Americans appear to be more optimistic about growth in recent months, and manufacturers are no exception. New results from the NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook survey show manufacturers’ optimism rose to a new all-time high in the survey’s nearly 20-year history.

In preliminary figures, the consumer sentiment rebounded in April after pulling back somewhat in the prior two months. Confidence remained high and not far from January’s 13-year record. Indeed, the underlying figures suggest that Americans remain quite upbeat. That message is also being conveyed in the spending data, with retail sales up 5.2 percent over the past 12 months. With that said, retail spending edged slightly lower in March for the second straight month, down 0.2 percent. Softer automotive sales help to explain at least part of this weakness. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, retail sales held steady in March.

This course focuses 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. 

Goodenough, age 94, and senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga developed a new battery that could make the current batteries powering smartphones and electric cars obsolete.

European airplane manufacturer ATR said Thursday it sealed a $536-million sale with Iran Air for at least 20 aircraft, the latest aviation firm to strike a deal following Iran's nuclear accord with world powers.

Boeing Co. plans to lay off hundreds of engineers in Washington state and other locations — and may eliminate more jobs later this year as the planemaker contends with slowing aircraft sales.

The U.S. cleared the sale of the country’s sole provider of platinum and palladium to a miner whose biggest investor is Chinese, providing the first indication that the Trump administration’s tough talk on China won’t necessarily translate into blocking Beijing-linked deals.

CEOs for Mazda and Porsche say no, as long as they stay kind of small.

A British team of scientists has discovered an underwater deposit of diverse minerals in the Atlantic, about 500 km. off the Canary Islands, which contains vast amounts of tellurium, used in the making of solar panels, wind turbines and electronics.

One of the most prominent trends currently taking the technology industry by storm is artificial intelligence (AI). As more products like Amazon Alexa and Google Home hit the consumer market, the general public continues to reap the benefits of AI. A more recent phenomenon, however, is that the concept of AI is beginning to be embraced in the B2B industry.

The March final manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) report indicates a softening environment in the US business condition. It stood at 53.3 in March 2017, compared to 54.2 in February 2017. However, it was slightly below the preliminary reading of 53.4.

The residential Master of Science in Additive Manufacturing (MSAMD) and online Master of Engineering in Additive Manufacturing (MEngAMD) are 30-credit degrees offered to graduate students to provide the analytical and practical skills required to digitally design, develop, analyze, numerically model, optimize, fabricate, and inspect new components and subassemblies using additive-manufacturing technologies. 

Major aerospace corporations such as Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne are developing greater 3-D printing capabilities as a way to speed production and lower costs.

Under a model known as distributed or on-demand manufacturing, MakeTime is meeting small businesses’ manufacturing needs in much the same way Uber meets the needs of passengers looking for rides.

Three big evolutions are shaping the future of computer-aided design software and influencing CAD users’ expectations — and enabling a highly personalized experience, seamless and expanded collaboration, and universal access to game-changing insights.

U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers consumed $174.98 million worth of cutting tools during February, indicating a steady rise in manufacturing activity. Cutting tool consumption is a reliable indicator of trends in U.S. manufacturing activity, according to the sponsors of the monthly Cutting Tool Market Report, "as it is a true measure of actual production levels."

An engine is a sum of its components. It’s a symphony of systems working together to produce power as efficiently as possible. Each engine OEM has its own strategy for achieving as much efficiency as possible. From turbochargers to waterpumps, no component is overlooked.

A lot of people expect big things from the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and ABI Research is attaching some numbers to the expectations, forecasting that industrial manufacturing applications will generate more than $138 million this year from cellular and satellite connectivity fees.