Famed Formula 1 designer Gordon Murray has created another cool vehicle, but it’s not a race car. It’s a big, boxy truck that ships in pieces that go together just like that bookcase you bought at Ikea.

This course explores all factors that go into good gear design from life cycle, load, torque, tooth optimization, and evaluating consequences. Students should have a good understanding of basic gear theory and nomenclature.

A Houston driller is boasting of a big new oil and gas discovery in West Texas. Apache Corp. believes there could be 3 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in an area it calls Alpine High.

If you think of 3D printing as cool technology that’s only practical for one thing—prototyping—think again. 3D printing is finally on a path toward reaching its full potential.

The U.S. economy expanded at a modest pace in July and August, the Federal Reserve said last week, but there was little sign that wage pressures are being felt beyond highly skilled jobs. Most of the U.S. central bank's 12 districts around the country reported wage pressures remained "fairly modest" and were expected to remain so over the coming months, the Fed said in its Beige Book report of anecdotal information collected from business contacts.

Michigan would no longer require that someone be inside a self-driving car while testing it on public roads under legislation passed unanimously Wednesday by the state Senate, where backers touted the measures as necessary to keep the U.S. auto industry's home state ahead of the curve on rapidly advancing technology.

The U.S. economy likely created 150,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the Labor Department said last week. The reading, which is a preliminary estimate of the department's annual "benchmark" revision to closely watched payrolls data, showed the retail, wholesale trade, education and professional and business services sectors accounted for the bulk of the downward revision.

Manufacturing organizations with high numbers of equipment scattered throughout facilities in multiple locations are looking for how best to invest in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). 

The Navy gave a first look inside the stealthy and futuristic Zumwalt destroyer on Friday during the ship's first port stop at a Rhode Island naval station. The 610-foot-long warship has an angular shape to minimize its radar signature and cost more than $4.4 billion. It's the most expensive destroyer built for the Navy.

A tour of Ultra Machining Co. last year sold Bonnie Doucette on becoming a machinist. She enrolled in St. Cloud Technical & Community College. The state has smoothed her career path with a $6,000-a year-scholarship through a program that directs people to manufacturing jobs. Meanwhile, Doucette credits apprenticeships at Wright Technical Center and Ultra Machining with helping her in coursework.

Manufacturing continues to grow in Elk County, however due to population decline, shifting demographics, and changing cultural attitudes toward work, local industries are concerned they will have to begin their own outward migration to meet workforce needs. Eric Wolfe of Horizon Technology told St. Marys City council last week that over the next 20 years, employment needs in the manufacturing sector is projected to grow by more than 56 percent, or from about 15,000 jobs to nearly 25,000.

According to a newly published report from IHS Markit, entitled IHS Chemical Carbon Fibres, Chemical Economics Handbook, the usage of carbon fiber in automotive manufacturing is expected to nearly double from 2015 to 2020. According to the IHS report, global car production is expected to rise over the next couple of years to more than 110 million units in 2025, up from the estimated 88.7 million units in 2015. Much of the growth will come from the fast-expanding Chinese market. The report says the average car will incorporate nearly 350 kilograms (771.63 lbs) of plastics, up from 200 kilograms (440.92 lbs) in 2014.

Optomec, a leading global supplier of production grade additive manufacturing systems for 3D printed metals today announced it signed an agreement with Fryer Machine Systems, a producer of high-quality, affordable machine tools. As part of the agreement, Fryer will integrate Optomec LENS metal additive manufacturing solution into its new LaserFab 3D hybrid machining centers. Pricing for Fryer’s hybrid VMCs (Vertical Machining Centers) will start under $350,000, which is less than half the cost of competing hybrid metal working machines. 

Conglomerate General Electric Co. announced Monday that its Board of Directors has named David Joyce

a company vice chair leading GE Aviation and additive manufacturing. In addition, Joyce will lead GE's efforts to establish and grow an additive manufacturing equipment, materials and services business, as well as accelerating additive manufacturing applications across GE.

Dana Incorporated announced today that it plans to construct a state-of-the-art gear manufacturing facility in Europe.  The establishment of this Spicer® gear factory in Győr, Hungary, will serve as a significant enabler to further satisfy the regional needs of Dana's global customers.

The challenge for SMBs is that IIoT is still in an emerging state of technology development – there are too many technology risks involved in funding deployments of IIoT solutions – while at the same time there is a real risk of losing business to larger organizations who are moving to deploy IIoT solutions.  SMBs cannot afford to place a lot of research and development (R&D) bets on IIoT or any other aspect of their business. INEX Advisors hopes to address this challenge with the help of sponsors such as Dell, Analog Devices, PTC, Intel, and GE.

Canada's Barrick Gold, the world's most valuable producer of the precious metal, has signed a deal with Cisco Systems Inc. for a "digital reinvention" of its global mining operations, which is set to begin with the Cortez mine in Nevada.

The plan is to apply the latest technology available to cut costs and bring additional value out of existing operations, Barrick said in a statement.

Software vendor Autodesk’s San Francisco headquarters are home to custom car models, a foldable kayak and a basketball that generates electricity among other things. What these items all have in common, besides being created using Autodesk’s technology, is the lessons they convey about where manufacturing is heading.