This Week in Manufacturing - 1/15/25

Wireless charging makes Nikola Tesla proud

January 15, 2025

Love staying up to date? Forward this to a friend to subscribe!

This report is brought to you in partnership with Sustainment, a market network dedicated to the success of American Manufacturing. Learn More →

This Week in Manufacturing

Genius can take many forms. The best type of genius provides useful benefits to society. This week’s feature company has been building on the work of one of history’s unsung geniuses–Nikola Tesla. Let’s dive in!

Our feature company is NuCurrent out of Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the capabilities of medical devices, Jacob Babcock developed his company around removing the errors caused by wires. NuCurrent has become a force in the wireless charging industry, starting from Nikola Tesla’s hometown!

This week’s first podcast, from Advanced Manufacturing Now, highlights further innovation through smart manufacturing solutions. The second podcast, The Future of Everything, covers innovations in robotic healthcare.

Our headlines this week run the gamut of further robotics innovations, aviation advances, semiconductor expansion and more! Nikola Tesla would be proud of how far we’ve come.

Finally, this week’s Social Video covers Tesla’s greatest hits while our Fun Fact highlights the potential of wireless charging for years to come.

Thanks for joining us!

P.S. Do you have a story to share about innovation at your company? We'd love to profile you! Click here

ENERGY

♨️ NuCurrent

CEO Jacob Babcock sees wireless charging as an electronics revolution that’s just getting started.

A project at Northwestern University delving into the design of medical devices led to the founding of NuCurrent in 2009. The company raised Series A financing in 2014, and then Babcock started focusing on wireless charging full-time.

After starting with antennas, NuCurrent broadened its focus to the design of wireless charging systems that encompass transmitter and receiver systems as well as the development of the firmware that controls them. NuCurrent is a fast-growing company and quickly licensed into over 500 million devices.

Upshot: “Really, what we’re trying to do right now is democratizing wireless power. We want to make it so much easier for more companies to adopt.”

FROM THE FEED

📱Nikola Tesla’s search for wireless electricity

 🤨 Did You Know?

The global wireless charging market is expected to grow at a

CAGR of 24.2%

from 2023 to 2030.

🎧 Podcasts Worth A Listen

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING NOW
Smart Manufacturing and the Future of the Workplace

THE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING
The future of robotic surgery

CompanyWeek is the voice of the modern manufacturing economy, telling stories of U.S. Manufacturers to showcase workers, innovation, technology, and progress.