Welcome to the new and improved
PCDworks e-newsletter! This is
a fresh look for us, and we hope
it will provide even greater
value to our readers.
This month, we're introducing a new blog called the
Technology Wonk, by none
other than our founder, Mike
Rainone. Mike draws on decades
of education and experience in
the field of new product
innovation to offer a high level
perspective on the applications
and implications of emerging
technologies. We'll also catch
you up on some of the latest and
greatest things happening at
PCDworks, and offer a personal
reflection about National
Engineer's Week.
We welcome your ideas for
this communication and hope this
newsletter will inform, intrigue
and inspire you.
Stay in touch,
Donna Rainone
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A Lament for Engineers
Mike Rainone
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Recently, our country marked
National Engineer's Week 2008
(February 17-24), a time to
celebrate our nation's brilliant
engineering minds and be grateful
for their many accomplishments. (Did
any of you even NOTICE our country
celebrating engineers this week? Of
course not, thus the validity of the
lament.) Unfortunately, it was also
an opportunity to reflect on the
growth, peak and current decline of
this storied profession. At a time
when this nation clearly needs to
promote innovation and spur economic
development, we seem to have lost
their regard for the men and women
who make such things possible.
In 1957, Sputnik triggered the panic
that sent this country into a
science and engineering growth
spurt. Our educational system geared
up to produce a mass of scientists
and engineers to "catch up" with the
Soviets, and indeed we did. In fact,
America surpassed almost everyone in
quantity if not quality of
scientific and engineering talent.
Somewhere along the line, however,
that science and engineering zeal
has withered and died...
click here to read more
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What's New at PCDworks
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Since our last issue, we've been
very busy with lots of cool
 projects.
Now that we are fully moved into
our one year old lab building,
our old office building has been
converted into a brainstorming
studio. This open workspace has
been a very busy place lately,
with lots of collaborative
brainstorming and design
sessions happening, especially
in the last couple of months.
In addition to the facility
changes, we have also added new
capabilities in other areas as
well. In particular, we now
design and build high
performance carbon fiber parts
that are both extremely strong
and lightweight. Over a couple
of unrelated projects, we have
learned a lot about designing
and manufacturing this wonder
material, and plan on using it
in a variety of applications in
the future.
New additions to the PCDworks
team have boosted our reach and
capabilities. Gigi Westerman,
our Public Relations liaison
since last fall has been
successful in placing articles
in several publications. A long
time friend and consultant, Dee
German, a physicist, will join
us as an associate sometime in
April, 2008 (he insisted on
taking a well deserved vacation
after retiring as a laser and
optics guru at Boeing). Dee
brings a great depth of
electronics, optics and
theoretical knowledge along with
expertise in research and
development of laser technology.
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About PCDworks |
 Founded
by Mike and Donna Rainone in 1997,
PCDworks is a full-service
technology development company
specializing in breakthrough product
innovation for a broad range of
consumer, medical and military
clients. Located on a 25-acre wooded
campus outside Tyler, Texas,
PCDworks houses testing labs,
engineering shops, sleeping
accommodations and meeting
facilities. Client services include
technology problem solving, product
ideation, research, engineering,
prototype manufacturing and product
testing. The company is closely
networked with research and
production facilities in the region,
including UT Tyler and East Texas
Medical Center.
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Featured Blog Entry: Energy
Harvesting |
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The idea here is collecting the
energy from a falling raindrop to do
useful work, like generate
electricity. When the drop hits the
piezo pad on the bottom of the
apparatus a small current is
generated. If one can store that
generated power one can power
virtually anything from the rain.
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