Apple hires carbon fiber expert to posit composites

In the event you’re going to compete within the consumer electronics business then you definitely’d better have a high-quality grasp of commercial design and materials science. Otherwise, you’re just another manufacturer attempting to eke benefit from drab slabs of commodity plastic. Apart from the MacBook, Apple’s entire Mac lineup is currently cut from aluminum. However, Apple’s been caught experimenting with its newly acquired Liquidmetal materials recently, while rumors swirl around new ultra-lightweight and sturdy carbon fiber components and enclosures. Speculation in regards to the latter has been fueled by an Apple patent application for a process that will use carbon fiber materials woven into the reinforced device housings of mobile telephones, laptops, desktops, and tablets. Interestingly enough, the patent app was filed by Kevin M. Kenney (developer of the primary all carbon fiber bicycle frame) on behalf of Apple back in 2009, a person who changed his job title to “Senior Composites Engineer at Apple Inc.” on LinkedIn sooner or later after March 1st (in line with Google cache). In fact, a carbon fiber laptop is much from unique — just reference the Sony G11 from 2007 or 2008′s Voodoo Envy 133 as a way to see the way it’s done. But when Apple makes a wholesale shift to carbon fiber within the months ahead then you definitely can expect the horde of mee-too OEMs to follow suit a year later. See the before and after LinkedIn profiles for Kenney after the break.

Source

This post is tagged: carbon fiber bicycle, consumer electronics business, materials science, mobile telephones, patent application