Manufacturing Week - Engineering Design Show

The Engineering Design Show featured a large variety of manufacturers from around the United States and the world. Upon arriving to the show, I was overwhelmed by the vast size of the McCormick Place. The Engineering Design Show used only a portion of it, and even then, the Design Show was too large to get through in one day.

One thing that I found rather surprising, was the size of some of the displays. The engineering software companies especially seemed to have spent a lot of money just on their displays. I imagine they figure that the show gives them a lot of exposure, and they are not at all concerned about the cost to be seen.

After walking around for the first couple of hours, I began to feel overwhelmed. The companies and products that especially interested me were not very easy to find. I suppose if I had come from a more specialized background within a company, it would have been easier for me to find some other companies which dealt with the same type of things.

However, there were some companies at the show that I found to be interesting. One software company was giving out informational disks for zinc die cast parts. I found this helpful because I am currently working on a material search for the senior project that I am working on, and zinc die cast was high on the list of possibilities. Also, I talked to some representatives from some spring manufacturers. Having worked at GR Spring & Stamping, I was able to talk to them, and learned about what their company did.

By attending the Engineering Design Show I learned a lot. First of all, I know what to expect the next time I go to one of these shows. Also I realize how helpful a show like this could be to one who is looking for information in certain areas. In other words, latter on in life when I am more established in an area of engineering, I know that attending a show like this could be very helpful source of information and outside contact.