As engineers, we love learning about the world around us and drawing inspiration from other people and inventions throughout history. And, we love sharing our favorite stories with you! Who knows? Maybe they’ll help spark your next big idea too.
From the dawn of time, society has continuously looked for ways to improve the efficiency of how we complete tasks. While our own hands can be incredible tools, we can benefit from the use of additional machines. An example of this can be seen in the task of mixing—evenly blending
We were asked to design, build, and install a two-part gas-to-liquid catalyst dispensing system in 2008. We created, set up, and tested it entirely at the CPS factory in Missouri, before packing and shipping it to Ras Laffan, Qatar. A country with fewer residents than expatriates, the State of Qatar
As the 3D craze hit movies like The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, inventors Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes were banking on all of us living in homes with 3D wallpaper. Their company, Sealed Air Corporation, was formed to make a wall covering made
Humans have been seeking cures for their ailments since the dawn of time. Plant-based treatments can be tracked all the way back to the 28th century BC, when the legendary emperor of China, Shennong, is said to have written an herbal compendium—a catalog listing 365 different plant species that he
Sarah Guppy was paid £40,000 by the British Government for a way to keep barnacles off boats. That’s about $4.5 million today. In 1811, she created a way to make safe piling for bridges. This important invention was employed right away by a Scottish civil engineer. This time, Guppy refused
The Incas developed an accounting system, brain surgery, and freeze drying. They were also brilliant metalsmiths, and are likely the source of a technique still used today: Powder Metallurgy. As it has evolved over the years, it has produced unique materials like tungsten carbide, and reduced the need to use
Roughly, 12,500 years ago near present day Tucson, a small group used their collective talents and brought down a mastodon. Their efforts were rewarded with a feast that would last for weeks. With that, the premise of the mass food industry was born. The Start of Feeding in Mass At
In the countryside of Connecticut lies a property called Pepperidge Farm, the place where Margaret Rudkin founded her now nationally-known bakery brand of the same name. What began as a mother experimenting with baking healthful bread at home for her family has become a company which sells over $2 billion
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new comes along. One that made our Denise McIntosh say, “What is that? That’s the strangest looking machine I’ve ever seen!” It’s another innovation from the smart minds in our engineering department. The challenge they encountered was a customer who needed to
If you’ve ever tugged a knotted rope with a puppy, you can be sure that you’ll get tired long before the puppy. And the puppy already knows it. In the article “Embrace the Grind” by Jacob Kaplan-Moss, he goes into the detail (and determination) involved in pulling off a magic
Meet your biggest enemy: Downtime. When machines go down, customers don’t get taken care of, the time clock keeps ticking up your payroll, and money stops coming in. Unfortunately, machines break down. It’s one of the inevitable truths of anything with moving parts. Fighting the downtime enemy means being smart
There’s nothing magic about the date “January 1st.” It will be a Friday, so it has that going for it. But, collectively, we have decided that it’s a day for a new beginning. A day to start resolutions. A commitment to make 2021 better than 2020 (not a high bar
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US, where it has been an… unusual… year. In some ways, our world feels larger, and in other it feels smaller. Whether you’re a client, vendor, or partner here in the States, or you’re among those we count as friends around the world,
“…and in an instant, everything changes.” Have you heard that a few times this year? 2020 will be remembered for many things, but the common thread is change. And if we’re not talking about change, we’re talking about health and healthcare. Future needs and regulations can pop up at any
Vivian Burnett was the picture of a proper lady. Born at the tail end of the 19th century in Kansas, she was no wilting flower. While a curse word never crossed her lips, you always knew where you stood. Family called her a yellow-dog Democrat and a fierce fighter for
“Unexpected twists and turns” has been the theme for 2020. Restaurants have had to turn almost inside-out to accommodate the sudden glut of carry-out orders. Car dealers are bringing cars to your home for a test drive. And our customers are quickly learning why we set up shop in Springfield,
Every Henry Ford has a James J. Couzens quietly making him a legend. Every Warren Buffett has his Charlie Munger. Every Jagger has a Richards and every Paul a John. So, too, it was true in January of 2008 when Custom Powder Systems found its perfect complement in Integrated Containment
Here at Custom Powder Systems, we’re always on the lookout for creative applications of practical absurdity. Because we’re so often faced with constraints (space, time, budget, gravity, etc.) in the projects our clients bring us, we try to hire engineers who look at problems outside of work with the same
In nearly every way, it was an F-A-T like any other… we demonstrated the functionality of the new, custom, dry material handling blender as the client looked on. We walked them through every step of its operation and answered their question, and the meeting ended with a successful test. Except…
There are hints of lifting devices dating back to the time of Archimedes. Leonardo da Vinci, our kindred Renaissance spirit, drew up elevator designs. Steam-powered elevators would haul lumber and coal in the 19th century. It would be years before people thought about hoisting people in these machines…and this kind