Materials and Assembly is the theme of this month's Tech Focus section, which features "Better Designs Through Evolution" and "Building a Bigger Robot."

This month Mechanical Engineering is all about design, with a bend toward the human side.

"Animals Spinning Their Wheels" and "Solving the Puzzle of Bolted Joints" are two of the articles discussed in this month's Letters to the Editor.

The September 2011 News & Notes section includes "Tiny Sensor Network to Measure Quakes" and "Bayh-Dole at 31."

"Quick Auto," "Big Impact" and "Optimizing One's Optics" are featured in the Computing section this month.

The September 2011 Global Window roundup includes "Energy Conservation Gets Local in China" and "Germany Cites Its Patent Lead."

Ethanol finds itself in the formerly unlikely position of defending its long-enjoyed tax credits.

This month, ASME News includes "Blueprint for K-12 Education Adds Engineering" and "E4C Reaches the 5,000-Member Mark."

Vehicle Technologies has found a way to expand on the roundness concept of the wheel — with an omni-directional wheel that it has applied to the appropriately named Sidewinder forklift.

Focus on Design: It’s the paradox of computer-aided design: More software systems, more project collaborators, more wasted time.

Focus on Design: How do you design a product that meets a basic need for people living in some of the world’s poorest regions?

Focus on Design: The human touch — a fundamental factor in mechanical design.

Focus on Design: Research pursues the design of an autonomous robot that can reassemble itself for different tasks.

Focus on Design: When a plan for efficient disassembly is embedded in a design, a product leaves less trash and, perhaps, more profit.

A calculator for the iPhone and HourGlass version 3.5 are among the items included in Software Exchange this month.

This month's New Products include spring-loaded regulators, a data transmitter and a modular chiller.