Mechanical Engineering

Successful hardware innovators need confidence, foresight, and consideration to do something genuinely innovative.

Sometimes the simplest designs are the most difficult to get right. Here's how we approach the design of a low-information-density user interface.

Our engineers have designed a better tolerance analysis tool that makes doing tolerance stacks a joy. Download it here for free.

We use Parametric CAD to design the majority of a wide range of new products. Here are some of the problems it helps us solve quickly and capably.

Features that would be impossible to pull off using conventional manufacturing methods are made feasible with 3D printing.

Figuring out just how much sealing products will need is part of the design process.

In its infancy, CFD was complicated, expensive, and challenging—so it was only employed for complex projects like bridges and the space shuttle. Today, engineers use it to optimize everyday products that incorporate the flow of air, gas, and fluids.

Here are some of the harshest environments you might come across as a product designer or engineer and the ruggedized solutions and products that stand up to them.

Product design and manufacturing are always more challenging when the wet stuff is involved.

Few inventions have had as significant an impact on our daily lives as the safety razor.

The ballpoint pen eliminated the need for messy fountain pens and all the problems that came with them. This breakthrough invention forever changed the way we write.

The Pareto Principle is a great tool for project teams when they’re trying to decide where to focus their energy and efforts.

Convincing discerning consumers to buy a home robot isn't easy. To earn a spot in our homes and our lives, “home bots” (and those designing them) must answer four important questions.

These four steps for repeatable technical innovation have proven trustworthy for us on project after project.

Creating product requirements can seem like a straightforward task, but it has plenty of potential pitfalls.

As product engineers, we use FEA simulations to develop, test, and refine designs. These best practices allow us to move quickly while keeping simulation results accurate, honest, and affordable.

More often than not, designing your cool new product relies on some new widget. You’re not sure if you should design your own or buy one from a supplier. What if there was a straightforward way to decide?

With the transformative potential of new AI tools like ChatGPT on everyone’s mind, it’s easy to forget that artificial intelligence has been used in product design and engineering for many years.

The “fuzzy front end” of product development can pose some unique challenges for engineers.

The Delve team explores AI’s place in our product development process.

A coffee pod system without a plastic pod. Headphones that read your mind. A touch-sensitive prosthetic hand. Check out the biggest innovations to influence product design in 2022.

Home self-testing kits have played a crucial role in managing the spread of COVID-19 in the US, but a steep environmental price is hidden in the societal benefit.

We opened up wearables from leading companies to see how so much was packed into something so little.

“T-shaped” is a term used to describe someone’s knowledge and skills. For those of us in product design, it’s a good shape to be.

The vehicle expo area of CES has been one of the most exciting parts of the trade show in recent years.

The list of industries experiencing huge disruption fueled by “technology” is growing by the day.

Badger Shield gave me the opportunity to collaborate with an amazing group of men and women this year – designers, suppliers, manufacturers, and customers. I expect to have built lifelong collaborators and friends through this trial by virus. (For background, read the article in Wired).

The goal: To outfit every health care worker with PAPRs – an amazing piece of equipment used to filter air and inflate a bubble around the wearer’s head to reject any contaminants.

All right, who do I blame for this?

As 2019 winds to a close it’s time to make my annual appraisal of some of the more noteworthy products and events shaping world of design and Innovation. And the last year certainly saw its fair share of significant steps and missteps. So, let’s wade in with a few things I’ll remember that helped define 2019 for me.

Robots unleashed; the emergence of hearables; sustainable plastics and processes — we weigh in the biggest innovations of 2019 to influence product design.

Have you ever considered what happens to the materials you put into the recycling bin after they are picked up from your curb?

We weren't setting out to invent something radically different, but we wanted to prove to ourselves that we could make our own split-flap display.

When not orchestrated well, a design review can very quickly turn into an unproductive meeting and send a team spinning with a poorly conceived action item list.

With the growing demand for rugged design across sectors, product developers need help figuring out when to accommodate military specifications.

What happens when all the engineers from Delve's three offices gather in Madison? We buy stuff and tear it apart to understand how it is made. Our product of choice? The robotic vacuum.

Will the E-bike change the way Americans think about cycling?

A recent project with Make-A-Wish gave us the chance to make a meaningful connection with a family, which is a great benefit of product design.

The Tesla Model 3 has a front that upends expectations, and it's not pretty.

“Wait. Is that it? Did the needle already go in? I can’t believe it!”

In the spirit of open source innovation, we are sharing our Tolerance Analysis spreadsheet for mechanical engineers.

Eating utensils require some sophisticated metal fabrication technology.

“Do you know a place to get this made?” That’s a question we hear a lot from entrepreneurs looking for a manufacturing solution. It’s actually a very complex question.

A recent Saturday at the Madison Mini Maker Faire reinforces the joy of what we do and how fun it is to turn kids on to STEAM fields.

One of the best ways for engineers to learn about product design is to carefully examine other products. Engineering details, manufacturing processes, and material choices can all be used to inspire your own designs and decisions.

Repairing the complicated carburator of a 1974 MGB convertible is a good reminder that multidisciplinary design produces better products.

Educating tomorrow's engineers will take more focus on teaching creativity, inclusivity, hands-on and team learning without losing site of the fundamentals.

A Minimum Viable Product approach to product development can speed things along—if you know what you need to learn.

The Lend a Handcycle project takes a leap forward with the selection of a scissor-jack design for seat adjustability.

Progress is being made in our quest to design a fully adjustable hand cycle that can accommodate children with physical disabilities as they grow.

A lesson in visualizing the target and aiming in squash is also a good reminder of how to design products.

LED technology opens up a world of possibilities and some new considerations for product design.

Using the BioReactor we helped design and manufacture, Dr. Hopkins' team have reached a milestone in developing a process for replacing pediatric heart valves.