Gear Technology
The annual state-of-the-gear-industry survey polls gear manufacturers about the latest trends and opinions relating to the overall health of the gear industry. As in years past, the survey was conducted anonymously, with invitations sent by email to gear industry companies — primarily in North America, but including some respondents from around the world. More than 200 individuals responded to the survey.

Drone Life
Vertical Aerospace’s Urban Air Mobility solution may be the Rolls-Royce of passenger drones, a phrase synonymous with luxury engineering. Rolls-Royce has recently announced that their electrical power system will be integrated into Vertical Aerospace’s “piloted all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle.” The aircraft will carry up to four passengers for 120 miles at cruise speeds of over 200mph, and is expected to certify in 2024. The companies expect the first flight of the Vertical Aerospace aircraft this year.

Riken (Japan)
The development of innovative magnetic nanodevices is one step closer to reality thanks to the observation by RIKEN physicists of a type of rotation that can be realized in materials consisting of light elements. The ability to use electric currents to turn revolving mechanical parts led to the development of electric motors and caused an explosion in electrical devices. Now physicists are trying to do the same thing but on a nanoscale. However, the development of innovative magnetic nanodevices requires the efficient electrical generation of rotation, or torque.

Manufacturing.net
Consider: It takes one to four weeks for a supplier to process a PO from a customer. That is the same amount of time it typically takes to ship goods from China to the U.S. Our global data handling is so poor that data which should move at the speed of light instead looks like a container ship crossing the largest ocean on the planet. Poor data handling is restricting the flexibility of our supply chains.

The AGMA Electric Drive Committee released the white paper: A Gearing-Centric Snapshot of the EV Space. The paper takes a detailed look at the gearing developments in drivetrain design. The committee worked to provide the industry with information on the diversity in drivetrain design; the high-level technology in the machine tool market; new players in the market with new ideas; different and higher precision manufacturing processes; and the quest for the silent drivetrain. The paper also provides high-level information including some history of electric vehicles, the evolution of the EV consumer, and current regulations driving some of the changes in these industries. 

Manufacturing Global
As a founding member of the Catena-X Automotive Network — which currently consists of 25 partners — Volkswagen Group is pursuing the creation of uniform standards for the exchange of data in the automotive value chain. The aim for this network is to serve as the base for a digital ecosystem in the automotive industry for manufacturers, suppliers, dealer associations and technology suppliers.

Engine Technology International
Powertrain engineering specialist FEV says it is picking up the pace of development on hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICE). According to professor Stefan Pischinger, president and CEO of FEV Group, “The hydrogen internal combustion engine is a robust, cost efficient option for zero-CO2 transport. It can be implemented in the current production infrastructure relatively simply and offers potential for existing vehicles."

Drone Life
Visions of autonomous passenger drones flitting across futuristic cityscapes are still riding a fine line between reality and sci-fi. However, with companies such as EHang and Sikorsky leading the charge, that future may be closer than we think; but the first, aerial baby steps towards a real-world, air taxi service will likely take the form of manned flights.

Mining.com
U.S. and Australia-based researchers have discovered a cheap new way to capture and convert CO2 emissions using liquid gallium. The process can be done at room temperature and uses the metal to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen and a high-value solid carbon product that can later be used in batteries, for construction or in aircraft manufacturing.

NPR
The Biden administration has announced the broad outlines of a deal to end an expensive economic impasse that had led to growing tension between the United States and the European Union. The U.S. will keep steel and aluminum tariffs on European nations, but will allow a certain amount of steel and aluminum produced in the EU to enter the U.S. markets tariff-free. 

National Association of Manufacturers
Following the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released a statement.

Reuters
Global shipping and supply chain bottlenecks are encouraging Canadian firms to bring production back home, but some companies would have to absorb higher costs and build expertise in certain sectors for local manufacturing to pick up pace.

KAIT Channel 8
Mississippi County, Arkansas, is set to experience a growth in population due to the passing of a program that encourages manufacturing workers to live within the community where they work. The program, named "Work Here, Live Here," offers a 10% payment on the cost of building a new home or a 5% payment on the purchase and renovation of a home that was built more than a year prior. 

Manufacturing.net
Finland has agreed to buy 64 Lockheed Martin fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of combat planes in a 10 billion Euro ($11.3 billion) deal that represents the Finnish military’s largest ever purchase.  

Manufacturing.net
Communication in the manufacturing workplace, whether on the factory floor or in the warehouse or stockroom, is essential. However, it is also challenging. Since the coronavirus outbreak, manufacturers are also required to operate in compliance with additional guidelines regarding social distancing and wearing of PPE, which only further complicates communication challenges.

Fast Company
Over the past decade, it has become clear that being “on” 24/7/365 is not a recipe for success. Discussions about work-life balance and the need to take vacations are signs that we understand that getting away from work is important for mental and physical health. It’s useful to dig a little more into what you’re trying to accomplish with your downtime, though. The more you understand about what you’re trying to achieve, the easier it becomes to recognize when you might need to take a little extra time away from work.

New Atlas
More than three years after revealing plans to build a monster offshore wind turbine called the Haliade-X, GE Renewable Energy has announced that the prototype of the latest and most powerful member of the family has started operating at 14 MW in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.