Covering Scientific & Technical AI | Thursday, July 9, 2026
Does the US Need a National Manufacturing Policy?
Manufacturers across the country are eager for an overarching strategy that unites the current patchwork of initiatives. Full article
America’s Bridges Falling Down
Repairing neglected bridges and other critical infrastructure will create jobs and boost the country's manufacturing sector at the same time. Full article
Is PLM Only for the Big Guys or Can Mid-Market Manufacturers Share in the Fun?
Depending on who you talk to, PLM can seem pretty complicated, like you'll need a phalanx of people with tablets, flow charts and stop watches to put all the pieces together and watch over this vast, interconnected process that can make or break your business. In response to such criticisms, vendors have developed new solutions ... Full article
3D Printing Promises Lighter, Stronger Building Material
New technique takes cue from nature to create lighter and stronger structures than conventional casting methods. Full article
Solar Lights from Soda Bottles
An illuminating video celebrates a unique use of technology consisting of recycled plastic soda bottles, pieces of corrugated metal, water, chlorine, and a chisel and hammer. Full article
imX Conference Encourages Meaningful Participation
Three-day interactive manufacturing experience provides innovative collaboration opportunities across all segments of the US manufacturing community. Full article
It’s the Economy, Stupid!
With fears mounting amidst speculation about a looming "double dip" recession, the economy is the elephant in the room, but with a twist: typically people go out of their way to avoid remarking on the presence of an elephant in a room. "Don't encourage it," they think. But this elephant is all anyone's talking about. Full article
Supercomputing Propels America Forward
Research at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility is setting the stage for a generation of more energy-efficient, lower emission vehicles. Full article
Digital Manufacturing Report Card: Who’s Finding the Missing Middle?
Numerous initiatives from government and industry have been created to address the "Missing Middle" — small manufacturers who have not adopted the digital manufacturing techniques of computer-aided modeling and simulation. In this watchdog report, Addison Snell of Intersect 360 Research grades the endeavors based on what they've accomplished so far and their prospects for future ... Full article
What Do Madagascar Penguins and HPC Have in Common?
The Council on Competitiveness and DreamWorks team up to spread the word by bird. Full article
3D Printing Process Creates Artificial Blood Cells
Researchers at Fraunhofer are developing artificial blood vessels using 3D printing. Full article
High-Risk, Big Payoffs from DOE’s ASCR Leadership Computing Research Program
Through its ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC), the DOE's Advanced Scientific Computing Research program offers up to 30 percent of its computational resources at NERSC (National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center) and the Leadership Computing Facilities at Argonne and Oak Ridge national labs to scientists and engineers who are investigating cutting-edge technologies that support DOE's ... Full article
Virtual Human Saves Lives
Sophisticated digital avatar continues to save lives on and off the battlefield. Full article
The New ‘King of Cool’ in Manufacturing
Recognizing their competitive value, "Big Industry" has always pioneered the development and use of analytical tools. The key word, though, is "big." Unfortunately, the advantages of analysis tools such as finite element methods have been sorely missed by the small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) in the United States. Full article
SGI Expands CFD Capability with OpenCFD Acquisition
After acquiring OpenCFD last month, SGI said it would continue to offer the company's flagship open-source CFD software, OpenFOAM, free to the business, government and academic communities under the GNU General Public License. The price alone promises to make CFD more available to small- to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs), but there are software complexity and hardware ... Full article
Case Study: Engineering ISV Uses Cloud Computing to Increase Productivity in Mining Operations
DEM Solutions designs software that helps mining companies optimize ore-handling equipment. To help customers more quickly calibrate models with physical ore-flow tests, it created an offering that uses Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 SP1 and "burst to Windows Azure" functionality for scalable compute power. DEM Solutions expects customers to get more accurate simulation results, leading ... Full article
Pentagon Spending Linked to Vital Manufacturing Sector
A representative from The Lexington Institute examines the role of defense spending as economic stimulator. Full article
CFD Is on a Roll
Advanced modeling software helps manufacturing companies work smarter and faster. Full article
A Labor Day Look at Automation’s Impact
What happens to the workers when companies can do more with less? Full article
High Performance Embedded Computing: It’s What’s Under the Hood that Counts
In 2000, Orbotech Ltd. went in search of a better image processing system for their Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) machines. They quickly realized that the existing solutions addressed both "classic" HPC workloads and embedded applications, but did not suit their specific <em>embedded</em> HPC needs. So the company set out to create their own solution, and ... Full article