A Rapid Prototyping Machine for $750: RepRap

I’ve just finished hosting another episode of the Engineering and Architecture Internet Radio Show.

My guest was Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a brilliant mechanical engineer who works at the University of Bath.  He and his team have developed a rapid prototyping machine that costs only $750, and which can make the parts to replicate itself.  (A typical commercially available machine costs in the neighborhood of $45,000).

Adrian and I discussed in great detail the operating principle of the machine, the skills required to operate the machine and the specification of the plastic feedstock for the machine.  The nature of these issues is quite the opposite of that of commercially available rapid prototyping machines.  For instance, the feedstock is nothing but commonly available plastic welding rods!

Another interesting angle to Adrian’s work is that his rapid prototyping machine, called RepRap, has startling similarities to living organisms, including the capability to mutate over time, which is incredible (to say the least).

To get the whole story, I eagerly encourage you to listen to the archived 30-minute episode, which you can find here. It’s an engineering blast!

Cheers,

Yesterday AutoCAD, Today the World

Carol Bartz, the former CEO of Autodesk, Inc., the creators of AutoCAD, the undisputed king of CAD platforms, has now become the CEO of Yahoo.

We at the Magnum Group have been working with AutoCAD for almost a decade now and are deeply specialized in it. We might even go so far as to say we are professionally married to AutoCAD.

Carol is therefore a “fellow citizen” of our country, and has now become an Internet colossus. We are proud of her and feel part of her new stature.

She stepped aside as CEO of Autodesk after leading it for 14 tumultuous years, during which she took its revenues from $285 million to $1.5 billion. She also won a personal battle against breast cancer.

Prior to her becoming CEO at Autodesk, that company was not on a firm growth path due to a lack of focus. Enter Ms. Bartz, a straight-talking, no-nonsense manager who would bombard subordinates with profanity-peppered questions if they didn’t get the job done.

The engineering drafting and architectural drafting world is complex and unyielding; nevertheless Carol made sure that most of it was blanketed in her superlative product. Bringing focus and profitability to Yahoo should be child’s play for her.

Go get’em, Carol, we’re rootin’ for ya!

Lucky