Mechanical Engineering back issues from December 2008:
INNOVATION THROUGH INSPIRATION
Dec 01, 2008; ... ASSOCIATE EDITOR JEFFREY WINTERS LAST SUMMER VISITED LAS VEGAS TO GET A FIRSTHAND LOOK AT A NEW U.S. INSTALLATION BY THE AUSTRALIAN SOLAR POWER COMPANY AUSRA THAT IS FAR FROM RUN OF THE MILL. The plant challenges the notion of how to generate electricity. It is composed of galvanized ...
letters
Dec 01, 2008; ... WITH COMPLEMENTS To the Editor: On page 10 of your September 2008 issue, John L. Hill's letter states that ". . .the cosine of an angle is the reciprocal of the sine ..." This is incorrect, as any high school plane geometry text could verify. The cotangent of an angle, however, IS the ...
STIMULATING THE BRAIN
Dec 01, 2008; ... In a new twist on the uses of ultrasound, a group of neuroscientists at Arizona State University in Tempe has developed pulsed ultrasound techniques that can remotely stimulate brain circuit activity. The techniques, they say, can help activate nonresponsive brain circuits. The ...
NOT IN THE KNOW
Dec 01, 2008; ... Nanotechnology and synthet- ic biology may be the big buzzwords for the scientific community, but they're mostly unknown to many Americans. A recent poll found that almost half the adults in the United States haven't heard of nanotechnology, while nearly nine in 10 Americans said they ...
Signs of Future Engineers
Dec 01, 2008; ... It all adds up: Early achievement in math may identify future scientists and engineers. New research published in the October issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that there may be a way to identify budding scientists and ...
SOUTH AFRICA GETS NEW POWER PLANT
Dec 01, 2008; ... SPX Corp., an engineering solutions company based in Charlotte, N.C, reported that its thermal equipment and services affiliate has been awarded a $124 million contract with Hitachi Power Africa (Pty.) Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, to provide key products for the new Kusile ...
High Productivity Marks For Superconductive Induction
Dec 01, 2008; ... Often, the first thing heard about a new technology is the best thing about it. Only later do we learn that the new do-it-all phone drops people from the network or that the compact gear cannot handle high torques. It's understandable then that a manufacturer will want to spread the word ...
NEWS & NOTES: briefly noted
Dec 01, 2008; ... Palmer Instruments Inc. has received a major contract for a special thermometer for the F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter aircraft, built by Lockheed Martin. The contract will result in several new jobs at the Palmer Wahl facility located in Woodfin, N.C. ///SAS Gouda BV, a Dutch supplier ...
BULLISH ON POWERTRAINS
Dec 01, 2008; ... Despite the contraction currently occurring within the global auto industry, BorgWarner Inc. said that it expected to get $2.1 billion in new powertrain business from 2009 through 2011. That would be an 8 percent increase over its previous three-year new business. Demand for the ...
NEW WEB VIEWING FEATURE
Dec 01, 2008; ... An Internet-based parts supplier, Quickparts, has introduced a new feature on its Web site that permits review of submitted stereolithography files. The service, called MyQuote3D, permits users to view .stl files in 3-D, even if they do not have a CAD system installed on their desktop ...
To the Moon
Dec 01, 2008; ... For a new company, doing a space launch is no easy matter. Design is a long and intricate process. Space-launch vehicle developer Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX,of Hawthorne, Calif., now uses a product lifecycle management system to manage product data, designs, and ...
RAMPING UP HDTV
Dec 01, 2008; ... Today's televisions and video systems present challenge enough for us amateurs in our living rooms. So imagine the difficulties for those who design the delivery platforms. Take Redback Networks of San Jose, Calif, which makes broadband networking systems. Currently, 15 telephone ...
MISSION SIMULATION THEATER
Dec 01, 2008; ... A Baltimore-based aerospace and defense contractor is making it possible for its employees to review mission simulations and collaborate on engineering projects-no matter the user's location-thanks to a theater equipped with 3-D engineering and visualization software. The ...
YOU BUILD IT
Dec 01, 2008; ... As a new feature of its Matlab and Simulink software, The Math Works is giving customers access to an underlying modeling language so they can create their own models of components-individual valves, resistors, motors, wires, and the like-and solve simulations using differential algebraic ...
A SMOOTHER FLIGHT
Dec 01, 2008; ... It comes blasting out of the blue on your airplane flight: sudden bumpiness. It arrives without warning, and it can be quite frightening. It's called clear-air turbulence, and a new forecasting method developed by a researcher at the University of Georgia could help pilots chart new ...
Working Together Virtually
Dec 01, 2008; ... Virtual worlds can offer a new locale for problem solving. But not before users get up to speed on how to work that world, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University in State College. They recently looked at how virtual teams can solve real-world problems by collaborating ...
COMPUTING: briefly noted
Dec 01, 2008; ... Xerox Corp. of Rochester, N.Y., has introduced the Xerox 6279 Wide Format Printer, a black-and-white digital printer, copier, and scanner especially suited to engineering and architectural renderings. /// 3D-Tool of Heddesheim, Germany, has released 3D-Tool version 8.5, a CAD viewer that ...
RIGHT ON THE PAGE
Dec 01, 2008; ... Rimpull Corp. of Olathe, Kan., which makes earthmoving vehicles for the mining and construction industries, has sped up the time it takes to create service manuals by nearly 90 percent. The trick: installing a software program that helps create the manuals automatically. The company ...
SOFTWARE EXCHANGE
Dec 01, 2008; ... ANIMATED MODELS Capability: Bongo brings animation into the 3-D surface modeling tool Rhino 3.0 and 4.0, using familiar tools found in most animation packages. It can be used to show clients how a design works by demonstrating moving objects in real time. Bongo users can animate the ...
A New Idea in Valves
Dec 01, 2008; ... A COMPANY FORMED LESS THAN TWO YEARS AGO IS INTRODUCING VARIOUS INDUSTRIES TO A UNIQUE VALVE DESIGN. The company is Hemiwedge Valve Corp., and the name refers to the key feature of its signature product, the Hemiwedge cartridge valve. The valve contains a hemispherical wedge. Imagine ...
CHEAP SENSORS SPOT LEAKS
Dec 01, 2008; ... It's not surprising that up to 40 percent of the fresh water that flows into city water systems never comes out the taps at the other end. The pipes that carry it have been subjected to a century of wear, freeze- thaw cycles, ground movement, vibra- tions caused by nearby construction, and other ...
HYDRAULICS AND WIND
Dec 01, 2008; ... A manufacturer of hydraulic control systems, HAWE Hydraulics in Charlotte, N.C., has a compact power unit that it is pitching for the brakes in wind turbines. The company calls the hydraulic power unit type KA and says it is a tank with an integrated submerged motor, a radial piston or ...
Pump Smarts
Dec 01, 2008; ... WHEN A MACHINE CAN TELL YOU SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT, IT CAN SAVE YOU HEADACHES LATER ON. That's why ITT Goulds earlier this year made onboard intelligence a standard feature on its most popular process pump, the Model 3196. Now, the company has extended the feature, which it calls i-Alert, to all ...
COAL-FIRED CONTROL
Dec 01, 2008; ... Developers of a new coal-fired power plant being constructed in Louisiana have contracted with Emerson Process Management to provide 10 Rosemount Analytical PowerVue fan and damper actuators to control fans. "The end customer is already heavily invested in Emerson's Fieldvue technology ...
+ Granular Start-ups
Dec 01, 2008; ... A STUDY AT PENN STATE HAS DISCOVERED THAT LIFTING A PLATE THROUGH GRANULAR MATERIAL REQUIRES INCREASING FORCE TO INITIATE MOVEMENT AS THE SIZE OF THE GRAINS INCREASES. The university said the finding may one day prove useful to engineers who design foundations for structures like electric-line ...
the sunshine solution
Dec 01, 2008; ... What does it take to power the country If the physicists and engineers behind a start-up manufacturer are right, all we need is blue skies and big mirrors. It was probably an impossible task: infusing a sense of accomplishment and excitement into the start of an automated sequence of ...
TAR ON TAP
Dec 01, 2008; ... The easiest oil is gone. But companies are finding ways to make extracting oil from the sands of northern Alberta a little easier. FINDING OIL HAS ALWAYS BEEN HARD WORK. The contentious arguments over drilling on the continental shelf and in an Alaskan wildlife refuge highlight just how ...
power window: DISTILLED INFRASTRUCTURE
Dec 01, 2008; ... One of the most underreported stories of the year was the gasoline shortage that hit the southeastern United States in September and October. The scenes that played out in metropolitan Atlanta and Nashville were like something from the 1970s, with gas stations running dry, cars lined up for ...
GROWING A newcrop OF ENGINEERS
Dec 01, 2008; ... 4-H, which has been associated with agricultural education for decades, is expanding its science and technology curriculum. By Kathleen Jamison There was a time not long ago when providing children with strong analytical, creative, and communication skills was enough to give them the ...
way to GROW
Dec 01, 2008; ... ERP systems help small engineering firms manage their business. ten years ago, the Schumacher Elevator Co. had entered into a kind of stagnancy, according to Jeff Schumacher, chief financial officer of the company. The business wasn't growing, mainly because of the small rifts ...
Pipeline Geo-Environmental Design and Geohazard Management
Dec 01, 2008; ... Pipeline Geo-Environmental Design and Geohazard Management. Edited by Moness Rizkalla. ASME Press, Three Park Ave., NewYork, NY 10016-5990. 2008. 360 pages. ASME members, $112; list, $140. ISBN 978-0-7918-0281-6. This book is intended as a useful reference to widely applicable and ...
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION
Dec 01, 2008; ... ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PRODUCTION. Myer Kutz. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. 2008. 336 pages. $120. ISBN 978-0-471-73911-1. As the fourth installment of the Environmentally Conscious series, this volume describes and compares the ...
U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: A PLAN FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE BY 2020
Dec 01, 2008; ... U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: A PLAN FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE BY 2020. Walter R. May, Ph.D. SFA International Inc., 6143 Sienna Arbor Lane, Houston, TX 77041-6038. 2008. 154 pages. Soflcover. $20. ISBN 978-0-615-22327-8. Author Walter R. May, who has worked in the petroleum industry in ...
CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Dec 01, 2008; ... CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY. Gumprasad Madhavan, Barbara Oakley, and Luis Kun, Editors. Springer Science+Business Media LLC, 233 Spring St., New York, NY 10013. 2008. 486 pages. Soflcover. $39.95. ISBN 978-0-387-76494-8. Bioengineering and biotechnology are ...
LEAN PRODUCTION: IMPLEMENTING A WORLD-CLASS SYSTEM
Dec 01, 2008; ... LEAN PRODUCTION: IMPLEMENTING A WORLD-CLASS SYSTEM John R. Black. Industrial Press Inc., 989 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10018. 2008. 202 pages. $44.95. ISBN 978-0-8311-3351-1. While the concept of lean production is not new, the challenges of dramatic change management can stymie ...
STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS AND VIBRATION IN PRACTICE
Dec 01, 2008; ... STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS AND VIBRATION IN PRACTICE. Douglas Thorby. Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier, 30 Corporate Dr., Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803. 2008. Soflcover. 420 pages. $49.95. ISBN 978-0-7506-8002-8. The purpose of this book is to introduce the theoretical, ...
REPORTING RESULTS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS
Dec 01, 2008; ... REPORTING RESULTS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS. David C. Van Aken and William S. Hosford. Cambridge University Press, 32 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 2008. Soflcover. 168 pages. $19.99. ISBN 978-0-521-72348-0. This book aims to be useful as a guide for ...
ASME CODES & STANDARDS
Dec 01, 2008; ... ASME International, Codes & Standards, Three Park Ave., New York, NY 10016-5990 (212) 591-8500 ~ Fax: (212) 591-8501 e-mail: cs@asme.org We invite you to visit our Web site: www. asme.org/codes. If you are looking for information regarding an ASME code or standard ...
NEW PRODUCTS
Dec 01, 2008; ... Gas flow calibrator SIERRA INSTRUMENTS, MONTEREY, CALIF. The Cal^Irak XL primary standard gas flow calibrator is for high flows up to 500 slpm. Useful for calibration of gas measuring instruments, including mass flow meters and controllers, it offers accuracy of ± 0.25 percent of ...
PRODUCT INFO
Dec 01, 2008; ... Vibration monitoring PCB PIEZOTRONICS. DEPEW. N.Y. The IMI Sensors division's latest brochure. Vibration Monitoring Instrumentation, highlights offerings in accelerometers, vibration transmitters, switches, meters, cables, connectors, alK' accessories f°r machinery condition monitoring ...
Gearspeak
Dec 01, 2008; ... A viewer walking into the 1-20 Gallery in New York's Chelsea art district is confronted by a series of highly unusual-looking engines. The entire contoured surfaces of these brightly colored, cartoon-like machines flicker with an animated motion matching their ambient techno-sounds. Each ...
Turbo Expo 2009 Keynote Theme Announced
Dec 01, 2008; ... IGTI is pleased to announce the theme of the Turbo Expo 2009 keynote address, Gas Turbine Technologies: Meeting Complex Global Challenges. Executive Conference Chair Barry Nicholls, Vice President of Siemens Power Systems Sales, Siemens Power Generation, Inc., helped direct the focus of ...
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dec 01, 2008; ... JANUARY 19-23, 2009 Ultra Low NOx Gas Turbine Combustion Course Weetwood Hall Conference Centre & Hotel Otley Road, Leeds, UK Organized by the University of Leeds, this course is designed for combustion designers in gas turbine manufacturers; operators ...
GTUS08 Holds Successful Co-location with Turbomachinery Symposium
Dec 01, 2008; ... Delegates at the 2008 edition of the ASME Gas Turbine Users Symposium found themselves in a new venue. For the first time, GTUS co-located with Texas A&M's Turbomachinery Symposium, September 8-11 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The new co-location was deemed a ...
Opportunity Fuels and Combustion
Dec 01, 2008; ... Industrial gas turbines allow operation with a wide variety of gaseous and liquid fuels, while maintaining very low emissions. Gaseous fuels are not limited to traditional, pipeline quality natural gas, but may include opportunity fuels such as gas available at oil and gas fields, or products of ...
Aircraft Engine Thermal Management: The Impact of Aviation Electric Power Demands
Dec 01, 2008; ... Traditionally, thermal management of aviation gas turbine engines has been concentrated in the core of the engine. Actively or passively cooled regions in aircraft engine gas turbines include the high-pressure turbine stationary vanes and rotating blades, the shrouds bounding the rotating ...
Compact Gas Turbine Combustion Research
Dec 01, 2008; ... Brayton cycle combustion systems have remained nearly unchanged in their basic swirl-stabilized design for nearly 50 years. In recent times, novel concepts are emerging that have the potential to improve combustion system performance. One concept called the trapped vortex combustor (TVC) was ...