Practical Machining Solutions, Inc

02/21/2018

STEM in action!

It takes a well orchestrated team to build the sport's most epic ramp.

01/03/2018

Manufacturing accounts for 24 percent of the German economy. In the U.S., it's only 11 percent. What makes German manufacturing so strong and resilient?

12/15/2017

09/27/2017

Ok, all you makers and inventors out there, here's a challenge! Invent a jetpack that is capable of carrying a single person 20 miles or more without refueling. Get tinkering!!

Flying cars are so passé

09/27/2017

"Hidden Figures" mathematician Katherine Johnson was the guest of honor at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to dedicate a new NASA research building named in her honor! At the ceremony at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the 99-year-old Johnson was honored for her work as one of the "human computers" who made early space flight, including the first moon landing, possible. Margot Lee Shetterly, the author of the “Hidden Figures” book which brought Johnson's contributions much wider recognition, spoke at the event, observing: "At every fork, her talent, her hard work and her character pulled her toward her destiny. At every turn, she made a choice to become the protagonist in her own story and then of ours.” To Johnson, she said, “Telling your story has been an honor. You work changed our history and your history has changed our future.”

During her 33-year career at NASA, during which she was forced to overcome both gender and racial barriers, Johnson's skills in celestial navigation were renowned. She calculated -- by hand -- the flight trajectories for a number of historic missions, including the Alan Shepard's space voyage aboard Freedom 7 in 1961 and the Apollo 11 flight to the Moon in 1969. Shetterly observed in her speech how Johnson and her colleagues were integral to America’s journey into space: “We are living in a present that they willed into existence with their pencils, their slide rules, their mechanical calculating machines and, of course, their brilliant minds.”

Over the past few years, Johnson’s contributions to America’s space program have become more widely known to the public thanks to President Barack Obama's presenting her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and the release of the blockbuster "Hidden Figures" book and film last year. When Johnson was asked how she felt about a building being named after her, she laughed: “You want my honest answer? I think they’re crazy. I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everybody who helped. I didn’t do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there... little did I think it would go this far.”

To read more about the dedication of the new Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility on NASA's website, visit https://go.nasa.gov/2fHYelS

Katherine Johnson is the subject of a new early chapter book for ages 6 to 8 at https://www.amightygirl.com/katherine-johnson

The book on which "Hidden Figures" is based is also available in both adult and youth editions -- to check out the “Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition” for ages 8 to 13, visit https://www.amightygirl.com/hidden-figures-young-readers

To order the adult edition of "Hidden Figures," which is also recommended for teen readers, visit http://amzn.to/2j3PS8k

The inspiring film "Hidden Figures" is now available on DVD at https://www.amightygirl.com/hidden-figures-film or can be streamed online at http://amzn.to/2w628gR

Johnson is also one of 50 pioneering women of science featured in the stunning illustrated biography, "Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers," for ages 9 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-science

For books for children and teens about more real-life female scientists whose stories should be more widely known, check out our blog post, "50 Books to Inspire Science-Loving Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=13914

09/14/2017

We are proud to be an Xometry partner manufacturer!

09/07/2017

Computer programming used to be a ‘pink ghetto’—so it was underpaid and undervalued.

06/14/2017

We certainly didn't expect to open up a quilting magazine at the local book store and find an article featuring a machine shop! Thank you Quiltfolk for connecting machines and makers! Happy making!!

Pulleys, axels, gears and wheels. CNC machines, extruded aluminum, and big, burly men wielding welders that shoot sparks across their workstations.
This isn’t the kind of scene and story you expect to see in the pages of a quilting magazine. But, then again, there has long been a relationship between machines and makers. Quilters are no exception.
To learn more about Nolting Longarm, be sure to pick up Issue 02 of Quiltfolk, and subscribe at www.quiltfolk.com

06/02/2017

We struggle with this all the time! Often we're asked "so is it like welding?" No, not really.

Andre Herritz has just one gripe about his career — when he says he works in CNC machining, no one understands what he does for a living.

04/24/2017

Celebrating people who fix things! Before I became involved in machining, I wouldn't have imagined how many parts and pieces are involved with printing a newspaper. The freedom of the press needs people to repair and maintain the machines that provide us our daily dose of information. Here's to the men and women who keep the presses running! Thank You!!

Printing presses break, a lot. In the first episode of "State of Repair," Motherboard visits the people who fix them.

04/18/2017

"Not everyone looking to work in a technology career will be employed by Google, Apple or Microsoft." So True!

STEM education and the maker movement have flooded our nation’s schools, making project-based learning much easier to mark off of the instructional “must..

03/31/2017