I’m personally not a big believer in a lot of the greenwash and pseudo-religious environmental hocus pocus. My family has a tree farm and my dad always taught me that it was my job to leave the forest in better condition than when he passed the management task to me. I think the same philosophy should apply to Montie Design and Montie Gear. To that end, this is our first attempt at looking at the sustainability and economic impact of our Montie Gear products. Click on the image to download the PDF.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– April 9, 2012
The 2012 Montie Gear Student Design Contest is now in the judging stage. Here are videos about the three finalists.
Click on a picture to watch a video.
Luca Harrell – Industrial Design Major – Virginia Tech
Jake Eck – Industrial Design Major – NCSU
Josh Little – Industrial Design Major – NCSU
Montie Design Networking Event Friday
Join us this Friday, 30 Mar, from 4:00 to 6:30PM for our Final Friday end of the quarter networking event at Montie Design. This is a casual, easy going way to relax a few minutes in the company of fellow professionals. Click Here to pre-register.
Join us at the NC Defense Business Association Expo on April 3-4
Please visit our booth at the Expo in Pinehurst, NC. This event is a great way to find defense related vendors and network within the NC defense business community. Click Here to sign up.
Call or Email Today to Discuss Your Project
Want to talk product development or need help with a project? Don’t hesitate to contact Montie at 919-481-1845×107 or montie@montie.com.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– April 2, 2012
Take a peak at the final three designs for the 2012 Montie Gear Design Contest!
By Josh : A tree mounted multi-use organizer.
By Jake : An elevated cooking surface with stove.
By Luca : A collapsible wet/dry tree mounted container.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– March 15, 2012
The 2012 Montie Design / Montie Gear Student Design Contest is underway! We have entries from NC State, Appalachian and Virginia Tech. The students are competing for a shot at having their product commercialized at a micro manufacturing facility that we are setting up in Spring Creek, NC.
Click on the image below to see a short video describing the contest.
Here is a link to an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times about how our contest may help bring jobs to Spring Creek, NC.
I am personally very excited we have created a win-win situation for the students, our firm and the local economy of Spring Creek, NC. Spring Creek currently has no manufacturing and very limited employment opportunities. There are no grants or anything like that involved, just NC neighbors working together.
Montie Design Offers Prototype Rotationally Molded Parts
We completed our first project using prototype parts that we rotationally molded in house. Rotational molding is a great process for some low volume parts because of the low tool cost and how quickly we can turn a CAD model into actual working parts. The pictures below are from a prototype made from an LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) and EVA blend. The addition of the EVA creates a flexible material that is tough but still comfortable to use inside a helmet. The material is also flexible at temperatures of negative twenty and below.
We tried using a rapid prototype from an Objet printer, but it just wasn’t tough enough for use in the field. We decided to create a tool and a batch of rotationally molded parts. Now we are in the process of sending out prototype units to lead users for test and evaluation.
Main Body of Apparatus is Rotationally Molded
Tool Used for Prototype Part
Lunch and Learn This Week – Materials for Injection Molding
Jim Meyers and Andrea Chambers will be holding a lunch and learn on Thursday, 23 Feb at the Montie Design studio. The subject is materials for injection molding. They will have samples of a wide variety of materials as part of the presentation. RSVP to montie@montie.com to attend.
Call or Email Today to Discuss Your Project
Want to talk product development or need help with a project? Don’t hesitate to contact me at 919-481-1845×107 or montie@montie.com.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– February 21, 2012
(Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, has expanded its product realization toolset with the purchase of a rotational molder. The new equipment allows the firm to produce prototypes of small rotationally molded parts and follow up with limited production runs of client parts. Continued…
Share on Facebook
Posted in Product Design, prototyping.
By dave
– January 30, 2012
(Spring Creek & Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, today announced it will be holding a Winter 2012 Student Design Contest for aspiring product designers in community colleges, four-year colleges, or high schools from North Carolina and Virginia. Initial submissions are due on Feb 1, 2012 with final submissions due on Feb 29, with full details available online at www.montie.com/contest. Continued…
Share on Facebook
Posted in Product Design, Regional Technology Innovation.
By dave
– January 30, 2012
Merry Christmas from all of us at Montie Design! I hope you have a joyous Christmas and enjoy the holiday season.
Innovation vs. Invention – Case In Point
“Innovation” is an often misused term. Simply put, innovation is where you combine existing intellectual property (or know how) in a new and creative way. Invention is where you create new intellectual property.
There is an awesome video of a new product that has achieved viral status on YouTube. You can watch the video here. This device (called a Fly Board) allows the user to fly like Iron Man for a few feet into the air.
Water is pumped from an impeller (same as impeller on a Jet Ski) through a hose and then ejected from four nozzles to propel the user through the air.
Is this an example of invention or innovation? There are many examples of using nozzles to eject water in a high velocity stream (think fire hose). Water is often piped through flexible hoses (think fire hose again). This product is an example of innovation because existing technologies from fire hoses were combined with using a personal watercraft as a remote power source. This is a great example of cross pollination because technologies from different industries were innovatively combined to create a new product. On a personal note, I want to try this new product. But, I’m pretty sure I won’t be thinking about product development terminology as I’m flying through the air.
Want to talk product development or need help with a project? Don’t hesitate to contact me at 919-481-1845 x107 or montie@montie.com.
Merry Christmas,
Montie
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– December 14, 2011
(Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, has added to its ever-expanding line of popular Montie Gear hunting and camping equipment with a fun new lightweight slingshot for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages. The high-tech slingshot features a sturdy aluminum frame for unrivaled strength, a tapered flat band and leather pouch assembly. Like all of the products available at www.montiegear.com or via the Montie Gear store on Amazon.com, the Montie Gear slingshot is made in the USA. Continued…
Share on Facebook
Posted in Montie Gear.
By dave
– November 25, 2011
Flex Circuits Seminar, and Networking Events
Paul Tome with EPEC Technologies joined us for a lunch and learn event on Tuesday, Nov 15th. He lead a discussion called the “Secrets of Flex Circuit Design”. Paul has 15 years of experience designing flex circuits. Paul is the Flex Circuit Product Manager for Epec Engineered Technologies (www.epectec.com).
IDSA Southern Regional Portfolio Review at VT
Last weekend was a lot of fun. The industrial design students in our region have an amazing amount of energy and talent. It was an honor to serve as a professional reviewer at the event.
PCB Carolina Show in Raleigh
The PCB Carolina show was held on Tuesday at the Raleigh Convention Center. The convention center is an awesome venue for this type of event. Shows like this are a great way to meet new clients and catch up with existing clients and friends. You may be wondering why a mechanical design firm would exhibit at a show focused on PCB design and manufacturing. All those printed circuit boards have to end up in some sort of enclosure (hint – think Montie Design).
DEFNET Event in Raleigh
Last night the folks at Wake County Economic Development put on the 3rd DEFNET event. These events are designed to enable networking between the local companies that do work in the defense market space. This event included a short speech by David Price. Sign up for the event announcements by emailing Wayne Watkins.
Congressman Price speaking at the Wake County Economic Development DEFNET Event.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– November 22, 2011
(Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, is continuing a string of educational outreach events by hosting a November 15 Lunch and Learn featuring Paul Tome with EPEC Technologies. Tome will be leading a discussion called the “Secrets of Flex Circuit Design” at the Montie Design studios located just off Aviation Parkway in Morrisville. The event is free but requires advance registration online at https://www.eventbrite.com/event/2434228844. Continued…
Share on Facebook
Posted in Local Design Community.
By dave
– November 14, 2011
Earlier in the year we sponsored a student design contest for students in NC and Virginia. Josh Little was the first place winner. Josh is an Industrial Design student at NCSU. It worked out that Josh was able to spend the first part of the summer commercializing his entry, a locking rack for assault rifles. His design allows owners to safetly exhibit their rifles while keeping them secure and out of the hands of unauthorized users.
We don’t have a prototype to show you yet but the document below helps explain where we are headed with the design.
Share on Facebook
Posted in Local Design Community, Montie Gear, Product Design.
By Montie Roland
– October 8, 2011
Earlier in the year we sponsored a student design contest for students in NC and Virginia. Nick Pennington submitted a contest winning slingshot design. We liked his design so much that we invited him to serve as a summer intern at Montie Design and commercialize his design. Nick managed to successfully complete two versions of his design. Look to see both versions in the Montie Gear catalog in time for Christmas.
"Y" fork Version
Gloveshot Version
"Y" fork frame as it comes off the waterjet
Rob, our machinist, putting the finishing touches on the gloveshot cross member
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– October 8, 2011
All the parts were finished this week, so Mason could start assembling his new table this week. He was one of our interns this summer. If you are looking for an entry level Industry Designer, then check out his LinkedIn profile.
<
Mason Assembling the New Conference Table that He Designed
Bottom Section Assembled, Upper Truss is Next
- Closeup of the Joinery
- Table is Made of Aluminum Plates for a High Tech Look
Share on Facebook
Posted in Economics and Technology.
By Montie Roland
– September 3, 2011
(Morrisville, N.C.) Montie Design, an innovative concept-to-marketplace product design and development firm, recently participated in the North Carolina Defense Business Association (NCDBA) Breakfast with a Prime event August 25th as one of the presenting companies. Held at the Research Triangle Park Archie K. Davis Conference Center, Breakfast with a Prime featured a main presentation by renowned government contracting group IEM and was well-attended by representatives of private businesses, local government and universities. Continued…
Share on Facebook
Posted in Local Design Community, Local Design Events, Regional Technology Innovation.
By dave
– August 30, 2011
