Articles by Jennifer Pierce

MERSEYSIDE, England—Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has temporarily suspended production at its Halewood plant in Merseyside, near Liverpool, and shut down its global IT infrastructure in response to a cybersecurity incident first reported on September 1.

CHICAGO—Astro Mechanica’s Duality™ engine uses a hybrid-electric design that adapts across flight profiles—functioning as a turbofan at low speeds, a turbojet at near-supersonic speeds, and a ramjet at Mach 3+. This flexibility addresses the biggest challenge of supersonic travel: fuel efficiency. The company’s design could enable transpacific supersonic flights, with early applications in defense, cargo, and orbital launch.

DETROIT—Michigan State University (MSU) today announced the opening of the Apple Manufacturing Academy. The academy will provide free training and consulting for small- and medium-sized manufacturers nationwide.

Most of this spending, about 74% is directed toward battery plants, though investment in assembly plants abroad is also rising.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—Wisk Aero, a pioneer in autonomous, all-electric eVTOL aircraft, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Signature Aviation, the world’s largest private aviation terminal network, to accelerate the development of infrastructure for autonomous Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).

LOUISVILLE, KY—Today, GE Appliances, a Haier company, announced a historic $3 billion, five-year investment to expand U.S. manufacturing, modernize facilities, and grow its product portfolio.

LOUISVILLE, KY— The initiative will debut the new Ford Universal EV Platform and Ford Universal EV Production System—designed to produce a family of affordable, high-quality, software-defined electric vehicles at scale.

SHANGHAI—Chinese robotics start-up AgiBot has secured a landmark deal with automotive and EV parts maker Fulin Precision to supply 100 A2-W wheeled humanoid robots for use at its manufacturing facilities.

VERNON, BC—The new space will consolidate SC’s operations, design, fabrication, assembly, quality control, and fulfillment, under one roof, enhancing efficiency and quality control while reducing production lead times.

Operations are scheduled to begin in the early 2030s, though the specific production models have not yet been decided.