Aerospace and defense teams face rising complexity, tighter regulations and increasing pressure for faster delivery cycles. This white paper explores how a closed-loop approach to quality helps manufacturers maintain compliance, reduce rework and improve predictability across design, engineering, production and the supply chain.

What You’ll Learn

• How industry shifts including electrification, software-driven systems and supply chain pressures are reshaping aerospace quality needs.
• Why integrating quality early through a closed-loop digital thread reduces defects, lowers risk and lowers late-stage changes.
• How best practices such as APQP, FMEA and tolerance analysis strengthen quality planning and manufacturing readiness.
• How closed-loop execution improves nonconformance response, change management and supplier collaboration.
• How audit management and real-time visibility supports consistent compliance with aerospace standards.

Your download is sponsored by Siemens.

The post Improve Quality and Reduce Risk Across Aerospace and Defense Programs appeared first on Engineering.com.

This technical article examines how engineers can leverage modern manufacturing execution approaches to break down silos, improve collaboration, and maintain alignment between as-designed and as-built products. The result: faster ramp-up, fewer errors, and greater efficiency.

Inside, you’ll learn about:

• Why traditional disconnected systems create delays and errors
• How visibility, integration, and automation accelerate production
• The importance of digital continuity between design and execution
• Real-time monitoring and corrective actions to keep programs on track
• Ways to prepare operations for next-gen technologies like IoT, AR/VR, and additive manufacturing

Your download is sponsored by Siemens.

The post Improve Time-to-Market with Connected Manufacturing appeared first on Engineering.com.

This eBook explores how aerospace and defense manufacturers can utilize closed-loop manufacturing to enhance collaboration, expedite time-to-market, and ensure quality across complex programs. It demonstrates how digital continuity connects design, planning, and execution — transforming raw data into actionable insights.

Inside, you’ll learn about:

• Reducing engineering change implementation from weeks to hours
• Improving collaboration between shop floor teams and engineering
• Using digital twins and digital threads for accuracy and speed
• Accelerating new product introductions and adapting to change orders
• Driving continuous improvement with real-time, closed-loop feedback

Your download is sponsored by Siemens.

The post The Digital Future of Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing appeared first on Engineering.com.

Self-driving cars, drones, humanoid robots. They are all over the news and popular culture today and are technologies that need a critical capability: navigation. It’s been true for thousands of years, and for most of human history, dead reckoning was a rare skill, and a black art. “Shooting” stars with the sextant is still an option for sport sailors, but today, repeatability and accuracy have never been more important.

It’s been a story of rapid technological development for the last 75 years, from the gyro compass, accelerometer driven inertial navigation systems, to stellar tracking, and terrain following. GPS is of course the lowest cost method in widespread use today, but even its significant capability isn’t enough for many of today’s demanding applications.

Advanced Navigation Senior Application Engineer Matthew Suntup describes the challenges and capabilities of this critical technology in conversation with engineering.com’s Jim Anderton.

For the audio only version:

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Catch up on the latest engineering innovations with more Industry Insights & Trends videos and podcasts.

The post Robots, drones, AGVs: it’s all about navigation  appeared first on Engineering.com.

Drones are everywhere today, from suburban backyards to battlefields. In between these extremes is a huge market for useful pilotless aircraft for remote inspection, payload delivery and remote sensing. SwissDrones is one of a new breed of small aerospace companies that use advanced design and development tools to deliver complex projects quickly and cost effectively.

Their medium payload drone helicopter has multiple commercial applications, and Pol-Victor Gisquet, Team Leader, Mechanical Systems Integration with SwissDrones, discussed the technology in conversation with Jim Anderton at AU 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.  

For the audio-only version:

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Catch up on the latest engineering innovations with more Industry Insights & Trends videos and podcasts.

The post Drone helicopters with multiple applications appeared first on Engineering.com.

Charlie is considering what his company’s response should be to today’s rapid technological change, including what they should do about artificial intelligence. He was hearing about the revolutionary impact AI would have on what seemed a daily basis. He knew that new companies were becoming established that provided new technology-based manufacturing engineering services and he wanted to ensure that this did not result in a reduction in the work done by his company. Charlie needed to understand the impact that these new technologies would have on his business and what his strategy should be to deal with it.

Digital transformation is the response that organisations are making to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (the world created by the rapid technological advance that is taking place today). This can mean changes in products, services and processes throughout the organisation. It can be small or large scale, radically changing business models and it means new technologies are being introduced throughout organisations with significant implications for engineering services organisations.

Engineering services are impacted by the new environment they need to support and the new tools that are available to them to do this. A wide range of technologies may be adopted in the organisation in areas that are within the scope of the work normally done by engineering services. These might include the development, implementation and support for new technology enabled processes, new automation and new decision-making systems that may or may not utilise artificial intelligence.

At the same time, technology is changing the support engineering services provide. More data is being collected and better tools exist that can be used in predictive maintenance services. New design tools enable faster, better design, some aspects of service delivery can be automated, artificial intelligence can be used for analytics, digital twins and simulation support analytics, design and management and big data can provide valuable insights.

These developments in the environment engineers support and in the tools available to them are the main factors influencing the digital transformation of engineering services. They make it essential that engineering services organisations carefully review their current situation and develop their own strategy for dealing with it. Otherwise they will be vulnerable to other providers who emerge, better prepared for the new environment.

The Engineering Services DX Assessment Tool is a simple instrument that we have developed at the University of Waterloo to help engineering services organisations consider and plan their own digital transformation. It is intended to be facilitative – prepared on a white board or flip chart by a group of engineers. Here is a blank version:

The tool is suitable for engineering services companies and engineering services within an existing organisation. It asks you to consider the following elements:

Client/Dept: The main organisations or units the engineering services are provided to. For an engineering services company this may be their main clients or client types if they are larger. For internal engineering services this would be the units they provide services to.

Change Elements: The changes in the Client/Dept that are or will be impacted by new technology. This may be specific performance improvements, equipment changes, process changes etc.

Main Tech: The main technologies being used in the change elements. This may include internet of things, artificial intelligence, digital twins, automation etc.

Implement Support: The support needed to implement the change described in the Change Elements column, such as design work, project management, impact assessment, etc.

Operate Support: The support needed to operate the change described in the Change Elements column, such as maintenance, education and training, and performance improvement.

Impact Services Now: Can your existing services provide the Implement and Operate Support that the Change Elements need now or are changes required to do this? Include here any areas of your services that may have been used by the client in the past but are not now needed due to the Change Element.

Action Needed: Review the information you have entered in this row of the chart and determine the actions that you need to take to deliver the support that your Client/Dept will require.

Charlie has completed the tool for his company, in this example:

The Engineering Services DX Assessment Tool allows you to consider the actions you might wish to take to ensure your organisation is able to continue to effectively provide engineering support. Once the chart is completed you can then consider the areas that will be your priority and become the main elements in your digital transformation strategy.

This strategy must include the impact that the Client/Dept changes will have on the skills of the members of your engineering team, along with any personnel changes you may need to make. The Client/Dept changes will require engagement and collaboration with stakeholders by engineers, utilising social skills more frequently than in the past due to the more rapid pace of change.

It should also include consideration of the technology-based tools that your team uses today (for example data analytics, simulation etc.) and investments in any new tools that may be appropriate here.

Developing and implementing your digital transformation strategy for Engineering Services is essential today. As Client/Dept organisations plan and implement their own digital transformation strategies they will consider the role existing engineering services providers can play. Be prepared with your own digital transformation strategy.

The post This low-tech tool sharpens your digital transformation strategy appeared first on Engineering.com.

The ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 American National Standard for Industrial Robots and Robot Systems – Safety Requirements is now available and A3 says it marks the most significant advancement in industrial robot safety requirements in more than a decade.

“Publishing this safety standard is perhaps the most important thing A3 can do, as it directly impacts the safety of millions of people working in industrial environments around the world,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3, in a release.

This standard is available in protected PDF format and includes:
Part 1: Safety requirements for industrial robots
Part 2: Safety requirements for industrial robot applications and robot cells
Part 3: Will address safety requirements for users of industrial robot cells. It’s expected to be published later this year. Once available, it will be retroactively provided at no additional cost to anyone who purchases the full standard.

R15.06 is the U.S. national adoption of ISO 10218 Parts 1 and 2 and is a revision of ANSI/RIA R15.06-2012, which was launched by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) before it became part of A3.

Key changes in ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 include:

• Clarified functional safety requirements that improve usability and compliance for manufacturers and integrators
• Integrated guidance for collaborative robot applications, consolidating ISO/TS 15066
• New content on end-effectors and manual load/unload procedures, derived from ISO/TR 20218-1 and ISO/TR 20218-2
• Updated robot classifications, with corresponding safety functions and test methodologies
• Cybersecurity guidance included as part of safety planning and implementation
• Refined terminology, including the replacement of “safety-rated monitored stop” with “monitored standstill” for broader technical accuracy

“This standard delivers clearer guidance, smarter classifications, and a roadmap for safety in the era of intelligent automation,” said Carole Franklin, director of standards development, robotics at A3. “It empowers manufacturers and integrators to design and deploy safer systems more confidently while supporting innovation without compromising human well-being.”

The post Robot safety standard gets fresh update appeared first on Engineering.com.

According to the company, the new approach to manufacturing solar array substrates reduces composite build times by up to six months, amounting to a 50 percent improvement compared to conventional techniques. As part of its announcement of the new technology, Boeing has stated that flight-representative hardware utilizing this technology has already completed engineering testing and is currently progressing through the company’s standard qualification process.

The first 3D-printed solar arrays will fly Spectrolab solar cells aboard small satellites built by Millennium Space Systems. Both of these non-integrated subsidiaries are part of Boeing’s Space Mission Systems organization.

“By integrating Boeing’s additive manufacturing expertise with Spectrolab’s high‑efficiency solar tech and Millennium’s high‑rate production line, our Space Mission Systems team is turning production speed into a capability, helping customers field resilient constellations faster,” said Michelle Parker, vice president of Boeing Space Mission Systems, in a press release.

Boeing also claims that this approach enables a parallel build of the complete array, pairing a printed, rigid substrate with modular solar technologies. The company avers that 3D printing features such as harness paths and attachment points directly into each panel replaces dozens of separate parts, long‑lead tooling, and delicate bonding steps. The result is one strong, precise piece that is faster to build and easier to integrate.

“By pairing qualified materials with a common digital thread and high‑rate production, we can lighten structures, craft novel designs, and repeat success across programs,” said Melissa Orme, vice president of materials and structures for Boeing Technology Innovation. “That’s the point of enterprise additive, it delivers better parts today and the capacity to build many more of them tomorrow.”

In total, Boeing claims to have integrated more than 150,000 additive parts into its products, including more than 1,000 radio frequency parts on each Wideband Global SATCOM satellite. The new array approach is also intended to scale to larger platforms, including the Boeing 702-class spacecraft slated for release next year

The post Boeing’s additive solar array substrate cuts production time in half appeared first on Engineering.com.

This is why the editors at Engineering.com designed our Digital Transformation Week event—to help engineers unpack all the choices in front of them, and to help them do it at the speed and scale required to compete.

Join us for this series of lunch hour webinars to gain insights and ideas from people who have seen some best-in-class digital transformations take shape.

Registrations are open and spots are filling up fast. Here’s what we have planned for the week:

September 22: Building the Digital Thread Across the Product Lifecycle

12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

This webinar is the opening session for our inaugural Digital Transformation Week. We will address the real challenges of implementing digital transformation at any scale, focusing on when, why and how to leverage manufacturing data. We will discuss freeing data from its silos and using your bill of materials as a single source of truth. Finally, we will help you understand how data can fill in the gaps between design and manufacturing to create true end-to-end digital mastery.

September 23: Demystifying Digital Transformation: Scalable strategies for Small & Mid-Sized Manufacturers

12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Whether your organization is just beginning its digital journey or seeking to expand successful initiatives across multiple departments, understanding the unique challenges and opportunities faced by smaller enterprises is crucial. Tailored strategies, realistic resource planning, and clear objectives empower SMBs to move beyond theory and pilot phases, transforming digital ambitions into scalable reality. By examining proven frameworks and real-world case studies, this session will demystify the process and equip you with actionable insights designed for organizations of every size and level of digital maturity.

September 24, 2025: Scaling AI in Engineering: A Practical Blueprint for Companies of Every Size

12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

You can’t talk about digital transformation without covering artificial intelligence. Across industries, engineering leaders are experimenting with AI pilots — but many remain uncertain about how to move from experiments to production-scale adoption. The challenge is not primarily about what algorithms or tools to select but about creating the right blueprint: where to start, how to integrate with existing workflows, and how to scale in a way that engineers trust and the business can see immediate value. We will explore how companies are combining foundation models, predictive physics AI, agentic workflow automation, and open infrastructure into a stepped roadmap that works whether you are a small team seeking efficiency gains or a global enterprise aiming to digitally transform at scale.

September 25: How to Manage Expectations for Digital Transformation

12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

The digital transformation trend is going strong and manufacturers of all sizes are exploring what could be potentially game-changing investments for their companies. With so much promise and so much hype, it’s hard to know what is truly possible. Special guest Brian Zakrajsek, Smart Manufacturing Leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP, will discuss what digital transformation really is and what it looks like on the ground floor of a manufacturer trying to find its way. He will chat about some common unrealistic expectations, what the realistic expectation might be for each, and how to get there.

The post Register for Digital Transformation Week 2025 appeared first on Engineering.com.

GE Aerospace and South Burlington, Vermont-based Beta Technologies Inc. have struck a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of a hybrid electric turbogenerator for advanced air mobility (AAM).

Applications include long-range Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft and future Beta aircraft and will combine Beta’s permanent magnet electric generators with GE Aerospace’s turbine, certification and safety expertise for large-scale manufacturing. This hybrid solution will leverage existing infrastructure and capabilities, such as GE Aerospace’s CT7 and T700 engines.

As part of the deal, GE Aerospace will make an equity investment of $300 million in Beta. GE Aerospace will have the right to designate a director to join Beta’s Board.

“Partnering with Beta will expand and accelerate hybrid electric technology development, meeting our customers’ needs for differentiated capabilities that provide more range, payload, and optimized engine and aircraft performance,” said GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp.

The deal is part of GE Aerospace’s pursuit of a suite of technologies for the future of flight, including integrated hybrid electric propulsion systems and advanced new engine architectures.

“We believe the industry is on the precipice of a real step change, and we’re humbled that GE Aerospace has the confidence in our team, technology, and iterative approach to innovation to partner with us. We look forward to partnering to co-develop products that will unlock the potential of hybrid electric flight, and to do it with the rigor, reliability, and safety that aviation demands,” said Kyle Clark, Beta Technologies’ Founder and CEO.

Beta’s “Alia” five-passenger VTOL and conventional electric aircraft charge in less than an hour, according to Beta’s website. They are engineered for all-weather performance and have been tested to operate reliably in a wide range of environmental conditions across the U.S. and Europe. ALIA’s electric propulsion and battery systems — which are developed in-house — offers reliable, high-tempo performance, as well as a quieter sound profile than conventional aircraft.

GE Aerospace and Beta also announced the two companies will collaborate to develop an additional offering for the AAM industry but offered no additional details.

The post GE Aerospace teams with Beta Technologies on hybrid electric plane engines appeared first on Engineering.com.