learning control algorithms to perform additive processes and subtractive machining in concert to create incredibly complex geometries.
While the printer itself is an astonishing feat, the reduction in time required to complete a rocket is the most impressive thing about Relativity’s factory of the future. Traditional aerospace companies spend over two years to produce a rocket while the Stargate printer can make one in about 60 days by vertically integrating AI and robots and utilizing smart software controls. Relativity Space launched the world’s first 3D-printed rocket on March 22, 2023.
Also, the Stargate printers at Relativity Space use custom-designed metal powder with physical properties explicitly designed for the 3D printing process and rocket missions — the magnified materials shown on their website are genuinely uniform. We will see more manufacturing centers spring up like this in the near future to take advantage of rapid product development afforded by additive manufacturing, AI, and robotics in general.
Manufacturing – Digital Platforms
Now it’s time to brag about ourselves. With the technology available in 2023, every mechanical engineer can leverage software, the world wide web, and a global supply chain for their projects. Many Fictiv customers have said that we provide an unparalleled solution for accelerating new product development by offering a few key advantages:
- AI Powered Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Feedback is provided instantly after uploading designs to our platform — so you can quickly incorporate DFM changes if needed, get your parts faster, and iterate much more quickly.
- Instant Pricing (Even for 2D Drawings) is also provided, so say goodbye to waiting days or weeks for quotes or playing phone tag and email follow-ups to get answers.
- On-Demand Production Transparency provides you with real-time visibility into the production status of your parts. You even get real-time photos of your parts at the manufacturing facility taken during inspection.
Learn more about our digital manufacturing platform here:
Also, the Stargate printers at Relativity Space use custom-designed metal powder with physical properties explicitly designed for the 3D printing process and rocket missions — the magnified materials shown on their website are genuinely uniform. We will see more manufacturing centers spring up like this in the near future to take advantage of rapid product development afforded by additive manufacturing, AI, and robotics in general.
Manufacturing – Digital Platforms
Now it’s time to brag about ourselves. With the technology available in 2023, every mechanical engineer can leverage software, the world wide web, and a global supply chain for their projects. Many Fictiv customers have said that we provide an unparalleled solution for accelerating new product development by offering a few key advantages:
- AI Powered Design for Manufacturability (DFM) Feedback is provided instantly after uploading designs to our platform — so you can quickly incorporate DFM changes if needed, get your parts faster, and iterate much more quickly.
- Instant Pricing (Even for 2D Drawings) is also provided, so say goodbye to waiting days or weeks for quotes or playing phone tag and email follow-ups to get answers.
- On-Demand Production Transparency provides you with real-time visibility into the production status of your parts. You even get real-time photos of your parts at the manufacturing facility taken during inspection.
Learn more about our digital manufacturing platform here:
Fictiv – Sourcing Simplified
After reading about these amazing inventions, I hope you’re feeling inspired to build something new! If so, or if you have a project already in the works, you need a partner who can manufacture and finish your CNC machined parts to bring your ideas to life.
Fictiv is your operating system for custom manufacturing that makes part procurement faster, easier, and more efficient — so you get the quality parts you need, without the hassle.
Create an account and upload your part today to see what our instant quote process, design for manufacturability feedback, and intelligent platform can do for you.
