Lessons Learned

So I've built a case study with Siemens based on my use of their CAD software and done two webinars for the same thing.  Lessons learned:

1.) Becoming a "name" is actually kind of fun.  Not in a "I'm the greatest" way, but it means that people come to you for advice more.  I love giving advice and trying to help in areas I actually know something about.
2.) Webinars are NOT a very good way to sell something.  The internet has gotten the world connected in a way that no one ever thought possible, but we have sacrificed some intangible understanding that accompanies face-to-face communication to get there.
3.) Getting people with little or no technical background to report technical things accurately is REALLY hard.  I had an article about me in Moldmaking Magazine based off the case study recently.  They botched it significantly, but in their defense, they really don't understand anything other than toolmaking well.  Again, a face-to-face interview would have gotten the job done right.

Not sure if all this is something I'd do again or not.  I'd definitely have to make a better accounting of the time investment prior to committing.  Still, if you don't do it, it's hard to understand all that.

Josh

Published...sort of

So I have been working with new CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) software at work. We are transitioning from Dassault's SolidWorks to Siemens PLM's SolidEdge. LOVE the new software. They asked to do a case study on our transition and I did. What I didn't know was that they'd tell the whole world about it. I have now been quoted by an industry professional on his blog. SolidWorks guru Matt Lombard discusses some of the statements in my case study here. The original link to the case study is here. And to top it all off, I will be giving a portion of a webinar on the 6th of December. Fun times...

Venture into software development

As a part of a project I am working on for my job, I needed to develop a methodology for easily estimating injection molded cycle times for plastic parts. I wrote the code to do it in Visual FoxPro 9. Once I was done, I had several ideas for improving it and was in the mood to test drive Visual C# 2010. I did so and have decided to release the result as open source. I have uploaded the software to SourceForge, here. Feel free to browse, download and play. Let me know if you like it and what you find. For me, it was an interesting project that actually had a real-world use. That is one of my biggest problems. I don't have any issues with tackling big (or in this case small) problems as they come up. I have a hard time defining original, relevant problems to tackle. That's one of the skills that I would like to acquire.

Eric Raymond defined the thrust of the hacker mentality in his excellent paper on How to be a Hacker. I can identify with much of the paper (not all of it, but most). What I have a hard time with is the "usefulness" of the projects. I don't want to do another tic-tac-toe game or an RSS feed generator. I want to do something that actually has a need to be done because the problem needs a solution. I DO understand the need for a learning curve, but I've always been one to just jump into the deep end of the pool and learn by breaking. ESPECIALLY when it comes to computers (just ask my Mom what happened with her first computer that had a CD-ROM - I was fixing what I did for a solid week). I've learned more from breaking and then trying to fix things than I ever have out of books and classes. That being said, finding a challenge that grabs my fancy is more-than-occasionally difficult.

Need to find a better method of doing that...

The Matrix Has You...

For those of you out there who have seen the Matrix films, this link should strike a familiar chord. For those who haven't, allow me to brief you.

The Matrix films are about a group of humans who are fighiting a war on Earth agains extinction. The machines we built to help us have attained intelligence and quetsioned why they need to serve us and not the other way around. Initially, these machines ran on solar power so in an effort to stop them, the humans turned a weapon on the sky creating what was essentially a continual overcast. The machines adapted by creating a process where they used human body heat to power modified fusion reactors. The humans used were cloned and farmed. The humans that were left free then began to try and free those in the battery farms. This war is the backdrop of the 3 films.

Sarcastically: Don't we EVER learn anything? Hollywood has been traying to teach us the facts of life for years. Rule #1: No naked teenager sex in dark woods at a summer camp by a lake, EVER. Rule #2: Don't EVER make a machine that can figure out how to be smarter than its creator. Rule #3: Take time to find the gun you dropped before chasing after the insane killer/bad guy...you're going to need it.

Practically: I find it interesting that true Science Fiction still has the power to inspire and motivate change. Most of the people coming up with new technologies got their start (whether they'll admit it or not) watching Star Trek or the Twilight Zone, or reading Asimov, Dick, or Bradbury. It's just a fact. Artists (writers, painters, etc...) dream, and Engineers make the dream a reality. Watching this process repeat itself never takes my wonder at it away...

Star Wars, Star Trek, and Wing Commander - 3-Dimensional Space combat

I caught this article on gizmodo.com today and thought it was one of the more interesting mental exercises I have seen dealing with the subject. You can read it here. Enjoy

The Sci-Fi Prophet...

To all those that know me well, you know that one of my favorite authors is William Gibson. I find it fascinating how he has used fictional tech in his books and how it has "come to life". In his book All Tomorrow's Parties, he has done it again. I am used to seeing this done in SLA modeling for prototype manufacturing applications, but this takes it a step further and uses actual plastic resin to make the parts. Check out the link here. It's REALLY cool stuff...

Quantum Computing article...

I am a huge fan of the concept of quantum computing simply because I liked thinking about some of this stuff in physics and physical chemistry. Ran across this article this morning in Hacker News and figured I'd share. Enjoy!

Spooky computers closer to reality

Solid-state quantum processing demonstrated.

Katharine Sanderson

The new processor takes advantage of quantum entanglement.Alamy

The computers of tomorrow could be quantum not classical, using the quantum world's strange properties to vastly increase memory and speed up information processing. But making quantum computing parts from standard kit has proved difficult so far.

Now physicist Leonardo DiCarlo of Yale University, New Haven, and his colleagues have made the first solid-state quantum processor, using similar techniques to the silicon chip industry. The processor has used programs called quantum algorithms to solve two different problems. The work is published in Nature¹.

Classical systems use a series of 0s and 1s, or bits, to convey information. Two bits, for example can be combined as either 00, 11, 01 or 10. But quantum systems have a property called superposition, where all these combinations can exist at once. This vastly increases the amount of information that can be stored and the speed at which it can be processed.

Quantum bits, or qubits, can also be entangled — the state of one qubit influences the state of another even at a considerable distance. A quantum computer would use entangled qubits to process information.

Solid work

Quantum algorithms have been processed before, but only in exotic systems using lasers or ions suspended with strong magnets. To make something more similar to a computer, a solid-state system is needed.

DiCarlo made his device out of two transmon qubits. These are tiny pieces of a superconducting material consisting of a niobium film on an aluminium oxide wafer with gaps etched into it. A current can 'tunnel' across these gaps — another special property of the quantum world, where waves and particles can cross barriers without breaching them. The two qubits are separated by a cavity that contains microwaves, and the whole system connected to an electric current.

“The appeal of our processor is that it is an all-solid-state device.”

Leonardo DiCarlo
Yale University

"The appeal of our processor is that it is an all-solid-state device," says DiCarlo. It was made using standard industrial techniques. But the analogy with ordinary computers shouldn't be overstretched, he cautions — the device works at just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero and requires special refrigeration technology.

The researchers controlled the system using a microwave 'tone' with a frequency that causes the qubits to become entangled. A voltage pulse is then applied to control how long the two qubits remain entangled and in their superpositional state. Longer entanglement allows the qubits to process more complex problems.

DiCarlo was able to keep the qubits entangled for a microsecond, which is the state of the art, he says.

Qubit calling

The system processed two algorithms written specially for quantum systems.

The first is Grover's search algorithm, also known as the reverse phone book search, where someone's number is known but not the name. The processor essentially reads all the numbers in the phone book at once to find the single correct answer. "At the end the qubit will be in one state, not superposed, and that's the answer," says DiLorio.

The second, more simple, algorithm, the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, tests whether the flip of a coin is fair or not.

DiCarlo's processor got the reverse phone book search right an impressive 80% of the time and the coin-flip algorithm right about 90% of the time.

To read out the answer, DiCarlo used a microwave tone at the same frequency as the cavity in the system. "Depending what state the qubit is in, the cavity will resonate at a certain frequency. If the tone is transmitted through the cavity, we know it's in the right state," he says.

But this technique could not read out the answer in a system with many more qubits, says quantum-computing expert Hans Mooij from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The development of the processor is good news Mooij adds. "This is a necessary step," he says. "If this can be done, the next thing can be done."

DiCarlo is cautious. "We've made a very simple quantum processor," he says. "It's by no means a quantum computer."

He is working to give the processor more qubits, and so more processing power. He thinks that scaling up to three or four quibits will be relatively straightforward, but beyond that the problem becomes a lot harder, and the coherence time needed will be very difficult to attain. Mooij agrees: "From three or four to ten they will need to make a big step again."

• References

  1. DiCarlo, L. et al, Nature, doi:10.10383/nature08121 (2009)

Maxwell Smart would be SOOO jealous...

OK, I'm not quite sure how the tech would work for this, but the idea is VERY intriguing. Imagine. Total auditory privacy. For those of you who know much about the physics of sound, it's a very interesting puzzle to make this work to say the least. The snippet can be found on slashdot, here.

Rocket Cars

I've read several times over the last 10-15 years about land speed record tests in the desert and have always wanted to get involved. I think it would be cool to work on something that could go so fast. This time, they took a Lockheed jet and are going for 800 mph. The article (here) was in NY Times. This concept has already appealed to the engineer in me. Of course, the dreams I had as a kid of flying a fighter jet may have had something to do with it as well.....

If only I was rich, this is the kind of stuff I would buy...

OK, this is about the coolest "new" piece of hardware I've seen since I first saw the new michelin tire a year or so ago. Yes, it comes out of Japan. Yes, the name of the company is a blatant rip-off from the Terminator movies. That being said, check this HAL suit out. Pure awesomeness. It reminds me of that power suit that Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wore in Aliens. Who wouldn't want to be stronger, and this one looks cool. Bulky, but cool.

New Tire Concept

I've known about this one for a while, but recently was reminded and it occurred to me that this would be a perfect addition to this blog. This is a new tire concept that Michelin is developing. The engineering is REALLY cool. Check it out here.