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Physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), have demonstrated a novel “superradiant” laser design, which has the potential to be 100 to 1,000 times more stable than the best conventional visible…
During the 1940s, it was commonplace for boys, during their formative years, to spend their days girl-free. In fact, my pals and I zealously maintained girl-free territories so that our game playing, bike rides, and hours of comic book reading were devoid of girls. We even had a clubhouse that was…
(Toyota USA: Torrance, CA) -- Toyota Technical Center (TTC), a division of Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing, North America (TEMA), has announced that the company will hire approximately 150 engineers, technicians, advanced researchers, and scientists by the end of 2012. The hiring…
(The Joint Commission: Oakbrook Terrace, IL) -- The Joint Commission enterprise has launched a health care-associated infections (HAI) electronic portal that provides a wealth of HAI resources. The “HAI Portal” is a joint effort of The Joint Commission enterprise, which includes the Joint…
(Steinbichler: Plymouth, MI) -- Steinbichler, a global supplier of optical measuring and sensor technology, will present two new products at the CONTROL 2012 trade fair (hall 5 stand 5304) held May 8–11, 2012. The STEINBICHLER ABIS optimizer, is the world’s first portable surface-testing system…
(Instron: Norwood, MA) -- Instron, a leading provider of testing equipment solutions designed to evaluate mechanical properties of materials and components, has launched BioBox, a controlled air environment ideally designed for testing of large or long medical devices at body temperature. The…
(IRCA: London) -- IRCA and RABQSA today announced a change to the Bilateral Agreement on the mutual acceptance of training courses and examinations for auditor certification.
The IRCA-RABQSA agreement has been in place since 2006 based on the equivalence of outcome of each organization’s training…
(FARO: Lake Mary, FL) -- FARO Technologies, the world’s most trusted source for 3-D measurement technology, has announced that CEO Jay Freeland will appear on CNBC’s Street Signs on Friday, April 13, at 2 p.m. EDT to provide insight into manufacturing and manufacturing technology. Freeland has…
(Robert Half: Menlo Park, CA) -- The biggest roadblocks to organizational breakthroughs are a shortage of fresh thinking and too much red tape, according to executives interviewed for a recent Robert Half survey. More than one-third (35 percent) of chief financial officers (CFOs) said a lack of new…
Problem-solving tools are powerful things. But not so powerful that they are immune to human error. Few things are.
Analogously, this is one reason why our school teachers strongly encouraged proofreading. You know—critically reading what you just wrote to ensure that it is clear, well-organized,…
Argonne researchers are working with two industrial partners to create nanofluids that improve the cooling of power electronics in hybrid electric vehicles.
These new coolants can lessen the need for heat exchangers, which could result in smaller cooling systems and lighter vehicles.
“Fluids…
I am no longer surprised by the number of people who say, “I’m working on my Green Belt/Black Belt certification, but I’m not sure how to apply Six Sigma to [health care, telecom, hotels, food, transportation]—insert your service industry here. They just can’t seem to figure out how to translate…
The older I get, the more I realize that the basic things we believe in and live by do not change. The world keeps moving faster and faster. We need to run and work harder just to keep up. We get sidetracked by many new ways to use our time. Technology is moving so fast that before you can learn…
(Siemens: Plano, TX) -- Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a developer of product life-cycle management (PLM) software and services, has released Parasolid software, its 3-D geometric modeling component for computer-aided design, manufacturing, and…
(Goodrich ISR Systems: Princeton, NJ) -- Goodrich ISR Systems’ suite of high-resolution, near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) line-scan and area cameras have been designed to meet the needs of a many different markets and offer superior image quality.
For military and defense…
The title of this column reflects what has been my guiding philosophy ever since my first managerial position. And I truly believe that the statement is accurate. This observation led me to muse recently about what makes employees not just good, but exceptional—the types of employees we all want as…
Everyone in the quality profession has heard the term “NIST traceable.” Having calibration traceability to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is desirable for most measurement devices. It is also enshrined as a requirement in some regulatory documents. Unfortunately, NIST…
(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The 2012 Quest for Excellence Conference is the definitive showcase of best practices from the recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest honor for performance excellence and innovation. This year’s conference will be held April 16–18…
(Rice Lake Weighing Systems: Rice Lake, WI) -- Rice Lake Weighing Systems, manufacturer and distributor of weight-related products and process-control equipment, has announced the purchase of Measurement Systems International (MSI), a scale equipment manufacturer based in Seattle.
Measurement…
(Taylor Hobson) -- Because bearings are used across myriad applications within virtually every industrial sector, we can easily take these meticulously engineered components for granted. The critical functions performed by bearings, together with the intense demands placed upon them, necessitates…
(National Instruments: Austin, TX) -- Finishing Brands has become a global leader in electrostatic finishing equipment design, manufacturing, and marketing since Harold Ransburg invented the electrostatic process during the late 1940s. Electrostatic spray painting applies up to 100,000 VDC per…
(Qualitest: Fort Lauderdale, FL) -- QualiSurf, the portable surface roughness tester from Qualitest USA, developer and manufacturer of high-technology testing products and solutions, is a pocket-sized economical instrument for measuring surface texture conforming to traceable standards. It can be…
(Photron: San Diego) -- Photron Inc., a global leader and manufacturer of high-speed cameras and image analysis software, has released a high-speed camera, the Fastcam SA-X. Delivering up to 12,500 frames per second at full 1,024 × 1,024 pixel resolution, the camera meets the requirements of the…
(The Productivity Pro: Highlands Ranch, CO) -- In lean times managers look for ways to eliminate waste without always knowing what they’re looking for. In her blog post, “Lean Processes and Downtime,” time management and productivity expert Laura Stack offers advice for applying traditional…
(Productivity Press: Boca Raton, FL) -- Written by former Toyota associates, Toyota by Toyota: Reflections From the Inside Leaders on the Techniques that Revolutionized the Industry, edited by Samuel Obara and Darril Wilburn (Productivity Press, 2012), focuses on the purpose of lean methodologies,…