A review of "A Nation on Borrowed Time," a book by Joe Arvin and Scott Newton about the decline of America's ability to create wealth through manufacturing, and its effect on the overall economy.
Although typically considered a late bloomer in the call to wind energy arms, the United States is now the
number one wind power producer in the world with over 25,000 MW installed by the end of 2008, according to the Global Wind Energy Council in January 2009.
QuesTek Innovations LLC is applying its Materials by Design computational design technology to develop a new
class of high-strength, secondary hardening gear steels that are optimized for high-temperature, low-pressure (i.e., vacuum) carburization. The new alloys offer three different levels of case hardness (with the ability to “dial-in” hardness profiles, including exceptionally high case hardness), and their high core strength, toughness and other properties offer the potential to reduce drivetrain weight or increase power density relative to incumbent alloys such as AISI 9310 or Pyrowear Alloy 53.
The global wind energy market has seen average growth rates of 28 percent over the last 10 years, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), creating major challenges for the component supply industry. GWEC also forecasts an average growth rate of 22 percent for the next five years, which if realized, will continue to put pressure on suppliers of turbine components.
The struggles of the manufacturing
economy in 2009 are well documented.
Even among those of us with
long careers, most of us have never
seen activity come to a screeching
halt the way it did last year. 2009 was tough on all of us. So, what should we expect in 2010?
Getting rid of personal mementos is an arduous housekeeping ritual for some
of us; every last gear has a memory. One man’s trash is another man’s gold, after all, or in some cases, one failed business is a forgotten piece of personal and mechanical genealogy. Such is the case of the Hill-Climber chainless bicycle, the remains of which were pulled from a family junk pile after nearly half a century.
Is economic relief on the way? This was the general consensus coming out of Indianapolis after Gear Expo 2009
closed its doors in September. Though the numbers were slightly down—2,539 exhibitors and attendees compared to
2,992 in 2007—it appeared to be steady as she goes at the gear industry’s biennial main event, good news considering the state of the gear industry since Gear Expo 2007 in
Detroit.
In October, Gear Technology conducted an anonymous survey of gear manufacturers. Invitations were sent by e-mail to thousands of individuals around the world. More than 300
individuals responded to the online survey, answering questions about their manufacturing operations and current challenges facing their businesses.