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You can navigate through the October 2011 issue of Design News using the forward and back buttons in the top left corner. Additional navigational tools at the bottom enable you to view the contents or to quickly scroll through thumbnails of all the pages. To download the PDF version, click on the icon in the upper-right-hand corner.

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With this issue, I'm proud to introduce our new columnist. Henry Petroski is a professor of civil engineering and of history at Duke University. Many of you also know him as the premier author of books that explain engineering to intelligent mainstream audiences. His noted works include The Evolution of Useful Things, Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer, and The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems.

For Design News, Henry will cast his eye on a professionally-oriented issue. This month, he mulls the distinction between engineers and scientists.

Our featured technical articles are led by the cover story "New Horizons for RFID" by senior technical editor Charles Murray. Consumer applications are exploding as the technology matures and vendors lurch their way towards a unified industry standard.

"Quickside Partners Throttle Up Collaborative" is the next piece you'll want to read. Contributing CAD editor Beth Stackpole tells how a Purolator electric delivery vehicle was designed quickly and effectively by a team of engineering partners scattered across the globe, using a diverse collection of CAD tools.

On page 54 of our e-issue, contributing editor Al Presher introduces IO-Link, the point-to-point protocol that supports smart-sensor connectivity.

Lastly, I invite to you check out my Wolfe's Den frontpiece, where I reflect on the innovation that's spurring aerospace's next generation.

I hope you'll download and devour all the articles I've mentioned above, along with the rest of the issue. When you're done, I hope you'll send me your feedback and suggestions. Email me at [email protected].

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