July 1, 2011 NREL's Research Support Facility has been certified LEED® Platinum for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council. At 222,000 sq-ft, RSF is a model for sustainable, high performance building design that leverages the best in energy efficiency and environmental performance in a large-scale commercial office building. It has achieved all 59 targeted LEED points, including those for site selection, energy, materials and resources, and innovation.

July 1, 2011 NEMA's Electroindustry Business Confidence Index for current North American conditions slipped to 45.5 in June, dropping below the 50-point growth threshold for the first time since Oct 2010. The index had climbed as high as 69.6 as recently as February 2011, prior to sharp run-up in oil prices and Japan's earthquake and tsunami. EBCI for future North American conditions topped 50-point mark for 28th consecutive month in June, measuring 63.6 for the month, down from 81.8 in May.

July 1, 2011 Developed by Subcommittee G01.14 on Corrosion of Metals in Construction Materials, ASTM G198 will provide method of testing corrosion-resistant fasteners and their performance in contact with treated wood. According to Thomas Langill, chairman of G01.14, test method will give a relatively quick comparison of corrosion protection systems on driven fasteners in the microenvironment of treated wood and the potential corrosive chemicals that are used to protect wood materials.

July 1, 2011 U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) Internet Policy Task Force issued Federal Register notice seeking public comment on its cybersecurity report - Cybersecurity, Innovation and the Internet Economy - that was released June 8. Report recommends new framework for addressing Internet security issues for companies that increasingly rely on Web to do business but are outside of critical infrastructure sector. Comments should be sent before midnight on August 1.

July 1, 2011 ANSI invites all members of ANSI Federation to recommend qualified candidates for membership on Institute's policy and other committees. Three year term runs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014. Committees seeking new members include Conformity Assessment Policy Committee, National Policy Committee, Intellectual Property Rights Policy Committee, International Policy Committee, and ANSI ISO Council.

July 1, 2011 ANSI, coordinator of U.S. voluntary standardization system, announced agreement with SES - the Society for Standards Professionals granting complimentary, reciprocal affiliations between organizations. Under this agreement, current and new SES members are automatically eligible to enroll in ANSI's affiliate membership program for one year. Conversely, technical contact of all current and new ANSI full members is automatically eligible to enroll as individual member of SES for one year.

June 30, 2011 A method developed by researchers at NIST and University of Colorado at Boulder for making thin, flexible, high-temperature superconducting cables has won 2011 R/D 100 Award from R/D Magazine, which salutes the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. Constructed by winding multiple superconducting tapes around multi-strand copper core, cable operates at -353°F, has diameter of less than 1 cm, and carries 2,800 A of current.

June 30, 2011 AEM, founding member of Coalition to Save Our GPS, is calling on Congress, Transportation Secretary LaHood, and the FCC to stop the threat in the U.S. to Global Positioning Systems posed by LightSquared, the company planning to deploy nationwide broadband internet infrastructure of 40,000 ground stations. Not only would ground stations very likely render GPS signals unreliable and in some cases useless, but implementing LightSquared's plan would add unnecessary burdens to U.S. economy.

June 30, 2011 Recently, member company representatives and staff of NEMA participated in first face-to-face meeting for American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) Electric Vehicle Standards Panel (EVSP). With initial scope focusing on consumer class of electric vehicles, EVSP's mission is to develop roadmap for U.S. standardization efforts. ANSI President and CEO Joe Bhatia, in his opening remarks, said panel's efforts are designed to complement other standardization activities in U.S. and abroad.

June 30, 2011 To be held from September 26-28, PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011 will debut its Baking and Snack Break Lounge. This location, serving as meeting place for baking and snack industry, will offer specialized opportunities for baking and snack professionals to connect with suppliers and partners. Lounge will feature Ask the Expert resource center, and micro-site under development will include connected community with focus on baking and snack trends, news, and other relevant industry information.

June 30, 2011 President Obama's announcement today of $500 million Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, which features $70 million for National Robotics Initiative, received endorsement from RIA. After watching said announcement, RIA President Jeff Burnstein said he was delighted to see such commitment towards making "significant investments in advanced manufacturing and robotics." He also added that R/D can lead to "new advances which will help revive American manufacturing."

June 30, 2011 Machinery Communications - Trends & Challenges says that computer, mobile, and wireless technologies are affecting modern industry, including packaging machinery. Packaging professionals participating in study identified 4 primary challenges to advancing machinery communications: adopting standard programming language, collecting more data about operational efficiency, educating engineers, and ensuring security of external communications.

June 30, 2011 Scheduled for Nov 14-15 in Shanghai, 2011 Vehicle Battery Summit will bring together engineers, scientists, and corporate representatives to discuss the latest progress and plans for lithium based battery technologies and research. More than 20 presentations will be organized across 4 sessions: Electrified Vehicle Market Development, Innovations in Cell Chemistry for Energy Storage, Battery Design for Safety and Extended Life, and Battery Pack Integration and Charging Challenges and Solutions.

June 30, 2011 AMT President Douglas K. Woods greeted news of Advanced Manufacturing Partnership launch with optimism. "AMT is encouraged," he said, "by the Administration's continued focus on the manufacturing sector." Partnership is national effort to bring industry, universities, and federal government together to invest in emerging technologies that create manufacturing jobs and boost competitiveness. Woods concluded, "AMT is eager to work with the stakeholders on this important collaborative effort."

June 30, 2011 At its 2011 Annual Meeting, ASHRAE chose Ronald Jarnagin, staff scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as President. Other officers installed for 1 year term include Thomas Watson of McQuay International as President-Elect, Willliam Bahnfleth of Pennsylvania State University as Treasurer, and 4 Vice Presidents: Constantinos A. Balaras, Ross D. Montgomery, T. David Underwood, and Timothy G. Wentz. In addition, 8 directors were chosen for 3-year term from 2011-2014.

June 30, 2011 IPC submitted comments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the legal basis for a phase-in of conflict minerals regulatory requirements. The 4-page brief, "The Commission's Statutory Authority to Phase-In its Conflict Minerals Disclosure Rules," highlights IPC's proposal for 3-year phase-in of rules. IPC's recommendations are based on anticipated dates at which on-the-ground tracking systems will be in place and supplying verifiable conflict-free minerals.

June 30, 2011 In his statement which followed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus' (D-MT) announcement on markup of pending Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said "Manufacturers are pleased...because these agreements will bring job growth and economic expansion." Timmons also commented that "Moving the FTAs forward in an expedited fashion is critical" and urged White House and Congress "to move ahead with the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea agreements."

June 30, 2011 Authored by NIST researchers, "A detailed discussion of lessons learned in evaluating emerging and advanced military technologies" can help negotiate promises and pitfalls encountered when pushing technological limits to enable new capabilities. Researchers also describe evaluative framework - SCORE (System, Component, and Operationally Relevant Evaluations) - devised for judging performance of system and its components as well as utility of technology for intended user.

June 29, 2011 Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force requests comments on "Cybersecurity, Innovations and the Internet Economy," which proposes voluntary codes of conduct to strengthen cybersecurity of companies that increasingly rely on Internet to do business but are not part of critical infrastructure sector. Report poses several specific recommendations for reducing I3S vulnerabilities, and comments must be received by August 1, 2011.

June 29, 2011 Researchers from NIST, George Mason University, and University of Maryland made nano-sized sensors that can detect VOCs. They offer low-power, room-temperature operation and can detect one or several compounds over wide concentration range. Paper titled "Highly selective GaN-nanowire/TiO2-nanocluster hybrid sensors for detection of benzene and related environment pollutants" provides proof of concept for gas sensor made of single nanowire and metal oxide nanoclusters.