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Welcome to our Blog

More than a Blog, A Place to Learn, Share, and Laugh a Bit

We started an email newsletter back in 2002 as “The Focus.” We kept that up for some time and then made the plunge into blogging around 2008. Over the years, thousands of students and engineers from around the world have told us that our blog is an invaluable tool to them. If you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Press Release: PADT, Avnet and Tiempo Development Introduce Design Days, Hosted by Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation

PADT and CEI have partnered with Avnet and Tiempo Development to offer a free technical advice to local startups at CEI. Anyone needing advice on mechanical design, electrical design, or software ca...

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Phoenix Business Journal: Pitching a startup well: What I learned while competing for the Unicorn Cup

We had a lot of fun while learning a lot during the first ever Perfect Pitch competition at PADT. This is an event where startup mentors get up and pitch the same fictitious company. During that pro...

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Introducing Design Days: Free engineering consultation for Startups

PADT and CEI are teaming up to answer any startup's questions about engineering and manufacturing for their physical product. Over the years we have found lots of early stage companies who benefited ...

Upcoming Events

Sep 01

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, 2026

Commercial UAV Expo

Aug 23

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, 2026

Small Satellite Conference 2026

Aug 26

, 2026

Ansys Simulation Solutions for Pumps, Compressors and Fans - Webinar

Aug 24

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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo - 2026

Aug 20

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AZBio Spring Reception

Aug 14

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Ansys Fluent Meshing Watertight Geometry Workflow - Webinar

Aug 13

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From Hours to Minutes: Accelerate Your Designs with Zemax HPC - Webinar

Aug 10

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2026 CEO Leadership Retreat + Golf Tournament

Jul 30

, 2026

AZ Tech Council Q3 VIP Tech Mixer

Jul 29

, 2026

AZTC July after5 Tech Mixer

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Optics Valley July 2026 Member Meeting

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Army FUZE xTech|Phantum Finals Event: Innovation Showcase

Jul 15

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Arizona Aerospace Summit

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UAS Additive Strategies

Jun 30

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Aeroacoustic Modeling with the Fluent GPU Solver - Webinar

Jun 22

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, 2026

Automate 2026

Jun 18

, 2026

E-Mobility and Clean Energy Summit

Jun 18

, 2026

Best Practices for Running Ansys Fluent on GPUs - Webinar

Jun 15

- Jun 19

, 2026

Turbo Expo 2026

Jun 11

, 2026

Harnessing the Power of Workstation GPUs for CFD Studies - Webinar

Jun 10

, 2026

From Component to System: Scaling Photonic Designs - Webinar

Jun 04

, 2026

Accelerate RF Filter Design Intelligent Automation - Webinar

Jun 04

, 2026

GPU-Driven CFD for Automotive and Off-Road Mobility Applications - Webinar

Jun 02

, 2026

Electronics Design EMC Simulation: Hands-on Workshop - Webinar

May 27

, 2026

EMC Modeling Workflows Across Electronics Design with Ansys EMC Plus - Webinar

May 19

, 2026

Advanced Motor Design: From Robotics to Consumer Electronic Devices - Webinar

May 13

, 2026

2026 Arizona Manufacturing Showcase

May 13

, 2026

Miniaturization and Photonic Integration: A Cross-Industry Transformation - Webinar

May 08

, 2026

Getting Started with Ansys Fluent - Webinar

May 07

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys LS-DYNA What's New

May 07

, 2026

Calibrate Simulation to Test Data with Ansys optiSLang - Webinar

May 05

, 2026

Enhancing Optical System Performance with Ansys optiSLang and Ansys Zemax OpticStudio - Webinar

Apr 30

, 2026

AZ Tech Council: Q2 VIP Tech Mixer

Apr 30

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: What’s New in Ansys Optics

Apr 29

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Structural Mechanics What’s New

Apr 28

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys Sherlock and Electronics Reliability What’s New

Apr 28

, 2026

Uncertainty Quantification for Real‑World Model Deployment in Industrial Systems - Webinar

Apr 27

- Apr 30

, 2026

Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS) 2026

Apr 23

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys Digital Twin What’s New

Apr 23

, 2026

Access the Right Material Data Directly Inside Your Simulation Workflow - Webinar

Apr 22

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys Discovery What’s New

Apr 22

, 2026

Modeling a Pressurized Water Reactor in Flownex - Webinar

Apr 22

, 2026

Certification by Analysis for Propulsion Systems: Building Confidence through Modeling, Uncertainty, and Credibility - Webinar

Apr 21

, 2026

Reduce Component Weight in Demanding Service Conditions - Webinar

Apr 13

- Apr 15

, 2026

41st Space Symposium | 2026

Apr 13

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, 2026

RAPID + TCT

Apr 06

- Apr 12

, 2026

AZ Tech Week 2026

Apr 11

, 2026

Research & Innovation Expo

Apr 08

, 2026

Data Centric Approach to Radical Innovation - #AZTechWeek

Apr 07

, 2026

Arizona HardTech: It’s not The Same - #AZTechWeek

Apr 07

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys Autonomous Vehicle Simulation (AVxcelerate) What’s New

Apr 06

, 2026

Advice for Startup Advisors - Breakfast - #AZTechWeek

Apr 02

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys Fluids What’s New

Apr 02

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys optiSLang What’s New

Apr 01

, 2026

Ansys 2026 R1: Ansys SimAI What’s New

Mar 31

, 2026

Modal Behavior Assessment Using IGA on Automotive NVH Analysis - Webinar

Mar 31

, 2026

Domain Specific V&V Across Industrial Engineering Disciplines - Webinar

Mar 26

, 2026

The Solver Social - San Diego, California

Mar 17

, 2026

The Solver Social - Huntington Beach, California

Mar 17

, 2026

The Increasing Necessity of UQ, Verification, and Validation in Industrial Engineering

Mar 17

- Mar 19

, 2026

2026 Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition

Mar 12

, 2026

Foundations of Certification by Analysis: Airframe Structures & Impact / Crashworthiness - Webinar

Mar 11

- Mar 12

, 2026

Synopsys Converge | Simulation World Silicon Valley

Mar 06

, 2026

Pioneering EV Propulsion: Optimizing Next-Generation Traction Motors with Motor-CAD and optiSLang - Webinar

Mar 05

, 2026

2026 Flinn Foundation Bio Capital Conference

Feb 26

, 2026

Foundations of Certification by Analysis: Building Trust in Model-Based Evidence - Webinar

Feb 24

, 2026

Updated NVH Solvers in Ansys LS-DYNA - Webinar

Feb 17

, 2026

Hybrid Analytics for Sim2real Models - Webinar

Feb 10

, 2026

Electrothermal Analysis of PCBs in Air and Vacuum - Webinar

Feb 03

- Feb 05

, 2026

MD&M West 2026

Jan 29

, 2026

AZTC Q1 VIP Mixer

Jan 27

, 2026

From System Architecture to Digital Twin: Accelerate Robotics with MBSE - Webinar

Jan 20

, 2026

Digitally Engineering the Future of Sustainable Industrial Equipment - Webinar

Jan 20

, 2026

Recent Developments in Ansys LS-DYNA - Webinar

Jan 14

- Jan 15

, 2026

Arizona Photonics Days 2026

Jan 14

, 2026

Tucson after5 Tech Mixer

Jan 14

, 2026

Slash Power Integrity Runtimes with Chip Power Model-SC - Webinar

Jan 13

, 2026

Accelerating Autonomous Robotics with Ansys Sensor Simulation - Webinar

Jan 06

- Jan 09

, 2026

CES 2026

Dec 16

, 2025

Smarter Electro-mechanical Robotics Design Through Simulation - Webinar

Dec 11

, 2025

AZBio Trailblazer Awards

Dec 11

, 2025

CFD & Digital Twin of Clean Rooms: Contamination Control with ISO 14644 - Webinar

Dec 10

, 2025

2025 YesPHX Winter Social

Dec 10

, 2025

AZTC Tech the Halls Holiday Mixer

Dec 09

, 2025

From Concept to Reality: Robotic Simulation with Ansys Structural Tools - Webinar

Dec 09

, 2025

Prevent Electric Breakdown in High Voltage Systems with Ansys Maxwell - Webinar

Dec 04

, 2025

Ansys Optics Virtual Deep Dive: VCSEL Simulation - Webinar

Dec 04

, 2025

Improving the Biocompatibility of Medical Devices through Thrombosis Modeling - Webinar

Nov 25

, 2025

A&D Autonomy - Digital Engineering for Advanced Air Mobility - Webinar

Nov 25

, 2025

Advanced Optimization Techniques for Electric Machine Design - Webinar

Nov 20

, 2025

Networking for Introverted Innovators

Nov 20

, 2025

CFD Simulation for Mixing Vessels: Faster with the New Ansys App - Webinar

Nov 18

, 2025

Engineering Resilient Space Systems: Electronic Reliability - Webinar

Nov 14

, 2025

CELEBR4TING INNOV8TION

Nov 12

, 2025

22nd Annual Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards

Nov 11

, 2025

Accelerate CFD Innovation with Optimization & AI in Ansys Fluent - Virtual Workshop

Nov 11

, 2025

Engineering Resilient Space Systems: Thermal Control Systems

Nov 06

- Nov 07

, 2025

Tech Talent Summit 2025 + Startup World Cup AZ

Nov 06

, 2025

Driving Innovation in Adaptive Headlamp Design - Webinar