Peggy Smedley Show

The opportunities gen AI (artificial intelligence) brings to most industries are significant—dare we say remarkable? But let’s be clear, there are still some challenges. For example, most LLMs (large language models) are trained on publicly available data and the vast majority of enterprise data remains untapped, and much work needs to be done to address this. And again, dare we say address this sooner, rather than later? Enter Granite 3.0, IBM’s third-generation Granite flagship language models, which was announced earlier this week at IBM’s second annual TechXchange event. By combining a small Granite model with enterprise data, especially using the…

Read More

We have come a long way with safety. If you journey back to the year 1960 and walked a construction jobsite, you would see very different work conditions than you see today. Hard hats were not mandatory yet and PPE (personal protective equipment) wasn’t the common three-letter jobsite acronym that it is today. Workers would be hanging from the top of buildings, with little gear to protect them. We have certainly come a long way, right? Yes and no. The reality is every year, one in 100 construction workers still get hurt bad enough to need time off work. We…

Read More

What's Trending

We have seen the rise of EVs (electric vehicles) in many walks of life—both personal and professional—and there are several reasons for this, such as reducing long-term expenses and reducing carbon emissions. Let’s take a closer look at how this is unfolding in the construction industry. In Denmark, we see the country has legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions, as it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 1990. Denmark also has the ambitious goal to be climate-neutral by 2050. How will it do this? In a lot of different ways. As one example, Roskilde Technical School Vilvorde now has two electric mini excavators as well as a range of other electric vehicles. Here students can use the excavators for small landscaping projects and construction and can use the hydraulic hammer to demolish concrete. Some of the benefits are the equipment makes very little noise and can be used inside because they are small enough to fit through doorways. Here is how this can help: Produce no emissions while in use. Charging machines are straightforward and the school can plug them into the regular plug sockets in its sheds to charge them overnight. More responsive than conventional diesel machines. Looking to the future, this school is now looking to boost its overall power supply to ensure it has the capacity to charge more electric machinery, as it will switch to more EVs in the future. Sustainability is the future, and companies and schools around the world are preparing for…

The medical industry is often a leader when it comes time to leverage new innovations. Today, let’s consider a new example that will enhance patient comfort in medical wearables enabled by printed electronics. As one example, we see Henkel and Linxens are collaborating to integrate self-regulating heating elements into medical wearable devices. Within the collaboration, the companies are leveraging roll-to-roll screen printing technology. Printed electronics allows the production of flexible circuits screen printed on flexible foils such as PET, and with the converting onto a self-adhesive tape, it can be cut into the shape of a skin patch. Here is how this can help: Can be used for the development of highly complex and precise printed electronic designs. Integrated into skin patches, which are thin, comfortable, and optimized for medical applications. Used in various healthcare and wellness contexts, such as for pain relief or temperature-controlled drug delivery. Looking to the future, we are going to see greater collaboration aimed at heightening innovation in various industries, including medical. This is simply a glimpse into what the future might look like with new innovations in…

Located in the eastern area of Nebraska, the City of Fremont has a population of 27,141 and the Dept. of Utilities serves electric, gas, and water service, with a mission to provide safe, reliable, and economical services to the community. The department has found an innovative way to do this with the help of technology. Leveraging the OATI webSmartIoT AMIoT, the staff has a new tool to improve operational tasks. The department wanted a way to present consistent 15-minute meter data reads to enhance monitoring and reporting of voltage levels—and that is exactly what it is finding with this new AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) solution. Here is how this can help in the City of Fremont: Two-way communications for operational control Upgraded outage detection and restoration Remote disconnect and reconnect of residential electric meters Looking to the future, we will see many utilities tap into technology to support realtime utilities quality data analysis. Data is the key to ensuring utilities remain safe, reliable, and economical. What are you seeing in your own…

What You Missed