Looking closely at an object and noticing its features and details is a good way to increase our creative powers. Following up on our curiosity is a good way to build a solid foundation of knowledge. Studying natural objects in this way is an excellent entrance to the world of scientific facts.

As we ease back into the increasingly unfriendly skies, Google has launched a tool to help us all – a flight search engine that tells us the emissions per passenger for that trip. Google is catching up to a reality the airlines and their aircraft and parts manufacturers are coming to realize: Just as governments target passenger vehicle emissions, they are increasingly focused on the aviation industry.

It’s already November, which means it’s the time of year that we shine a spotlight on the aerospace segment of our industry. Aerospace involves such things as commercial jets, military, space travel, satellites and a variety of equipment (e.g., planes, helicopters, rockets, drones, etc.).

A dynamic group of researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) has been hard at work on two groundbreaking initiatives that will forever impact material manufacturing.

When visiting a brazing job-shop recently, I was told that one of the shop’s clients insisted that some of their components be re-brazed because the braze fillets were not large enough, according to that client. When I examined the component myself, the braze fillet was actually perfectly OK, but the shop’s client thought that all fillets – welded or brazed – needed to be large.

A properly skilled manufacturing workforce is the top U.S. priority for achieving global cost competitiveness and the growth needed for a robust economy. Our growing skills gap threatens to erode U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and thus our economy. A talent pool with a sufficient supply of properly skilled candidates is imperative in meeting U.S. manufacturers’ needs for capacity, productivity and innovation.

After World War II, Winston Churchill proclaimed, “Never a let a good crisis go to waste.” Many politicians in the U.S. adopted some form of that statement and even more regularly employ this practice to promote their own agendas.

Another historically autumn ASM Heat Treat Show is in the rearview mirror, and it was great to see many of you there. That also means we are officially headed toward winter, which is significant for those of us in the Midwest or northeast.

Every Labor Day weekend, the current occupant of the Oval Office makes a speech about the importance of American workers and highlights their efforts to support the average family. Some use the opportunity to make new policy announcements.

As every heat treater – captive or commercial – knows, distortion will occur. The heat treater must recognize the many reasons why distortion occurs. This applies to both ferrous and nonferrous materials.