WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy recently launched a $3 million prize to revitalize domestic solar panel manufacturing. The program will support entrepreneurs as they develop transformative ideas into concepts and then into early-stage prototypes ready for industry testing.
Engineers at Audi AG are using full-color, multimaterial additive manufacturing to produce plastic parts. The technology will help reduce prototyping lead times by up to 50 percent.
A little positive feedback at work can go a long way toward improving assemblers' long-term mental health and well-being. Engineers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the European Factory2Fit research consortium are studying the effects of work performance.
Since 1937, Robert H. Peterson Co. in California has produced Fire Magic gas grills and Real-Fyre gas logs. Over the years, the company has grown steadily and their commitment to quality and craftsmanship has not changed.
In the tiny town of Meyrin, Switzerland, sits the largest center for particle physics research in the world. The facility is situated near Geneva on the Franco-Swiss border and operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Re-search, better known as CERN.
Numbers, like words, need context to be properly understood. Year-to-year production rates, for example, provide lots of insight into a facility"s past, but little about its future survival or success. A better indicator of that is how much money has been invested in the plant for new equipment and expansion.
If it rolls, floats or flies, lightweighting is one of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers today. The push for new materials is forcing engineers in a variety of industries to explore cost-effective alternatives and develop new assembly processes.
A new generation of supersonic aircraft could dramatically change commercial flight. While the basic technology has been around for decades, it's been plagued by noise issues. Due to sonic booms, supersonic jetliners are unable to fly over land.
Additive manufacturing has already transformed the way that products are designed and produced in a wide variety of industries. The technology is now starting to be used by appliance engineers to assemble coffee makers, ovens, refrigerators and other household products.