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Member Spotlight: NEUCO, Inc.
This month a company that has long supported the Chief Engineers Association will be hosting our General Meeting at their newly remodeled office and distribution center in Downers Grove, Illinois. NEUCO, Inc. has grown to become a major supplier of HVAC/R controls not only in the Chicago area but throughout the United States.
Since 1907, when the J. M. Neustadt Coal, Hay & …
Coal Exports Surge To Highest Level Since 1991
BILLINGS, Mt. (AP) – U.S. coal exports reached their highest level in two decades last year as strong demand from Asia and Europe offered an outlet for a fuel that is falling from favor at home.
U.S. Department of Energy data analyzed by The Associated Press reveal that coal exports topped 107 million tons of fuel worth almost $16 billion in 2011. That’s the highest level since 1991, and more than double …
J.W. Winco, Inc. Locating Pins Offer Perfect Fit, Easy Install
NEW BERLIN, Wi. – J.W. Winco, Inc., a leading supplier of standard industrial machine components, announced it now offers series GN 771.1 Locating Pins in metric sizes. These RoHS compliant components are normally used in conjunction with DIN 172 / DIN 179 drill bushings.
The tolerance of the pin diameter insures a perfect press fit into an H7 tolerance mounting bore, while the chamfer of the pin makes installation easy. …
J.W. Winco, Inc. Threaded Plugs Provide Strong, Reliable Seal
J.W. Winco, Inc., a leading supplier of standard industrial machine components, announced it now offers series GN 441 and GN 442 Threaded Plugs with Finger Grip. These RoHS-compliant plugs are available with NBR seal (GN 441) or VITON® seal (GN 442).
The threaded plugs have an external diameter matching the screw-in holes for DIN 3852 pipe bolt connections. The seal is embedded in a radial recess on the plane …
Dahl Re-Launches Unique Product Solution For Plumbers With The Skirted Toilet Kit
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Dahl, a family-owned manufacturer of top quality plumbing and heating valves and specialties for more than 50 years, is committed to providing trade professionals with the most innovative solutions for jobs they complete each day. Reinforcing this commitment to product advancements, Dahl recently re-launched the Skirted Toilet Kit, a product line designed to help plumbers install skirted toilets more quickly and effectively than ever before.
Unlike standard supply stops, which require …
Unmanned Vessel Could Soon Be Working For Navy
By Alan Sayre
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) – Technology that sent unmanned aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan soon could be steering unstaffed naval boats for such dangerous tasks as minesweeping, submarine detection, intelligence gathering and approaching hostile vessels.
Defense contractor Textron Inc. demonstrated what it calls its Common Unmanned Surface Vessel technology at its Textron Marine & Land Systems shipyard in New Orleans.
“he unmanned vessels will keep the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs away from our personnel,” said Ryan Hazlett, director of the advanced systems group of AAI, another …
Edgerton Students Build High Gas-Mileage Vehicles
By Neil Johnson
EDGERTON, Wi. (AP) – Although it’s decorated with flaming duct tape and its driver is equipped with a crash helmet, a harness-style seatbelt and a fire extinguisher, the main point is not how fast Edgerton High School’s super vehicle can go.
It’s all about the gas mileage.
With unleaded gasoline topping $3.90 a gallon, the high school’s Supermileage Vehicle Club could be the envy of any driver stuck with a fuel-guzzling pickup truck or SUV.
The eight-member, engineering class/student club, which is in its third year, is finishing …
Texas Institute To Help Refit Submersible Alvin
By Don Finley
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – For almost 50 years, the deep-diving Alvin has been exploring the ocean floor – even retrieving a lost nuclear bomb between some notable scientific discoveries.
Now, the Navy-owned, civilian-operated science vessel is being refitted with a tougher new hull designed by Southwest Research Institute – one that will allow it to reach 99 percent of the ocean floor, instead of the approximately 60 percent it can explore now.
And that will make U.S. ocean research programs competitive again with Russia, China, Japan and …
UW Prof Weaves ‘Monster Silk’ With Spider DNA
By Jeremy Pelzer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Watch out, Spider-Man: Your webbing is about to be used for more than fighting crime.
University of Wyoming professor Don Jarvis, along with collaborators in Indiana, Utah and Michigan, has developed a revolutionary technique to inject silkworms with spider DNA, resulting in a silk that’s several times stronger and more durable than traditional silk.
Within the next year or two, researchers say, silkworms could be producing 100 percent spider silk to be used in everything from stronger underwear to artificial tendons to body …
Louvre Goes Visual With Nintendo 3DS Guide
By Jamey Keaten
PARIS, France (AP) – The Louvre Museum is used to dealing with antiquities: Nearly all of its thousands of works of art date to 1848 or earlier. Now, it wants to create a relic of its own – the old museum audio guide.
The famed Paris museum, whose origins date to the 18th century, is pressing on toward modernity and going visual with new electronic guides in a deal with Japan’s Nintendo. The …
New E-Waste Recycling Laws Don’t Have To Be A Burden
By Kelly Aaron, President, EverLights
Would you pay a $7,000 fine for something that could have been prevented for a couple hundred dollars?
This question should be on every building engineer’s mind as new e-waste laws continue to pop up around the country.
On January 1, a law went into effect in Illinois that added 13 new electronics to the list of materials banned from landfills. The law also increased the fine for not recycling e-waste from $1,000 to $7,000 per incident. E-waste can include, but is not limited …
Solar Storm Shakes Earth Magnetic Field
By Seth Borenstein
WASHINGTON (AP) A solar storm shook the Earth’s magnetic field, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems.
After reports of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field.
“We really haven’t had any reports from power system operators yet,” Rob Steenburgh, a space weather forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said. “But sometimes they don’t come in until after the storm.”
He …
Kodak To Stop Making Cameras, Digital Frames
AP
ROCHESTER, New York (AP) – Eastman Kodak Co. said that it will stop making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames, marking the end of an era for the company that brought photography to the masses more than a century ago.
Founded by George Eastman in 1880, Kodak was known all over the world for its Brownie and Instamatic cameras and its yellow-and-red film boxes. But the company was battered by Japanese competition in …
