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Sustainability: Past, Present, and Future
Peggy talks about how one initiative is making an impact on plastic use. She says we are certainly making some strong progress with our sustainability goals—but there are still far too many companies that have not yet taken action. She also discusses: Three major highlights that have emerged in the last six years. One case… -
What’s on the Horizon for IBM and Microsoft
Peggy Smedley and Michelle Pellegrin, global VP and managing director of strategic partnerships, IBM, talk about the IBM and Microsoft partnership and what is on the horizon for the two companies and their customers. She says Microsoft is a big user of IBM technology and IBM uses Microsoft technology. They also discuss: How long the… -
ChatGPT: The Impact on Manufacturing
Peggy Smedley and Dan Miklovic, founder, Lean Manufacturing Research and leader, Third Eye Advisory, talk about the impact ChatGPT and gen AI (artificial intelligence) has had on manufacturing. He says it has definitely had an impact, particularly in the customer experience—and now in operations. They also discuss: Obstacles to widespread adoption. If it should be…
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…
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…
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Sleep apnea is very common—more common than we know. The numbers paint an interesting story. Roughly 80 million U.S. adults and 10 million U.S. children suffer from obstructive sleep apnea—and approximately 85% of them are undiagnosed and untreated. The challenge is a sleep study can be costly and time intensive. But now, technology can help. Roughly 30-50% of consumers are now embracing at-home diagnostics self-monitoring tools. One example is Vivos, which offers VivoScore. The Bluetooth-enabled finger ring and home sleep testing technology is FDA-cleared for patients as young as two years old. Here is how this can help: Eliminates the need for overnight lab visits. Offers clinical-grade diagnostics at a fraction of the cost. Connections for sleep, test reads, diagnostics, and telemedicine consultations help patients receive accurate results and professional medical insights from their homes. Looking to the future, we are going to see new technologies continue to emerge in the medical field. In the case of sleep apnea, new technologies will be able to help diagnose patients and make them more aware of their condition, helping reduce that 85% of people who are…
Some of the best innovations often come out of the work and research done at universities. Such is the case with a recent demonstration at a university that aims to convert radio frequencies into usable electricity. Let’s take a look. The University of Kashmir recently demonstrated new wireless energy harvesting technology, which offers an innovative way to power devices and charge batteries without the need for physical connections—and it aims to solve an age-old problem. In the past, methods using lasers, microwaves, or infrared light have often come with limitations, such as requiring a direct line of sight between transmitter and receiver or limited to point-to-point energy transmission. Here’s how the new technology works. The INFRGY system avoids these hurdles by using benign RF technology to offer a more versatile, efficient, and safe method of wireless power delivery. The RF technology is not adversely affected by obstacles, does not require physical contact, and can power multiple devices simultaneously. Here is how this can help: Scalable, efficient, and offers a way to power devices without the need for precise alignment or physical contact. Charge devices without ever having to plug them in or position them on a charging pad. Power the IoT (Internet of Things) devices, smart homes, and industrial equipment. While the concept for this wireless power transfer system began at the Centre for Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Kashmir, Zakura Campus, the opportunities are far reaching. In the future, we will continue to see wireless technology…
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…
