Austin Weber

Manufacturers typically don’t boast about having a fully functioning football field on their property. But, the 2010 Assembly Plant of the Year has that unique distinction. The front lawn of the Eaton Corp. plant in Lincoln, IL, is a hot spot for local youth-league games.

The 2010 Assembly Plant of the Year is located in a town that was named after America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, more than seven years before he occupied the White House.

Customers are the focus of everything employees do at Eaton Corp.’s 52-year-old Lincoln, IL, facility. The 2010 Assembly Plant of the Year actively solicits customer feedback and uses it to drive improvements.

The water tower at the 2010 Assembly Plant of the Year is blue. But, the assembly lines inside the factory walls are green. The 380,000-square-foot Eaton Corp. plant in Lincoln, IL, has an ambitious strategy to reduce its carbon footprint.

Safety plays a key role in the success of Eaton Corp.’s world-class assembly plant in Lincoln, IL. “Keeping our employees safe is our No. 1 priority,” claims Rick Wyatt, plant manager.

Aerospace engineers are working on new designs that will dramatically change the future shape of aircraft. The goal is to create quieter commercial airplanes that burn less fuel and emit less nitrogen oxide (NOx) than today’s jetliners.

Traditionally, aircraft engines generate an excessive amount of heat. Engineers are attempting to capture some of that wasted heat and convert it into electrical power with the aid of a thermoelectric generator.

A century ago, airships were a hot trend in the fast-growing aerospace industry. The future looked bright, until the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Today, a new generation of airships that claim to be the greenest aircraft in the sky may transform 21st century aviation, especially for cargo and surveillance applications.

When commercial airliners taxi to and from runways, they burn up a lot of fuel, creating poor air quality around many airports. An engineer in Phoenix has invented a way to harness that waste and use it to power wind turbines. 

For centuries, engineers and inventors have attempted to fly by flapping bird-like wings. Leonardo da Vinci sketched the first human-powered ornithopter in 1485, but it remained an elusive dream until recently.