March 14, 2008 SME announced that General Motors will sponsor its 5th annual Bright Minds Mentor Program. As part of program, 50 Orlando School Districts' high school students will participate in customized program while attending SME RAPID 2008 Conference and Exposition on May 21, 2008. Since 2003, program's mission has been to give promising technology-oriented students opportunities to learn about additive manufacturing and rapid development technologies from industry-expert mentors.

March 14, 2008 Automation Applications in Bio-Pharmaceuticals, by George Buckbee, P.E. and Joseph Alford, Ph.D., P.E., CAP., was developed to guide the new and experienced automation professional on how to apply automation to bio-pharmaceuticals, as well as try to accelerate the learning process. The guide addresses technical, biological, and regulatory requirements along with topics such as a background on the industry, economics, and processes and selection of instrumentation, valves, and hardware.

March 14, 2008 Speaking at 2008 Washington D.C. Auto Show, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker highlighted categories of crash avoidance technology that is on NTSB's list of Most Wanted Safety Improvements. Rear-end crash warning systems, adaptive cruise control, and automatic braking systems help prevent or mitigate rear end collisions. With Infrastructure Telematics, road-based systems provide drivers with information such as location-specific weather conditions, route-specific road closures, and work zone status.

March 14, 2008 Scheduled for April 29 to May 1, forum on Unmanned Aircraft Systems will provide opportunity for Board and interested parties to understand safety implications presented by growing use of UAS in National Airspace System. It will include representatives from military, industry, FAA, and government agencies involved in UAS operations. Forum will address regulatory standards, perspectives of UAS operators, future UAS applications, and design, certification, and airworthiness.

March 14, 2008 Scheduled for April 2 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. EST, webinar titled "Environmental Careers: A Path to Your Future," will help participants sort through opportunities that exist, and develop plan for obtaining employment in that area. It will consider jobs and qualifications, hiring trends in different regions, in-demand academic training, and anticipated employment trends, as well as salaries, information sources on job openings, and special hiring procedures for specific jobs.

March 14, 2008 Challenging nation's motorcoach industry to embrace emerging vehicle safety technologies, NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker called for proactive, multi-faceted approach to improving safety on America's roadways. Rosenker cited electronic stability control as well as systems that provide warnings to prevent lane departures and imminent collisions. He also emphasized importance of crash testing to help federal regulators and industry better understand crashworthiness issues.

March 13, 2008 According to data collected from more than 60,000 consumers, on 100-point scale, "Overall Satisfaction with Dealer" ratings from consumers who purchased new boats from Marine Industry Certified dealership averaged score of 93.5 vs. rating of 88.7 from consumers who purchased new boats from non-certified dealerships. Figures are based on dealership Customer Satisfaction Index scores recorded among 110 boat brands participating in NMMA CSI program.

March 13, 2008 At 67th Annual Miami International Boat Show, 9 marine manufacturers were honored for innovative achievement. Innovation Awards, organized by NMMA and judged by Boating Writers International, recognize products that best meet following criteria: Innovative distinction from other products being manufactured; benefit to marine industry and/or consumer; practicality; cost-effectiveness; and availability to consumers within 60 days of award receipt.

March 12, 2008 The NMMA Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) program announced that industry CSI scores rose for the 3rd consecutive year in 2007. Based on returns from more than 60,000 customer surveys collected from new boat buyers in 2007, it showed that on a 100-point scale, customers rated their overall satisfaction with the boats they purchased in 2007 at 91.9. Satisfaction with engines purchased increased to 92.9 and CSI scores for dealers were recorded at 89.0.

March 12, 2008 Made with Lockheed Martin for space shuttle external fuel tanks, $47.5 million contract modification aligns and extends all activities associated with production contract to include final assembly of one tank, partial manufacture of a tank, and acquisition of component parts for additional tank to serve as spare. Modification supports priorities of safely flying space shuttle, completing construction of International Space Station, and plan to return astronauts to Moon and beyond.

March 12, 2008 At its 5th annual Project Management Challenge Conference in Daytona Beach, FL, NASA has presented the George M. Low Awards for 2007 to Lockheed Martin Mission Services in the large business service category and to Sierra Lobo, Inc. in the small business service category. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. won the award for large business product and ASRC Aerospace Corporation won the small business product award.

March 12, 2008 According to the February 2008 PMA Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect shipping levels to rebound from the significantly low levels reported in January. In February, 29% of participants reported that current average daily shipping levels are above levels of 3 months ago, while 54% say activity will remain the same over the next 3 months. The number of metalforming companies with a portion of their workforce on short time or layoff increased to 16% in February.

March 12, 2008 According to preliminary data issued by the U.S. DoC, steel imports increased 33% from December 2007 to January 2008. PMA President William E. Gaskin said that despite the increase, U.S. manufacturers are very concerned about rising steel prices and low inventory levels. He noted that January overall imports were still 10% lower than January 2007 imports and imports of hot- and cold-rolled sheets were down 18% compared to January 2007.

March 12, 2008 The PMA East Michigan District will host a meeting on Thursday, March 20, 2008, to provide metalformers with information on drawing and stretching advanced high-strength steels. Speaker Art Hedrick will focus on processing and troubleshooting methods used when forming and cutting high-strength materials such as advanced high-strength steel. The event will take place at the Detroit Marriott Pontiac at Centerpoint in Pontiac, MI.

March 11, 2008 NASA has awarded SGT Inc. of Greenbelt, MD, a contract to provide program planning and control services including business management, configuration and data management, requirements analysis and integration, schedule management and integration, and technology protection. The base period of the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-award-fee contract is 3 yr, effective April 11.

March 11, 2008 NASA's Kennedy Space Center has awarded Millennium Engineering and Integration Company of Satellite Beach, Fla., a support services contract. Services include performing risk assessments, inspections, mishap investigations, analyses, independent assessments, and evaluations of work, as well as maintaining applications and databases of Safety and Mission Assurances Directorate-related activities. Contract is valued approximately $45.2 million during 4-year performance period.

March 10, 2008 The SIA reported that global sales of semiconductors in 2007 increased 3.2% over sales reported in 2006, while sales in Q4 2007 increased 2.5% over Q4 2006. Drivers of demand for semiconductors such as personal computers, mobile handsets, and consumer electronics remained strong in 2007, according to SIA President George Scalise. DRAM shipments nearly doubled, but total revenues declined by 7.4% due to a decline of more than 39% in average selling prices.

March 10, 2008 The SIA reported that worldwide semiconductor sales in January increased 0.03% from January 2007, but declined 3.6% from December 2007. All product lines and geographic markets experienced slightly lower sales in January, according to SIA President George Scalise, while shipments of DRAMs and NAND flash grew modestly but with a decline in selling prices. Despite a slowing of the U.S. economy, the emergence and growth of markets outside the U.S. has created new opportunities for chipmakers.

March 10, 2008 At the Lean Product Development Conference, April 14-16, 2008, in Florence, KY, Eureka! Ranch Founder and CEO Doug Hall will give the keynote presentation, Made in the USA - Choices for Growth. Hall will also review the results of 1,300 hr of front line work with companies, plus Eureka! Ranch's latest research on the science of growth. Also, Michael N. Kennedy will give a presentation on knowledge-based product development, and a hands-on preconference workshop will be led by Ron Mascitelli.

March 10, 2008 Comprised of global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions, ZigBee Alliance announced initiative to further enhance ZigBee connectivity to Internet and other networks. ZigBee offers wireless networking to devices ranging from light switches to thermostats, and electric meters to medical devices. Alliance initiative will expand IP services further into ZigBee networks and will augment existing ZigBee gateway programs providing standardized interfaces for ZigBee data.