Plus: “Made in America” Popularity, Top Engineering Schools, An Underwater Lab, World’s Lightest Material, Post-Merger Integration and Designer Enzymes.

 
Sometimes the Internet seems like it’s gotten too big. To help navigate this sea of information, Industry Market Trends’ weekly Worth a Look feature spotlights some of the more interesting, informative and amusing resources that might have slipped under your radar — all in bite-sized chunks.
 

• “Made in America” Manufacturing Has Strong Support | In light of the recent controversy over the United States Olympic team’s uniforms being produced in China, new research shows there is strong public support for goods manufactured in America. According to IndustryWeek’s breakdown of survey findings from the Alliance of American Manufacturing, 87 percent of Republicans, 91 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of independents favor “Buy America” policies, while 53 percent of respondents rate manufacturing as the industry “most important to the overall strength of the American economy.”
• World’s Best Engineering Schools | The top engineering school in the world is California Institute of Technology, according to Business Insider. Based on a recent survey of 723 engineers, industry professionals and entrepreneurs – mostly research scientists, mechanical engineers and mobile developers – Business Insider ranks the top 50 schools in the world for those interested in entering an engineering field (or those looking to hire the best engineering graduates).
• Inside an Underwater Lab | The Aquarius Reef Base is an underwater ocean laboratory located 3.5 miles off the coast of Florida and 60 feet below the water’s surface. In its 22-year history, it’s been responsible for some key scientific ventures, including researching sea sponges for cancer treatments and enabling NASA astronauts to train for space exploration. The base may soon close due to government budget cuts. Fast Company’s Co.Exist blog offers an in-depth look inside the lab’s systems and operations.
• Lightest Material in the World Produced | Scientists from the Technical University of Hamburg and University of Kiel have developed a new material that weighs only 0.2 milligrams per cubic centimeter, and is therefore 75 times lighter than Styrofoam. Known as Aerographite, it’s mostly (99.99 percent) made of air, along with carbon nanotubes. Despite the material’s lightweight nature, it’s actually robust enough to support 40,000 times its own weight. Check out Popular Science for a video of “two black morsels of aerographite dancing in static electricity.”
• Avoiding Mistakes in Post-Merger Integration | The goal of post-merger integration (PMI) is to get a reconfigured company back onto the marketplace as quickly and effectively as possible, but many firms make the mistake of allowing uncertainty and tedious business processes to slow down integration. Business Finance explains how “decision-centric PMI” can be used to more efficiently identify operational parts and combine capabilities within a clear vision after a merger has been completed.
• Designer Enzymes Revolutionizing Chemistry | Natural enzymes are far more effective than artificial catalysts developed in a lab, but advanced research and a series of breakthroughs have put us on the brink of creating man-made enzymes that rival their natural counterparts, which could lead to a chemistry revolution involving new drugs, greener materials and more efficient ways to generate energy. New Scientists explains some of the pioneering techniques being used to create a new generation of enzymes.
• Is the “American Dream” Still Possible? | Economic opportunity and upward mobility have long formed the foundation of the American Dream, and they remain at the core of our nation’s identity. It used to be that if you worked hard, you had a good chance of moving up the economic ladder. Does that ideal still hold up? The Pew Center on the States’ Economic Mobility Project provides fascinating insights into the ability to move up or down the economic ladder from one generation to the next. Plus: The following infographic, from Taylor Homes and NowSourcing, helps break down the most efficient ways to still live the American Dream.

Click image for full-size view. Credit: Taylor Homes/NowSourcing