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IT’S BEEN A PRETTY SOLID couple of months for sports fans. As we were in the middle of preparing this month’s issue, the line up was full to the brim: first came the Super Bowl, followed by the glitz that is the Winter Olympics, and then of course, the start of spring training that heralds baseball’s imminent return.
When watching the game today, it’s hard not to notice how much things have changed, even in the last couple decades. The amount of technology coming into the ballpark is almost overwhelming.
In this month’s cover story, “Engineering the Ballpark,” strategic content editor Sarah Alburakeh (our resident Yankees fan) took on the challenge of uncovering some of the ways that engineering and technology are reshaping baseball in the equipment players use, how umpires call the game, and even the stadiums themselves.
“All these changes came about through the engineering mindset of problem solving, whether that was how to entice fans to come out to the ballgame in the unforgiving humidity of Texas, or finding a way to prevent broken fingers on a headfirst slide into second base,” Alburakeh wrote. It’s my favorite story that we’re bringing to you this month, so I hope you’ll take some time to dig in.
But we’re also mindful that March is women’s history month. To that end, our second feature shifts gears a bit. In “Beyond the Pink Label,” writer Cassandra Kelly takes a look at some of the challenges that still remain for women-focused technologies.
FemTech, as it’s often (sometimes begrudgingly) called, as a market sector is growing by leaps and bounds. Some industry reports estimate that it could be a more than $100-billion industry by the 2030s.
But even in 2026, “gaps in gender-specific data, skepticism about women as a primary user base, and stigma and taboo create a persistent sense that ‘serious’ engineering lives somewhere else,” Kelly wrote.
She profiles the work of two teams doing their part to change perceptions and advance their own FemTech products. It’s an enlightening piece to be sure.
Researchers at McMaster University are bringing targeted, microbiome-safe antimicrobial strategies into menstrual products.
Photo: The Hosseinidoust Lab/McMaster University
As always, we have even more for you in the following pages. In research news, a team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is exploring the advantages mixing animal manure with wastewater sludge for improved pyrolysis, creating more value while cleaning up such waste.
And moving from the farm to the toy aisle, where another team of researchers found inspiration in fidget poppers, the bistability of which could help soft robots better grab and walk.
On the energy front, palladium membranes could be the answer for high-temperature hydrogen production, while the addition of surface defects on renewable energy devices may well improve their efficiency.
And if you’ve ever made your way near Hudson Yards in Manhattan, chances are that you’ve seen The Shed, an iconic cultural center that brings in artists, musicians, and performers across mediums. ASME’s Video Production Team recently spoke with Brian Hamill, a mechanical engineer who led design on the mechanization that allows this 8 million pound building to move.
If you haven’t had a chance yet to read our February and January issues, or anything else from the past year, they’re always ready for you to visit in the menu at the top of your page. From the navigation, just click on ‘Editions’ at the top and you’ll see all the digital issues we have on offer.
—Louise Poirier, managing editor
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