Here’s what we are hearing (some information based on news releases):
Sandia National Labs presents H.C. Starck with supplier award
H.C. Starck was honored with the Oro “Gold” Award at the Annual Sandia National Laboratories Supplier Conference held Oct. 5, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. H.C. Starck was one of 15 manufacturing companies, out of 126 suppliers, selected as winners of the Oro Award. The company, which provides high quality materials in a timely manner that meet Sandia’s stringent quality requirements, received a commitment performance rating of better than 98% for on time delivery and quality. The Euclid, Ohio facility made significant improvements in customer satisfaction, product quality, and on-time delivery with its lean manufacturing initiatives and six sigma training.
Frac sand company Carbo Ceramics starts project in Wisconsin.
While the Wood County (Wisconsin) Board’s official stance on road usage agreements with frac sand haulers remains in limbo, one frac sand company is moving forward with plans to process sand in Marshfield. Carbo Ceramics Inc., which purchased about 40 acres on the former Wick properties at 2301 E. Fourth St. last year, held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday. The sand processing plant will start shipping product by mid-2012 and should be fully operational by the end of next year, said plant manager Steve Manier. Wood County officials have held talks with four frac sand companies opening operations here – Carbo Ceramics, Completion Industrial Minerals, Panther Creek Sand and Northern Frac Sand – about proposed road usage agreements requiring companies hauling the special type of sand to pay for any excessive damage caused by their trucks.
Comsol Version 4.2a unveiled at the COMSOL Conference in Boston
Comsol Inc. unveiled its Multiphysics version 4.2a, a major update of its market-leading multiphysics modeling and simulation environment. With the introduction of version 4.2a, which includes features that extend the reach of multiphysics analyses to new communities of engineers and scientists, Comsol has created a tightly-integrated analysis platform that offers a breadth and depth unmatched in the industry. Version 4.2a sees the debut of two new products, Particle Tracing Module and LiveLink for Creo Parametric, as well as many new features that bring greater modeling power to the users of COMSOL Multiphysics and its application specific add-on modules. Image-to-material conversion can shorten time to solution for image-based simulation dramatically. With this new capability engineers and scientists in industries such as life science and semiconductors can now bypass both geometry creation and computational-demanding meshing of microscopic details.
GreenCell Launches Its New Manufacturing Center
GreenCell, Inc. has launched a new manufacturing work center that can deposit conductive traces onto ceramic surfaces. Some composite ceramics are excellent conductors of electricity. Most of these conductors are advanced ceramics, modern materials whose properties are modified through precise control over their fabrication from powders into products. GreenCell’s innovative process allows them to deposit conductive inks onto their UltraTemp composite material. This process can be easily adapted the company’s line of igniters, sensors, fuel cells and heater panels.
Freeman Technology’s FT4 Powder Rheometer transforms powder testing capabilities
At AZO GmbH, a leading suppliers of automated raw material handling equipment, the introduction of the FT4 Powder Rheometer has revolutionised the company’s approach to powder characterisation. Replacing older shear cell equipment and a basic powder tester, use of the FT4 has dramatically reduced the time taken to reliably characterise a new powder and enhanced AZO’s ability to design and specify optimised solutions uniquely tailored to individual customer needs.
Malvern’s Materials Talks blog: One year old
David Higgs says, “I can scarcely believe that our blog is one year old today. It seems like a lifetime ago that our first post hit the internet and brought the world of Malvern materials characterization to a new audience. I must confess that there have been times when some of us have struggled to put “pen to paper” and produce relevant content about materials, industry and science. And I’ve had to charm and encourage the Malvern experts to provide interesting and useful articles. I hope you’ll agree when I say that I think they have excelled themselves and risen to the challenge more than once. I’m really grateful for their efforts and I hope they will continue to produce interesting articles about their work and play.
Cabot adds graphene technology to portfolio with IP agreement with XG Sciences
Under the agreement, Cabot Corp. will license intellectual property rights to XG’s graphene nanoplatelets technology, including detailed know-how regarding the manufacturing process. The move is consistent with Cabot’s commitment to provide customers with enabling materials solutions that deliver high performance, says Fred von Gottberg, Cabot vice president, New Business segment. Graphenes have the potential to be a dramatic step forward for our customers as they strive to find ways to make parts lighter, stronger or store energy more effectively. Our expertise in carbon black production, surface treatment and material science makes us a natural fit for delivering performance in automotive plastics, electronics packaging, advanced batteries and other applications with graphenes.
Zimmer introduces Invizia anterior cervical plate system
Zimmer Holdings Inc. introduced the inViZia Anterior Cervical Plate System at the 26th North American Spine Society annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The system is intended for use in the temporary stabilization of the anterior spine during the development of cervical spinal fusions in patients with degenerative disc disease, trauma, tumors, deformity, pseudoarthrosis and failed previous fusions.