A company named Ike has raised $52 million in Series A funding. The San Francisco-based startup is developing autonomous trucks with the goal of increasing safety, creating a commercial offering at scale, and helping improve the livelihoods of human drivers. Bain Capital Ventures led the round, with participation from Redpoint Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, Basis Set…

3D solid model software has come a long way.  It  makes complex finite element analysis an integrated feature so that new designs can be explored in hours, rather than days or weeks of building prototype parts and making changes.  New product development costs have been falling consistently since the advent of this technology. The logical […]

The permanent magnetic is a quiet, unobtrusive work horse in so many applications that it, like many things that are mechatronics related, is mind bogglingly (is that a word?) pervasive.  Magnets are the key material technology to enable high efficiency and power dense electric motors.  And electric motors are everywhere. The particular magentic material that […]

I would like to take a slight detour from the generally technical and economic posts.  The underlying issue to many of the challenges that we face in energy and technology has to do with how we make decisions as individuals, companies and as a culture. I submit that the current “energy crisis” is largely self […]

Battery technology has been getting a lot of focus in the last couple of years.  After all, you can’t have a decent electric car (or hybrid for that matter) without having the right kind of battery.  And, just one more time, battery technology is what prevented the marketing of the electric car after the oil […]

For seventy years what was good for Detroit was good for America.  The major auto makers could sell as many cars as they could make.  And Americans were enthusiastic about the freedom offered by relatively inexpensive personal transportation.  Since Henry Ford’s introduction of the mass produced Model T and John D. Rockefeller’s agreement to provide […]

Energy density by itself is not a sufficient measure of anything.  It is only useful in a specific context.  For example, one can refer to the energy density of battery technology.  And that is an extremely useful comparison because the weight of the battery in an electric car is critical to its success.  The General […]

Thinking about the top challenges we face in mechatronics there is one that’s connected and not really obvious.  It’s energy storage.   Our tendency is think in terms of batteries because that’s the form of energy storage that we are most familiar with.  Cell phones, laptop computers and many other portable gadgets of the Internet Age […]

There is an interesting problem with applying electric motors that is a constant source of difficulty, the nature of peak power versus continuous power.  The problem is that few systems operate at a statistical average power demand.  Frequently, this causes equipment designers to oversize the motor for the application.  At the same time, however, this […]

Steve Beshear rolled out what he is calling the “”first-ever comprehensive energy plan”” for Kentucky on Thursday that concentrates on alternative energy sources, coal conversion technology and reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent by 2025. “Energy and the production of energy is going to be one of the top priorities in the world over the […]

Xiotech Corporation today announced that it has joined The Green Grid, a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. As a General Member, Xiotech will work to develop industry-wide recommendations on best practices, metrics and technologies to help organizations improve energy efficiency in data centers and increase energy […]

Endeca Technologies,a search and information access software company, announced that Ford Motor Company, has selected and deployed Endeca’s Spend Analysis solution, built on the Endeca Information Access Platform (IAP). Launched in late summer 2008, the solution supports a corporate initiative to reduce direct material costs and identify opportunities for parts consolidation and efficiencies for existing […]

The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation today announced that a new method of combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria has won the grand prize at the 2008 Collegiate Inventors Competition. Timothy Lu of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology received the $25,000 prize during a ceremony last night at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City […]

Gallatin Steel, in conjunction with Results Engineering, was honored with a RealSolutions Award for Best Manufacturing Solution for its innovative implementation of the OnBase enterprise management system. The award was presented by Hyland Software at the 2008 OnBase Training and Technology Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Gallatin Steel, which produces high quality hot-rolled steel, and […]

Colfax Corporation (NYSE: CFX), a global leader in fluid-handling solutions for critical applications in the most demanding environments, has unveiled a new approach to handling high- and low-viscosity fluids that require high pressure boosts in the transport of crude oil. The Colfax line of rotary positive displacement (PD) screw pumps not only delivers the unsurpassed […]

Modern clean diesel fuel delivery and engine management technology from Robert Bosch LLC are featured on Volkswagen of America’s 2009 Jetta TDI and SportWagen, the country’s first-launched 50-state compliant clean diesel vehicles. The cars are being displayed at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Today’s clean diesel is cleaner and more fuel efficient, without customers having […]

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory are collaborating with other research labs, universities, and industrial partners to develop just such a a boron-aluminum-magnesium ceramic alloy coating. Applying a coating to the blades that would reduce friction and increase wear resistance could have a significant effect in boosting the efficiency of pumps, […]

Oshkosh Corporation broke ground for a new manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China. The new facility will produce JLG(R) access equipment specifically for the Asian market. Today’s announcement is another step in Oshkosh Corporation’s strategic business initiatives to meet the demands of a global economy and the growth potential of the China and Asian markets in […]

General Motors is in such dire financial straits that it needs to line up a federal aid package before president-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, Rick Wagoner, CEO, said on Nov. 10. “This is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently,” Wagoner told Automotive News, adding that now is the time to “overshoot, […]

Schnitzer Steel Industries announced that Tamara L. Lundgren, previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, was elected President and Chief Executive Officer and a director by the Company’s board of directors at its meeting on October 29, 2008. Both positions will be effective December 1, 2008. John D. Carter, current President […]

According to a study released by RSM McGladrey, executives of U.S. manufacturing and wholesale distribution companies reported that information technology (IT) is of increasing importance – and concern — to their business operations. While enhancing existing systems and further training will be priorities in the coming year, IT risk management and disaster recovery systems are […]

Higher levels of integration, Ethernet options, compact designs and PACs enhance offerings Al Presher, Contributing Editor — Design News, November 3, 2008 Controller solutions are moving through an evolution in role and functionality, as suppliers continue to add integrated capabilities for motion and machine control. The emergence of multiple network protocols that run on Ethernet […]