December 12, 2007 The NACD elected Roger T. Harris, President of Producers Chemical Company, and re-elected Raymond J. Roembke, Jr., President of Superior Solvents and Chemicals, as Directors at Large on the Board of Directors. Also joining the Board is newly appointed NACD Northeast Region President Jeanette Glose Partlow, President of Maryland Chemical Company, Inc. The elections were held during NACD's 36th Annual Meeting in Las Croabas, Puerto Rico.

December 11, 2007 The SPE will present a technical conference with hundreds of peer-reviewed, never-before-published papers at SPI's NPE2009 international exposition, to take place on June 22-26 at McCormick Place in Chicago. According to SPI president and CEO William R. Carteaux, the SPE conference will provide NPE visitors with a selection of high-quality technical presentations and SPI will present a concurrent educational program on business and management issues.

December 11, 2007 SPI's 2006 Global Business Trends as well as Size and Impact of the Plastics Industry on the U.S. Economy show that despite various negative factors, there are positive signs. The reports show that plastics is the 3rd largest U.S. manufacturing industry, shipping $379 billion worth of goods and employing 1.1 million workers in 2006. Between 1980 and 2006, plastics grew annually at 1.1% employment, and the reports also show that plastics is a positive contributor to U.S. trade balance.

December 11, 2007 The 53rd annual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) will feature keynote speaker Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, discussing major technical innovations and new business models that have affected the semiconductor industry. To take place from December 10-12 in Washington D.C., the meeting will include 3 plenary sessions as well as technical programs and short courses.

December 11, 2007 The A&WMA will hold its 101st Annual Conference & Exhibition on June 24-27, 2008 in Portland, OR. The keynote presentation will be given by Bill Reinert, National Manager of Advance Technology for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. William Swope of Intel Corp. will give the presentation "Environmental Sustainability: Why it's Critical for Market Leadership in the 21st Century" and Michael MacCracken will present "Prospects for Future Climate and the Reasons for Early Action."

December 10, 2007 Members elected to serve 2-year terms on the SIIA Education Division Board of Directors include Ellen Bialo, Todd Brekhus, Lil Kellogg, Michael Golden, Scott Kirkpatrick, Carmi Paris, Farimah Schuerman, and Pat Walkington. Appointed members serving a 1-year term are Valerie Crawford, Kurt Gerdenich, Eileen Lento, Jeffrey Schultz, Steve Siegel, and Stuart Udell. Also, 7 board members will be serving the second year of their 2-year terms.

December 10, 2007 The PICMG Master Glossary contains a compilation of the definitions used in PICMG specifications. It was compiled by the Requirements Engineering Subcommittee, which collected the glossaries from various PICMG specifications and reconciled differences to compile a glossary with over 350 definitions. A valuable resource for anyone working in the modular computing and telecommunications world, according to Dick Somes, the glossary can be viewed on www.picmg.org.

December 10, 2007 The PICMG Document Library service contains a searchable database of articles, presentations, white papers, and press releases posted by PICMG member companies and available for download from the companies' sites. All PICMG executive and associate members can post links to the database. Available on www.picmg.org, it is searchable by architecture type as well as document type and includes searches of recent postings and most popular downloads.

December 10, 2007 The FAA finalized a new rule designed to mitigate conditions that put airliners at risk for wire failures, smoke, and fire. It moves existing rules on wiring into a single section of the regulations and adds new certification standards to address wire degradation and inadequate design or maintenance. The new maintenance requirements apply to aircraft carrying more than 30 passengers or having a maximum payload of 7,500 pounds or more.

December 10, 2007 The FAA reported that the number of fatal general aviation accidents declined by 5% this year. With a goal to have no more than 331 fatal general aviation accidents during the 12 months ending September 30, it reported an actual number of 314. Fatalities declined from 676 in fiscal 2006 to 564 in 2007. For these calculations, general aviation includes privately flown planes as well as nonscheduled air taxi flights.

December 10, 2007 The FAA reported that it exceeded its goal for reducing the most serious runway incursions by 25% in fiscal year 2007. There were 24 serious runway incursions this past year out of more than 61 million operations, or 1 incursion for every 2,545,000 operations. The FAA and industry leaders recently identified various short-term steps that could be implemented within 60 days to further improve safety, as well as longer term technological solutions.

December 7, 2007 Comprised of more than 20 volunteers from water utilities and other organization, Awwa Research Advisory Council has proposed 22 projects for foundation's 2008 research agenda. When AwwaRF trustees consider proposed agenda, they may fund all or only portion of recommended projects. Once trustees choose final projects, requests for proposals will be developed. RFPs will be available in mid-March and will be posted on AwwaRF's web page.

December 7, 2007 For second consecutive month, worldwide sales of semiconductors rose sharply in September. Global microchip sales in September were $22.6 billion, an increase of 5.9% from September 2006 when sales were $21.3 billion. According to Gartner Group, worldwide unit sales of PCs increased by 14.4% over immediate-prior quarter. Gartner expects PC sales will increase by 13% year-on-year. Reports from 4 largest cell phone vendors indicate unit sales in 3rd quarter grew by 11% from prior quarter.

December 7, 2007 John Anderson and Jacques Leroux are recipients of SAE International's Aerospace Chair Award, which recognizes leadership demonstrated by chairs of committees under SAE Aerospace Council and Air and Space Group. Anderson is Vice President of Business Development at Triumph Aerospace Systems in Newport News, VA. Leroux is an Account Executive with Dow Chemical Canada, Inc. and also serves as technical liaison for Canada with airlines in Europe and Asia.

December 7, 2007 Scheduled for June 17-19, 2008 at Earls Court in London, National Electronics Week will provide latest information on industry advancement, emerging technologies, and market research. IPC seminar will be highly relevant to exhibitors and visitors alike, covering wide range of topical industry issues. Timing of seminars will allow delegates to visit attractions on show floor, while IPC experts will be on hand to advise exhibition goers on new releases of global industry standards.

December 7, 2007 Covering rotary operators in window applications, AAMA 901-07 consists of 7-page voluntary specification that includes procedures, materials, and performance criteria for determining durability of gear type rotary operating devices used for opening and closing casement, awning, jalousie, and other similar types of windows. Most significant change was update of Tables 1, 2, and 3 to be consistent with designations as stated in AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S. 2/A440-05.

December 7, 2007 According to Brian Huse, RIA's Director of Marketing and Public Relations, full-page advertising insertions in major publications will honor Platinum members of RIA. Recognition will be focused on integrators and suppliers, and is part of larger awareness campaign for companies at elite end of dues range. Additional coverage can be found in Robots in America, an RIA blog site, and in Robotics Online, the industry's number-one site for robotics information.

December 6, 2007 Stanley Stokes, founder and principal of BrakeTec in Sahuarita, AZ, is the recipient of SAE International's Arch T. Colwell Cooperative Engineering Medal, to be presented during SAE 2007 World Congress on April 14-17. Stokes has chaired the St. Louis SAE Section and various standards committees. He has also participated in the development and improvement of SAE standards, earning the SAE Technical Standards Board Outstanding Contribution Award and the SAE Recognition Award.

December 6, 2007 SAE International's Aerospace Engineering magazine is expanding to become Aerospace Engineering & Manufacturing in January 2008. By increasing its manufacturing coverage, the magazine aims to keep the aerospace product development community aware of new technology, engineering, and manufacturing advancements from around the world. It will feature an expanded editorial package along with a new look designed around a larger page format, allowing for more detailed images and graphics.

December 6, 2007 SAE International aerospace standard AS5681: Minimum Operational Performance Specification for Remote On-Ground Ice Detection Systems specifies the minimum performance requirements of Remote On-Ground Ice Detection Systems (ROGIDS). It also provides the framework for manufacturers to comply with requirements and obtain pertinent regulatory approvals. According to Frank Eyre, it can help lead to improvements in safety and can also reduce unnecessary turn backs to deicing pads.