NASA landed another rover on Mars in February, thanks in part to the work and leadership of Adam Steltzner. Smart Manufacturing interviewed him shortly thereafter—just as he got off the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden.
I first wrote about substitute skin in 1993. And at the time, it seemed that stand-in organs—at scale—were imminent.
Good science does not equate to workable manufacturing. This has been a longstanding truth in tissue engineering, a field that has been in limbo between academic R&D and commercialization for its entire decades-long existence.
When an automotive starter needs to be replaced, it’s very likely that the most expensive components—the armature, commutator or gears—are still functional, or can be restored economically.
