Anniversary Gift

Schneider makes $750K donation to its 20-year partner We may have questioned Schneider Electric a bit when discussing their new remote maintenance platform two weeks ago, but the latest news from the company is nearly infallible. Schneider renewed its partnership with Habitat for Humanity this year, marking the 20th year of their commitment to making affordable […]

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Remotely Troubling

New services for power distribution, augmented reality from Schneider A new service from a global industrial-electric powerhouse may be exciting technology, but it also sheds light on where the industry could be headed in terms of demand for field technicians. Schneider Electric has launched Remote Expertiseä, a new package of services for electrical and power […]

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Goodenough for a Lifetime

Nobel prize winning inventor of lithium-ion battery, 97, still looking forward How about this for a resume? See below: Dr. John B. Goodenough, Professor, Cockrell School of Engineering, UT-Austin -Invented lithium-ion battery -Served as military meteorologist, U.S. Army, WWII -Oldest Nobel Prize winner -Still working at age 97 Education -Undergraduate degree, Yale University -PhD, Physics, […]

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Purdue’s Pilot Plant

Looking forward to our food and beverage issue As we look forward to our upcoming food and beverage issue, a number of innovations in those industries have caught our eye. This week, we learned of Purdue University’s Department of Food Science’s pilot plant. For some background: Purdue expanded its food science facilities beginning in 1998 […]

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The “Quiet” Rise of the VFD

Noise reduction by combining variable frequency drives with hydraulics By combining Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) technology with electric motors in hydraulic power units, Green Hydraulic Power, Inc (GHP), a renewable energy company based in Huntington Beach, Calif., says it can lower customer energy usage by up to 80% while simultaneously reducing noise in the workplace […]

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Paint It, Black

Norwegian wind farm reportedly cut bird deaths by 70 percent with simple change A Norwegian wind farm says it painted its turbine blades black and reduced bird deaths by 70 percent, according to a study published in scientific research journal Ecology and Evolution this August. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and Lake Annsjon […]

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Earthquake-Resistant Transformers

Swiss manufacturer unveils new design to prevent network failures, damages Earthquakes, whether mild or severe, pose a threat for transformers in operation. To make sure the transformers will not move or fall in case of an earthquake, and thus cause network failures or damages such as oil leaks, R&S Rauscher & Stoecklin, the Swiss manufacturer, designed […]

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Aiken To Be Caught

Wanted: vandals who’ve been shooting electrical junction boxes in S.C. We like to avoid name-calling, but some things are just downright idiotic. Like the vandalism reported over the past week in a South Carolina utility co-op’s coverage area, where bullet holes were found in multiple electrical junction boxes. The “vandalism”—a term fits the bill but […]

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Is That EV Dangerously Quiet?

New standards from NHTSA say so. Electric vehicles may be all the rage—especially in Europe and Asia—but their increased presence brings with it a muffled controversy. Let’s fuel some productive discourse. The muted danger here is that initial EV designs encouraged less noise, which in turn created dangerous situations when you still have the same […]

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EGLE-Eye

America’s animal rep didn’t take kindly to a government drone in its airspace From the “too perfect” category this week: A Michigan bald eagle outfoxed a government drone and made clear who’s airspace the natural habitat belonged to. And, as The Verge’s Kim Lyons pointed out, the story is not short on irony in a […]

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