Motovated > News > Newsletter April 2011

Hi everyone,

They say all clouds have a silver lining, and while the Japan and Christchurch earthquakes are tragedies, they can provide us with some important lessons. One of our Project Engineers, Leon Daly, has taken the earthquakes as inspiration for a couple of relevant articles - I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Also, our Business Development Manager Jonathan Prince has more Product Development seminars scheduled for next month. See below for locations and this month's design tip for using symmetry in plastic part design to reduce tooling and inventory. We also announce last issue's competition winner, and have another joke and puzzle below.

Enjoy the read!

Greg Morehouse
Managing Director
Engineering Analyst
greg@motovated.co.nz

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The Japan Quake and Tsunami

The dramatic events of the March 11th Quake and Tsunami have held the world's attention for many weeks now, and although the scale of the disaster is truly overwhelming, the responsiveness, concern and aid being given is also amazing - the Japanese Red Cross has reported $490 million in donations. Christchurch can empathise - our thoughts are with you Japan! For a comparison between the two earthquakes and other commentary click here.

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Design Redundancy in Support of Your Brand

The 'nuclear' brand has definitely been damaged as a result of the events in Japan, and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Here are some simple things you can do to protect your brand, and add additional safety and redundancy to your design.

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Engineeering News Article - Digital Prototyping

See why New Zealand Engineering News is expecting digital prototyping to become more common place in the early stages of a project... This is a great article showing the benefits of this growing technology. See how it can help you and your business here.

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Upcoming Events - Product Development Seminars

Motovated's Business Development Manager Jonathan Prince will be running more Product Development Seminars in Tauranga and Christchurch in the next month. Dates to be confirmed...

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Tips & Tricks - Designing Mating Parts with Rotational Symmetry

In this issue we take a look at designing mating parts to reduce tooling, inventory storage, and manufacturing cost. An example of a clever plastic container design shows how a bit of lateral thinking during the design stage pays off during the manufacturing and commercialisation stages. Read more here

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Another crazy kinetic sculpture...

Follow the link below to view a kinetic sculpture that moves and lives on its own.

Kinetic Wave Sculpture

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JOKE: Christchurch Earthquake Humour

Most people in Christchurch will have seen these, and perhaps now that the initial shock is over a little humour is just what the doctor ordered...

You know you're from Christchurch when... You go for a half hour walk and pass 17 port-a-loos en route Geonet or ChristchurchQuakeMap is your homepage. Munted and buggered are official technical terms. You sleep in one suburb, shower in another and collect water from yet another. You are happy that two police officers came to visit. You know how to start and refuel a generator with ease. You and your cat fight over the best toilet space in the garden You can judge the magnitude of an aftershock within two points When a massive group of students appears in your street, instead of calling the police you feel overwhelmed with gratitude. And what's more they leave the street in better condition than when they arrived. You actually know and understand the terms and conditions of your house and contents insurance. Discussing toilet habits with total strangers is an everyday norm. Dressing up to "head into town" means putting on a hi-viz vest, hard hat and boots. When you meet someone the opening question is not "What school did you go to?" but "Where were you when it hit?" Voluntarily staying in Timaru for five days seems like a good idea. You smile at strangers and greet people like you're one big family.

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Outsmart your colleagues...

Business Decisions: selecting the all-important Product Price. Bob makes and sells picnic tables from his garage for $100 each. His only costs are for materials. It takes him 1.5 hours to make a table. He sold 200 last year, for a profit of $3,000. This year he raises the price by 15%, but sells 30% fewer tables. Assuming his cost for making each table hasn't changed, does his profit go up or down, and by what percentage?

Send your correct answer to competition@motovated.co.nz to be in with a chance of winning a $50 Mitre 10 voucher.

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Answers to last issue's puzzle

Check your answer to February's question here: The correct answer is: 204 squares for an 8x8 board

Bonus Question: for any size checkerboard the total number of squares is calculated by:

[For example:
- A board that is one square wide has just 1 (1²) square.
- A two-by-two board has 1 large square and 4 (2²) small squares.
- A three-by-three board has 1 large square, 4 (2²) two-by-two squares, and 9 (3²) small squares.
- A four-by-four board has 1 large square, 4 (2²) three-by-three squares, 9 (3²) two-by-two squares, and 16 (4²) small squares etc.]

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Last issue's puzzle winner...

Congratulations to Malcolm Lewis from Hamilton Jet, a $50 Mitre 10 voucher is on its way to you.

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Thanks for your time and support. We look forward to working with you and continuing to provide the best engineering services possible. Greg and the team at Motovated. "Engineering Your Vision"