ENGtechnica.TV

We explore how purpose-built food assembly robots, computer vision, and better data can push restaurants beyond thin margins and burnout. We share what we learned by running a living-lab restaurant, why we paused it, and how we’re deploying the tech inside partner stores.• Origins in delivery work and engineering• Why restaurants lag in automation• Building a living-lab restaurant for rapid iteration• Pausing the pilot to deploy with partners• Using robots for repetitive prep and assembly• Keeping humans focused on hospitality• Capturing sensor and vision data at the line• Pitfalls of bad “labor optimization” AI• Onshape for fast design, version control and collaboration• Rejecting humanoids for task-specific mechanisms• Expansion paths into catering and hospitality

We unpack how 24M combines electrode-to-pack design, a fast, high-conductivity electrolyte, and a sensing separator to aim for thousand-mile range and safer batteries. The talk spans dendrites and thermal runaway, drone-ready shapes, long-duration storage, and real-world paths to scale and recycle.• ETOP packaging for higher energy density and custom shapes• Impervia separator that suppresses dendrites and senses faults• Eternalite electrolyte enabling five-minute charge and late-cycle power• Lithium metal safety strategy and thermal runaway prevention• Drone and aviation use cases with conformable packs• EV vs ESS market dynamics and policy uncertainty• Manufacturing strategy and onshoring with lower risk• Long-duration storage for the duck curve• Binder-free electrodes and closed-loop recycling of LFP and graphite• Tradeoffs, transition costs, and incremental adoption paths

We trace FIU’s early bet on AI, the rise of AI-ready engineering education, and why security research must outpace attackers. From LLM jailbreaks to drone resilience, we share how to validate tools, keep fundamentals strong, and deploy AI safely in the real world.• FIU’s AI strategy across engineering disciplines• Faculty journey from cybersecurity to AI-driven defense• Research strength, funding, and emerging tech focus• AI Summit takeaways from flood modeling to controls• Quantum threats and post-quantum cryptography• LLM jailbreak risks and malware generation• Layered defense and resilience-by-design• Teaching with AI while preserving fundamentals• AI minor structure and discipline-specific courses• Drone security via side-channel sensing and ML• Adversarial ML in cyber-physical systems• Affordability, social mobility, and ROI

We explore how smart glasses moved from bulky prototypes to practical tools, why waveguides make displays vanish into lenses, and how hybrid AI solves the offline problem. Dr. Chris Parkinson explains the tradeoffs between tethered and on-board compute, and where enterprise adoption is outpacing consumer demand.• Waveguides turning thin lenses into bright displays• Tethered glasses as lightweight monitors vs full Android on-head• Enterprise durability, all-day shifts, and safety constraints• Privacy lessons from Google Glass and why context matters• Vuzix strategy supplying components and building solutions• Manufacturing waveguides at scale in the US• Weight, battery, comfort limits and power tradeoffs• Monocular vs binocular displays, resolution realities• Prescription clip-ins and optical placement• AI voice interfaces, cloud vs edge, hybrid workflows

Eduardo Torrealba, founder and CEO of Lumafield, on how industrial CT gives engineers a safe, fast way to see inside products and make better decisions. He discusses LumaField’s approach to trials, safety, resolution and GD&T from scans.• Value of non‑destructive 3D inspection for complex assemblies• Differences between industrial and medical CT and how shielding works• Try‑before‑you‑buy approach and what it costs• Main manufacturing use cases across batteries, plastics, and electronics• Limits and trade‑offs for resolution, contrast, and dense materials• CAD‑to‑scan comparison and ethical lines around reverse engineering• GD&T from scans as a faster alternative to extensive CMM programs• Company footprint, manufacturing in Massachusetts and software in San Francisco

We talk to Fraser Patterson, CEO and founder of Skillit, about how digitizing skilled trade workers would affect hiring speed and quality, why construction jobs are resistant to AI displacement, and what new data reveals about women entering the trades and pay equity. Practical AI supports recruiters and workers without removing humans from high-stakes decisions.•Diagnosing labor shortage as an access and data problem• Founder’s journey from journeyman carpenter to tech builder• Fuilding data-rich worker profiles and semantic search• Privacy-preserving eligibility checks via co‑pilot outreach• Scale and demand for data center and energy projects• Worker-friendly onboarding designed for deskless realities• Rigorous screening and trade assessments as skill signals• Women in trades data, faster ramp, smaller pay gap• Why construction resists automation and offshoring• AI for scheduling and sourcing with humans in the loop• Focus on US now with future global expansion