Breaking – Feds search Caterpillar

Stock sinks, questions bubble up Federal law enforcement officers entered three Peoria Caterpillar facilities this morning and executed a search warrant, according to multiple news reports. The activity was confirmed by a statement from the company, which did not identify the search’s purpose or the name of the agency conducting it. According to an article by Chris Kaergard, political […]

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Double the pathways

Nine months after announcing its “Pathways to Prosperity” initiative to provide specialized, hands-on educational/employment training for high schoolers, the state of Delaware has committed to more than doubling the program over the next year.  Although the expansion incorporates new sectors of computer networking, finance and health care into the initiative, the previously established partnerships with […]

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OSHA fines going up

OSHA penalties for repeat, willful, and serious violations will be increased for the first time in decades, and future fines will be permitted to rise with inflation over time, as authorized by a provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which was signed into law by President Obama November 2. The increases will be based […]

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Eric Tsai, 3M engineer, shows off his mini-house

It’s not nearly as attractive as the house he lives in, but Eric Tsai’s cardboard contraption does resemble the real thing, kind of … and more to the point, it acts like his real residence. Using a nest of wires and WI-FI technology, the 3M engineer describes his “tinkering project” as a real-world manifestation of the home’s energy consumption. […]

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Controlling a motor with Bluetooth

EA’s Bill O’Leary asks, “Can the powerful and expansive tentacles of Bluetooth stretch to hands-on trades like electro-mechanical engineering? Will we ever reach a point where we can operate an electric motor remotely using Blue-tooth on our smartphones? “Truth is we already can. Kind of. Behold “MotorAir,” a Bluetooth dual motor driver smartphone remote control […]

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Video of the week – snakebot!

Tesla Model S Robotic Snake Charter automatically moves out from a wall and connects to charge your EV.   Read more at GizMag

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Sulzer CEO resigns

Sulzer, the Swiss manufacturing and engineering company, announced the resignation of CEO Klaus Stahlmann yesterday, with the company announcing that he “wishes to explore other opportunities outside Sulzer.” A company spokesman told Bloomberg news that the resignation was not connected to job cuts or to a takeover offer by its largest shareholder, Renova Group. Stahlmann was […]

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AMT president concerned about US manufacturing

Good news, or bad?  The Association for Manufacturing Technology recently compiled its financial results for the month of June, reporting a 4.6% increase from the previous month. This, however is down 13.2% from last June’s totals of $409.68 million, a distinction made clear by the balanced words of AMT president Douglas K. Woods. “This monthly […]

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Republic Steel cited by OSHA

Republic Steel, of Canton, Ohio, a specialist in hot rolled coil steel with nine locations across three states and Canada and sales of more than $1 billion annually, was cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration on Aug. 7 for three repeat violations and eight more serious violations. The citations contained in the […]

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Schneider Electric releases 2nd quarter financial results

Schneider Electric, the French energy and power company, has released its 2nd quarter figures for 2015, including revenues, organic growth, net income, and 2015 half-year totals.  The period ended on June 30th. A 9.8% year-to-date increase in revenues was reported, but this included a 0.9% decrease in organic growth. Net income was down 12%, but […]

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