What's Your Story?

What's Your Story?

Randy Stott,
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Power Transmission Engineering is looking for a few good writers. Or even just a few good ideas. You see, we're always looking for a good story to tell. But before you send me the story about how your great-great-grandfather was the walking champion of England at age 16 or some other such yarn, interesting as it may be, let's remember our focus.

Power Transmission Engineering is the magazine of mechanical components. So while we're definitely looking for interesting stories, we most want to hear about the technology of gears, bearings, electric motors and related components, and how they're being used to create better, more efficient, more productive machines.

And if there's an interesting personality or unique angle to the story, so much the better.

There are thousands upon thousands of cool and interesting applications involving mechanical power transmission components being developed and worked on every day. And some of you are the ones doing the work.

We need you to share those stories with us so we can share them with your peers around the world.

Show us how you're using technology in a creative way. Help us inspire your fellow engineers to create better products, processes and solutions. Show us how you're using mechanical devices to improve efficiency, increase productivity or solve problems that haven't been solved before.

Chances are, there are many others like you who could learn from what you're doing.

And don't forget, what's cool to us doesn't need to be some drama-filled saga worthy of Netflix, Hulu or whatever is your favorite streaming platform. When we say cool, we're looking for things that would be cool to other engineers.

We're looking for how-to. We're looking for practical explanations of theory. We're looking for the basics.

One of our goals is to provide the technical background reading for those new to our industry or those who just need to brush up. Help us train the next generation of engineers and end users of mechanical power transmission and motion control components.

Not sure if you have a story to tell or an idea that we could use? No worries! Just strike up a conversation with one of our editors and we'll help you flesh it out. We're always there at major industry events — like the upcoming AGMA/ABMA annual meeting or the Motion+Power Technology Expo (Sept. 14-16 in St. Louis). We're also happy to take your phone calls or e-mails.

If you still need inspiration, you should take a look at our Editorial Guidelines. There you'll find the list of subjects we're planning to cover throughout the year, along with an overall focus or theme for each issue. You'll also find a description of the various types of articles we need — from basic news items to in-depth technical articles.

Send us your ideas:

mcguinn@agma.org — Jack McGuinn, Senior Editor — for technical articles or Ask the Expert. If you've presented something related at a technical conference or created a white paper that might be adapted, Jack would love to hear from you.

jaster@agma.org — Matt Jaster, Senior Editor — for feature articles, case studies, interview ideas and pretty much anything else. Matt will help you see and share with others what's cool about the applications you're working with.

stott@agma.org — that's me, and I'd love to hear about any ideas you have. And if you want to know about my great-great-grandfather (who was, in fact, the walking champion of England at age 16 — and quite the character besides), just ask!