-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
NASA-JPL Holds Its Annual Pumpkin-Carving Contest
October 30, 2019 | NASAEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
In a dark conference room, a pumpkin gently landed on the Moon, its retrorockets smoldering, while across the room, a flying saucer pumpkin hovered above Area 51 as a pumpkin alien wreaked havoc.
Suffice to say that when the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, compete in a pumpkin-carving contest, the solar system's the limit. Now in its ninth year, the contest gives teams only one hour to carve (off the clock, on their lunch break), though they can prepare non-pumpkin materials - like backgrounds, sound effects and motorized parts - ahead of time.
"It's totally different from our normal engineering work, which makes it a nice change of pace. You don't get to do much arts and crafts in the rover world," said Billy Allen, a JPL mechatronics engineer on the Mars 2020 rover.
His team's "Lunar Jack-o'-lander"--a tribute to Apollo 11's 50th anniversary--took first prize. To create the landing sequence, they used a pulley system to lower the Moon-bound gourd onto a screen playing real Apollo audio and footage while "smoke" from a fog machine billowed from beneath the spacecraft.
The other winner, "Lucy's Chocolate Factory," was a life-size re-creation of the "Job Switching" episode from the TV show "I Love Lucy," complete with a pumpkin-headed Lucy standing in front of a candy-carrying conveyor belt.
Not that choosing just two winners from all the creative entries is easy. There was a Europa lander drilling through the moon's ice into the ocean below and discovering life: a pumpkin version of Disney's Nemo. One team went with a smoking, green-scaled dragon emerging from a pumpkin egg. Another created a tableau from the movie "Us," with a pumpkin stabbing its twin. This being JPL, which specializes in robotic exploration, there was even a cat pumpkin on a Roomba that chases a laser pointer.
Senior mechanical engineer Mike Meacham helps run the contest while also participating. His team, made up of more senior engineers and managers, riffed on their age with "Emoji Hell," a giant Newton's cradle made of an emoji pumpkin and bowling balls. "I think people are going bigger this year. I've seen a lot of structures, including our own, which is enormous. I had to sneak it in last night," he said. His hunch as to why the entries may be a little bigger this year? With so many people focused on keeping the Mars 2020 rover on schedule for its launch next July or August, "It's nice to do something different."
After the hectic timed portion of the event, during which some teams used table saws and power drills, the creations were moved to the judging rooms. Then, as other employees admired their handiwork, a panel of judges, made up of other engineers and invited guests, examined the pumpkins as well with the lights on and off--all the better to see the creative use of lights and smoke machines.
JPL takes pride in its Halloween traditions, especially since the holiday is also the Lab's birthday. In addition to pumpkin carving, JPLers will compete in a costume contest and celebrate with horror-movie-themed exoplanet posters.
Photos and video are available on NASA JPL's Vimeo and Flickr account.
Suggested Items
Listen Up! The Intricacies of PCB Drilling Detailed in New Podcast Episode
04/25/2024 | I-Connect007In episode 5 of the podcast series, On the Line With: Designing for Reality, Nolan Johnson and Matt Stevenson continue down the manufacturing process, this time focusing on the post-lamination drilling process for PCBs. Matt and Nolan delve into the intricacies of the PCB drilling process, highlighting the importance of hole quality, drill parameters, and design optimization to ensure smooth manufacturing. The conversation covers topics such as drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, vias, challenges in drilling, and ways to enhance efficiency in the drilling department.
The Pulse: Drilling Down on Documentation
04/18/2024 | Martyn Gaudion -- Column: The PulseHow did a product aimed at signal integrity end up being more about documentation? For a little backstory, the Polar team has an unspoken “no business speak” rule at certain times. So, why is this column titled “Drilling Down?” I find it fascinating when a company sets off in one direction, but customers steer it in another. That’s what has happened here as customers took a product down a fork in the road we couldn’t predict. Your destination isn’t always where you initially set off to go, and that’s how we got to our subject of drills and drill documentation.
MKS Introduces ESI Geode G2 CO2 Laser System for High- Precision and High-Speed HDI and mSap Via Drilling
04/09/2024 | MKS Instruments, Inc.MKS Instruments, Inc., a global provider of technologies that transform our world, today announced the official launch of the ESI Geode™ G2 laser drill system, the next generation of the Geode™ platform for processing PCB and ICP materials.
MKS Instruments Receives 2023 Outstanding Service Award from MFLEX
02/29/2024 | MKS Instruments, Inc.MKS Instruments, Inc., a global provider of technologies that transform our world, recently received the 2023 Outstanding Service Award from MFLEX, a global leader in flexible printed circuit board manufacturing and assembly. The award recognizes MKS for outstanding customer support and system service in high-production manufacturing environments.
Schmoll: Pushing Drilling Forward
10/03/2023 | Nolan Johnson, PCB007 MagazineAutomation is everywhere, and nowhere is that more evident than the machines from Schmoll used in the new captive facility for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Schmoll Maschinen GmbH Executive Director Stephan Kunz, and Evan Howard, service manager for Schmoll products, Burkle North America, discuss how their machines are perfectly suited for SEL’s production lines.