May 1, 2009
Features
Special report: U.S. manufacturing
As this magazine marks its 50th year in print, we explore how U.S. manufacturing has changed over this last half century. The trends are dramatic and (despite current economic woes) encouraging as well....
Progress continues on China's Great Wheel
In Beijing, construction continues on the Great Wheel of China, a giant Ferris wheel that will soon hold the record as the world's highest observation...
Webcast explores efficiency in OEM design
Groschopp engineers Ron Didier and Jared Birk of Groschopp Inc., Sioux Center, Iowa, will return to the web for the company's annual educational webcast...
Cam we help you? Cams for indexing and oscillating
In machine design, indexing is the movement from an initial position to a new position, starting and ending in rest. What applications require such motion?...
Deforming damping elements
Like an air bag, some single and limited-use shock-absorbing elements transform kinetic energy from impact into deformation work....
Editorial
Set them free
A few months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a Scottish economist named Adam Smith published a book that helped birth the free-market...
Engineering optimism
How long have you been working as a project engineer? I've been doing this since the early 1990s. Ours is a small company, so it gives its employees the...
Design By Objective
Design by Objective: Taming temperature extremes
From the bitter cold of the Arctic tundra to the searing blaze of a welding cell, extreme temperatures call for components built to take the heat. Here...
Solution Snapshot: Amplifier protects electronics from extreme temps
Electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, have designed and tested an electronic microamplifier that can operate...
Articles
Web Contents and News
Website of free resources One updated and expanded motion control website now provides interactive information and tools: The library at www.galilmc.com...
Hybrid vehicles call for powder-coating solution
As automakers turn their attention to fuel-efficient vehicles, new manufacturing challenges arise, such as capitalizing on nascent technologies like regenerative braking, provided one can reduce the higher production cost of hybrid vehicles. ...
Top 10 tips: Working with rack & pinion drives
Choosing the right rack and pinion drive depends on three main considerations — application parameters, required accuracy, and budget. Following are some expert tips and tactics to help you get it right the first time....
IEEE celebrates 125 years
Tracing its roots to the founding of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), today's IEEE celebrates...
10,000 students, 533 Robots compete at FIRST
More than 20,000 spectators, students, mentors, volunteers, and sponsors gathered last month to experience the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition...
Save time with gearing components
Locking device quickly fastens rotating components The M-Type Shaftloc rotating-component fastening device is a locking mechanism for rigidly mounting...
Products
Spotlight: Switches
Industrial Ethernet switches 852 Series switches range from simple styles to configurable, multifunction Ethernet communication switches, all suitable...
New Products
Voice-coil-driven stage High-precision stage is driven by a voice-coil linear motor and weighs just 1 kg. Features & benefits Measures 80 50 145 mm and...
