Favorite Posts
The Band Plays On
Danny Books stands looking like the live version of a some toy soldier from the 19th Century, ready to bayonet the unworthy standing before him. He presses his implement forward [...]
Eye on the Prize – An Interview with visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk
Eighty-eight years since a native Frenchman, New York hotelier, Raymond Orteig, offered a $25,000 prize to spur aviation, and 80 years since Charles Lindbergh claimed it for his historic New [...]
An Interview with Michael Economides
By Lloyd & Noah Graff Originally from Cypress, Michael Economides holds a degree in petroleum engineering from Stanford University. He is a professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University [...]
How it Works – Developing a Good Memory: Nitinol Shape Memory Alloy
It’s expensive and hard to machine, but Nitinol is perfect for applications that require one or more of its special qualities: superelasticity, shape memory, biocompatibility and fatigue resistance. A very [...]
On The Brink: GM’s Precarious Centenary
GM’s Precarious Centenary Soft hums and gentle whirs fill the small studio hidden deep within the General Motors Technical Center, in the Detroit suburb of Warren. In one corner, designers [...]
MASH – Hospital for Busted Armor
As sniper fire and attacks on American troops in Iraq continued last October, a U.S. Army sergeant worried about his impending return to active duty on Oct. 11, when he [...]
Swarf – Oprah and The Acme
Dear Oprah, I am a fan of yours. I’ve been watching your show since before you were the Color Purple. You’ve had Nobel Prize winners, cancer doctors, dessert chefs and [...]
One on One – Noah interviews Jake Nickell from Threadless
Nine years ago, Jake Nickell and his partner Jacob DeHart started Threadless, a T-shirt brand which exclusively prints designs submitted by amateur illustrators in weekly contests on the internet. Threadless is a [...]
Finding a Brand in Your Machine Shop
Cathy Bothe was knitting a sweater for her grandson Jack in her Kenosha, Wisconsin, home on a Sunday night in 2006, and in her words, “bitching about these crappy Chinese [...]
Afterthought – Finding Peace with Our Choices
The death of financier Bruce Wasserstein, a friend from college days, hit me like an unsheathed blow to the chin. It wasn’t just because he had survived quadruple bypass surgery [...]