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Automotive engineers have been tackling unwanted vehicle noise for decades. Their focus consists of a combination of sounds and vibrations from a vehicle’s drivetrain, as well as ambient road noise from outside vehicles.

"Are we there yet?" is an age-old question that back-seat passengers have been asking for decades. Automotive engineers on the lightweighting journey are faced with a similar quandary.

The automotive industry was one of the first to embrace robotics. Indeed, automakers have been benefiting from the technology since General Motors purchased the first industrial robot from Unimation way back in 1961.

Manufacturing large, monolithic composite parts, such as a car body or an aircraft fuselage, requires a large and complex mold. As a result, the process can be quite costly. Alternatively, such complex parts can be manufactured less expensively by assembling a series of smaller parts using various joining techniques.

In the 1990s, lean manufacturing revolutionized how we organized and ran assembly lines. Now, manufacturing is undergoing another revolution - only this time, it's digital.

Over the past 120 years, the automotive industry has experienced several transformative paradigm shifts that have dramatically changed the process of mass-producing cars and light trucks.

Industry 4.0 isn't anything new for the manufacturing engineers at Glidewell. The Newport, CA-based manufacturer of crowns, bridges and other dental products has been applying the concept since before it had a name.

From forest fire prevention and border patrol to tax inspection and counterterrorism, the applications for aerial drones are multiplying daily. Now, there is a new use for them: transporting car parts.

Science fiction writers are often heralded as great visionaries and predictors of future technology. But, "serious" writers, so to speak, also have their prophetic moments, even if by accident.