2015 is the year of the future. 2015 marks Core77's 20 year anniversary as the leading online industrial design resource. And, as Marty McFly discovered in Back to the Future, the technology (and a tricked out DeLorean) in 2015 has the potential to shape the way we think about our past and the power to change our future. In our recent editorial series, the Core77 Tech-tacular explores the myriad ways that new technologies are shaping the future of design: the ways we ideate, create and relate to design objects.

Besides Tech Specs, our 10-part interview series with designers from various professional backgrounds about their digital tools, the Core77 Tech-tactular took a look at digital power tools that are changing the way that we design and build with a deep dive into the Handibot and the Festool Domino. Our editor examines the design of the tools themselves and interviews users about how and why these tools make such a difference. Core77 also goes back to their beginnings in ID school by touring the workshops and facilities of four New York City-based design and technology programs to look at the tools  and technologies that design students have at their disposal today.

From left to right: Handibot and Domino

 We surveyed experts in our community about their opinions on technologies surrounding modeling knowledge, automating design and the ongoing search for a jack-of-all-trades device. You can still join in on these conversations and more in the Discussion Boards. 

We also surveyed experts outside of the community—Carla Diana rallies designers to embrace the "Wild World of Wearables," Sam Jacob warns against techno-utopian fantasies of "The Real Smart City," and Tamara Warren speaks with automotive leaders about "Designing a New Mobility," and the role of design in steering the auto industry into the future. Material ConneXion's resident expert, Dr. Andrew Dent, opens up the library to share insight on the new materials defining connected technology. And Art Center instructor Arnold Martin gives a NURB-tastic review of the newest version of solidThinking's 3D modeling package, Evolve 2015.

LumaFilm, a thin and flexible planar LED light emitter that does not require a heat sink.

Finally, we put away the sketchbooks and pulled out the styluses for our Sketching App Showdown. No matter what your style or needs, the apps for sketching on-the-go or on-the-couch are only getting more powerful and robust. We wade through the options and ask some seasoned sketchers about their app-inions and how and what works for them.

Take a breath, dive in and enjoy our look at the technologies and ideas defining design in 2015 and beyond. As Doc famously reminds us in Back to the Future, "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!"