Introducing Beth Stackpole, New Member of DE Edit Team

Though a new member to DE's editorial team, Beth Stackpole is certainly not new to the engineering and design software community. Her insightful articles are a source of knowledge for many, and she is a familiar face at trade shows and conferences. I'm honored and privileged to have the chance to share this blog space with her. Soon, she'll join me in covering the CAD, PLM, and simulation segments for DE as another contributor to the Virtual Desktop blog and to the magazine's print and online content.

Beth revealed that she fell into reporting about technology right out of college. In her early editorial career, she chronicled the birth of the personal computer and its transformation from a novelty item to a mainstream device.

"My expertise was in the software area, kind of ended up transitioning a focus on all different types of technologies that were leveraged to change the way businesses work and made them more effective, and that changed into engineering applications, specifically design tools, PLM, and simulation," she recalled.

She picks potential stories "with an eye toward solving a major business problem or business transformation," she revealed. She is also partial to engineering and design stories with "a lifestyle or personal focus" -- stories about "products that have a real impact on society and people."

If you're pitching her stories, she said, "We want more than just, 'Here's a product, with XYZ features." She'd like to you to tell her, "Why it is important to a manufacturing company, or in terms of a particular challenge they're going to solve."

When not writing, Beth likes to spend time with her family or go skiing. So the ideal story might be about using simulation to improve ski equipment's performance (she has done reporting on that particularly subject).

I also have another reason to be grateful to Beth. In the next several weeks, when I'm on vacation in Southeast Asia, she'll keep this blog alive so you won't notice my absence.

For a podcast with Beth, listen to the clip below: