I’m often asked: What level of government debt can the U.S. sustain? The answer is that it can handle a lot more. What’s much more important is its longer-term ability to reduce the federal budget deficit — and eventually run a surplus.

A majority of manufacturers either don’t perform annual penetration tests on their IT infrastructure or don’t know if the tests take place, according to a survey by professional services firm Sikich.

This course focuses on the supporting elements of a gearbox that allow gears and bearings to do their jobs most efficiently. Learn about seals, lubrication, lubricants, housings, breathers and other details that go into designing gearbox systems.

A bearded man closes the hood of a shiny black pickup truck, opens the driver-side door and hops in the cab, settling into a leather seat still wrapped in plastic. He’s the first person to hit the ignition on this Ford F-150, sending the first puff of smoke out its tailpipe. His brief turn behind the wheel — which ends when he delivers the pickup for testing — follows a factory tradition that has launched new Fords for more than a century. But the process that got the pickup to this point is now wholly different.

There is a commonly held belief that U.S. manufacturing leads the rest of the economy, so it is surely a worry that factory output has been flat since late 2014. And yet the broad economy kept growing, with GDP up 2 percent YoY in 4Q15, consumption up 2.7 percent YoY, and home construction up by almost 10 percent. 

U.S. manufacturing output unexpectedly declined in March by the most since February 2015, indicating factories remain scarred by global challenges that are slow to dissipate.

After the dust settled in Annapolis this week, Gov. Larry Hogan revealed that his greatest disappointment of the General Assembly session was the failure of lawmakers to approve his proposal to create a Manufacturing Empowerment Zone Program to encourage companies from outside Maryland to locate manufacturing facilities in the state's most economically disadvantaged areas, including Baltimore.

The Internet of Things is a hot topic right now, with connected devices proliferating with more or less success across the consumer device market. Some have eked their way into public perception, like smart home heating/cooling systems that are essentially more talkative versions of putting the thermostat on a timer, while others veer into the realm of the silly, with the number of Internet-connected things predicted to grow to 50 billion by 2020.

In the past 100 or more years, it’s been all about economies of scale. This means you should make a lot of a things because the more you make, the more your fixed expenses get spread out. This reduces the cost of each unit, from light bulbs to iPhones. Here’s the problem: It’s expensive to do a big manufacturing run. So, how do you know what to make in the first place?

It’s no secret that robotics help manufacturers drive efficiency, productivity and quality, particularly for large volume operations. In fact, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), in the past year "robot installations in the United State — the third largest robot market — continued to increase by 11 percent to the peak of 26,200 units."

Robots roamed the atrium and the BT Mark I drone strutted its stuff, while the webcam atop a mini version of a Mini Cooper followed visitors wearing bright colors.

Much has been made of the global Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon, which promises to connect people and machines through the power of the internet and change the way businesses boost productivity, enhance efficiencies and how jobs are done. It’s a particularly beneficial development for manufacturers, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Munich-based industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) startup KONUX raised $7.5 million in Series A funding to start developing smart sensors for industry. German industrial VC investor MIG lead the funding round, alongside New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Silicon Valley’s Andy Bechtolsheim. UnternehmerTUM, Warren Weiss and Founder.org were also named as investors according to the IIoT firm.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is proving to be a game-changer in many fields, none more structurally than in the automation industry. And a recent study by Morgan Stanley reinforces bullish sentiment for future automation investment thanks to the huge potential of IIoT.

Bloomberg cited National Bureau of Statistics reports that Chinese mills produced 70.65 million metric tons of steel in March, a nearly 3 percent increase compared to March 2015 and, according to a state-owned research firm, a new monthly record.

The commodities supercycle may be over and mining still in the dumps, but that didn't stop half a million visitors from flooding the sprawling grounds of the Bauma 2016 trade fair last week.

Gold supply is getting tighter, deposits of quality are getting rarer and the project development timeline is getting longer. Enter Canada. The Canadian Shield still offers the possibility of break-out discoveries, says PearTree Securities analyst Eric Lemieux. The recent spate of M&A activity points to the potential of the region and Lemieux discusses several companies that are well-positioned to add value.

(video) The people at the German aircraft company e-volo have successfully completed the maiden flight of the world’s first "multicopter." Called Volocopter VC200, the machine is a drone-like helicopter powered by 18 electrical propellers that can carry two people. The company says the machine’s applications range from human transportation to "precision" agriculture, search-and-rescue and freight.

Wind energy generated a record 191 megawatt-hours of electricity last year, enough for 17.5 million homes, an industry group said recently. The American Wind Energy Association said wind produced 4.7 percent of the nation's electricity in 2015. Coal generated 33 percent and natural gas slightly less than that, the association said.