NEWS 26 February 2026

Historical view on determinism and precision engineering design

Paralleling the historical beginnings of modern science, assessing and addressing variation in physical systems constitutes the foundation of precision engineering. Tycho Brahe gave us the measurement data to analyse the heavens.


Kepler and Newton gave us laws (models) from that data. Natural law implied (to Laplace) a natural absolute determinism. Human transcendence, however, allows the precision engineer to intelligently intervene into this absolute determinism to bring nature into predictably precise subjection for profitable uses. To conclude this Mikroniek article, indeterminability is briefly addressed. (Image source: Tychonis Brahe, Astronomi Instaurat Mechanica)


References ...

Even senior engineers learn from Opto-Mechanical System Design course

Next year, March, 15-17, the three-day Opto-Mechanical System Design course will be given once again in Eindhoven (NL). The DSPE initiative targets mechanical, mechatronic and optical engineers, offering a broad overview of this omnipresent and ever-more relevant multidiscipline.

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DSPE Opto-Mechatronics Symposium 2026

The seventh edition of the DSPE Opto-Mechatronics Symposium will take place on 8 October 2026

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Lunch Lecture September hosted by MI – Partners

Title: Observer-based modal control for over-actuated precision motion systems. Join this lecture digital on September 21 2026

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