At the mid-year point of 2017, it appears that the U.S. economy, and the manufacturing sector in particular, are gradually accelerating, with most markets seeing an upside breakout from the flat or down conditions of 2015 and 2016.

If you've got a gear performance problem, the Gear Research Institute (GRI) is here to help you. Since inception in 1982, GRI has been a primarily industry sponsored, experimentation driven research facility. Whether establishing the fatigue life of gears or evaluating the impact of manufacturing processes on the performance of gears, GRI has pioneered methods and procedures for characterizing such properties that are accepted by the aerospace, vehicle and other industry sectors.

When I first met the leaders of the gearing industry in April 2016 at AGMA's 100th Anniversary Celebration, I did my best imitation of Joe Namath, who famously predicted a Super Bowl victory for his New York Jets: I guaranteed we would reach our 101st year!

More than 100 years ago, gear manufacturers were facing a significant challenge from industry. The incredible advances in industrialization and transportation that occurred at the turn of the 20th century resulted in incredible growth for gear makers, but there were significant technical issues. "The lack of process and product standardization was a continuing problem in all U.S. industry. The lack of industry-wide gear standards meant there were no standard gear tooth sizes, ratings, quality definition or consistent manufacturing methods" (Celebrating 100 Years of Gearing, pg. 22).

This is a very exciting year for AGMA as the organization celebrates its 100-year anniversary. In addition to the anniversary, AGMA President Joe Franklin, jr., who has done an outstanding job at the helm of AGMA for the last 25 years, will retire, and we welcome in our new AGMA President, Matt Croson, who will lead us into the next 100 years. The centennial kicked off in October with a dinner at the AGMA Gear Expo in Detroit and will continue throughout 2016 with a number of exciting events scheduled to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

your life and in your professional career is an inflection point for you to take stock of where you came from and where you are going.

There exists an ongoing, urgent need for a rating method to assess micropitting risk, as AGMA considers it a "a very significant failure mode for rolling element bearings and gear teeth - especially in gearbox applications such as wind turbines."

Reshoring offers an opportunity for increased domestic gear production. Reshoring is growing at a steady pace in most industries, and is particularly strong in the gear intensive industries such as automotive, aerospace and construction equipment (Table 1). This article provides background on the overall trend and tools for the gear buyer and the gear producer to make the offshore vs. domestic decision.

In January of this year we at Gear Technology got hip to the fact-in un-hip, belated fashion - that we needed a Blog Site and someone to do the blogging. Lucky for us, we already had that someone right here - in plain sight. That someone was Charles D. Schultz, P.E.

Celebrating Dr. Faydor Litvin: Remarkable Scientist, Dedicated Mentor, Continuing Inspiration