A new system developed by Lockheed Martin could allow commercial drones to safely operate alongside conventional aircraft. Popular Mechanics reports that the defense contractor tested its Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management system last month in upstate New York. The UTM complements an existing network that alerts aircraft to planned drone activity. In addition to utilizing…
Poll: Manufacturing Jobs Expected to Increase Slightly in 2016
A new survey anticipates that employment in the manufacturing sector will rebound following a slight decrease in late 2015. Institute for Supply Management’s December 2015 Semiannual Economic Forecast found that manufacturing employment decreased by 0.2 percent since April 2015, but predicted that jobs would increase by that amount during 2016. More than half of participating…
SpaceX to Attempt Rocket Landing at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX’s next attempt to safely return a discarded rocket to Earth will reportedly take place on dry land for the first time. The spaceflight company — helmed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk — previously aimed to land the used rockets on barges at sea. NASA, however, said this week that the next launch of the…
Manufacturing Leaders Highlight Importance of Big Data, Advanced Materials
Dozens of U.S. industrial leaders singled out predictive data as the most important technological factor to their future competitiveness, according to a recent survey. Professional services firm Deloitte and the D.C.-based nonprofit Council on Competitiveness issued a report based on interviews with nearly three dozen manufacturing company executives as well as national laboratory and research…
Video Reportedly Shows Clear View of Chemical Plant Explosion in China
Video uploaded to YouTube last week purports to show a massive explosion at a Chinese chemical plant only weeks after deadly explosions rocked the country’s chemical sector. The 52-second clip shows footage from a platform high above the plant, which is reportedly in Zhejiang province along China’s central coast. The video initially shows flames and smoke spewing from…
Report Anticipates Slower Manufacturing Growth, Improved Hiring
Economists from the MAPI Foundation are less optimistic about U.S. manufacturing production over the next two years but believe that the sector will add more jobs than previously projected. The group’s latest quarterly economic forecast estimated that production would increase by 2.6 percent next year and by 3 percent in 2017, down from the 3.4…
Toxic Wastewater from Collapsed Brazilian Dam Reaches Ocean
Wildlife experts braced for potential devastation along Brazil’s central coast as toxic sludge from an iron ore mine washed into the Atlantic Ocean this week. Early this month, the Fundão dam at a mine owned by Samarco — a joint venture of Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd. and Brazil’s Vale — burst and unleashed billions of…
Obama Administration, Trade Group to Convene Smart Fabrics Conference
The Obama administration this week announced plans to hold a summit next spring to discuss the development of high-tech fabrics. The Commerce Department and Industrial Fabrics Association International will host the first Smart Fabrics Summit on April 4 in Washington, D.C., to discuss recent advancements, collaboration opportunities and industry challenges. Smart fabrics are made with…
Manufacturing Tech Groups Call for Uniform Regulations in Trans-Atlantic Pact
Manufacturing groups on each side of the Atlantic believe that a proposed trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union should nullify duplicative regulatory standards. The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and CECIMO — the machine tool associations of the U.S. and EU, respectively — issued a statement earlier this month arguing that ongoing negotiations…
New Partnerships to Examine Health Risks of 3D Printing
Safety organization UL plans to study the effects of 3D printing on indoor air quality in partnership with two Atlanta universities. Read more: 3D printing and the future of manufacturing. The first phase of the project, led by Georgia Institute of Technology researchers, will assess chemical and particle emissions of 3D printing technologies. The second…
Report Finds 85 Fatalities in the Chemicals Industry Last Year
A British chemical engineering group said this week that serious accidents in the U.S. chemical and processing industries resulted in 85 fatalities and more than 600 serious injuries in 2014. The Institution of Chemical Engineers, a professional membership organization, surveyed media coverage of explosions, fires and other incidents in the U.S. last year. The analysis found…
New Welding Technique Could Make Advanced Metals More Practical
A welding technique developed by Ohio State University engineers could dramatically increase the applications of advanced and alternative metals. Despite significant upgrades in advanced materials in recent years, they remain impractical for manufacturers in large part because traditional resistance spot welding makes them weaker. “Materials have gotten stronger, but welds haven’t,” said materials science and…
Growth In Mexican Auto Industry Creates Opportunities, Challenges for U.S. Suppliers
American auto suppliers that are considering joining the burgeoning Mexican automotive sector need to make decisions in short order, according to a leading industry consultant. Daron Gifford, leader of the strategy consulting practice at Plante Moran, said that $23 billion in auto company investment entered the Mexican market in recent years, and that potential suppliers…
Norwegian Capital Hopes to Ban Most Cars By 2019
The newly elected city council of Oslo, Norway, hopes to enact the first comprehensive ban on cars in a European capital within four years. Under a proposal announced Monday by lawmakers from the Labor Party, Green Party and the Socialist Left, Oslo would prohibit almost all cars within the city center by 2019, Reuters reported.…
Obama Administration Helps Open 3D Printing Institute
A national advanced manufacturing consortium last week officially opened its first satellite campus for 3D printing in West Texas. The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a public-private partnership called America Makes based in Youngstown, Ohio, announced in May that the University of Texas-El Paso would be home to its 3D printing satellite center. Commerce Secretary…
Survey: Midsize Manufacturers More Optimistic About U.S. Economy
A recent survey of executives at midsize manufacturers showed expectations for the U.S. economy beginning to mirror optimism about their own companies. The seventh annual poll by Prime Advantage, a Chicago-based purchasing aggregator, indicated that half of the participating chief financial officers anticipated growth in the U.S. economy this year, a four percent increase over…