Quality Engineering Career News by UQSI

The numbers aren’t dizzyingly high. But the conservative methodology used for a recent study counting the number of environmentally friendly jobs makes the study’s conclusions all the more striking. State leaders who review a recent Pew report – as all should – will discover that growth in the clean-energy sector provides Hoosiers with one reason to celebrate.

The Pew Charitable Trust’s study, “The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and Investments Across America,” found that while overall jobs declined 1 percent between 1997 and 2007, jobs in clean energy grew 17.9 percent. Indiana was one of seven states, as well as the District of Columbia, where the number of jobs fell overall, but the number of jobs in clean energy increased.

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GKN Aerospace

On a number of fronts, engineers at GKN Aerospace are pushing forward the boundaries of current technology – achieving results now and opening new avenues for tomorrow in the drive to develop ever quieter, more fuel-efficient and lower maintenance aircraft.

The Company is in the final stage of developing one piece acoustic engine and inlet liners which have already demonstrated 4db noise level reductions and promise to be 40percent lighter than current liners. This honeycomb technology is ready to go into production in its current form with further development already underway, as Phil Grainger, Senior Technical Director and Chief Technologist at GKN Aerospace, explains:

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Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. –

An analyst cut her 2009 earnings estimates Wednesday for Barnes Group Inc., a day after the aerospace and industrial-components manufacturer withdrew its guidance for the year because of the recession and uncertainty in transportation markets.

Analyst Yvonne M. Varano of Jefferies & Co. cut her estimate to 80 cents per share from $1.24 per share.

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WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) — The U.S. space agency has awarded a $200 million contract to Jacobs Technology Inc. of Tullahoma, Tenn., for aerospace testing at the Ames Research Center.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration two-year contract has three one-year options and begins July 1. The company will provide support for aerospace tests and facilities maintenance and operations at the Moffett Field, Calif., NASA facility.

The Ames center supports a wide variety of testing requirements for NASA and other government agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security. Ames researchers also provide testing services for industry and other non-government entities, NASA said.

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By –Stuart Burns

Aircraft production rates are forecast to drop across the board this year and next, hitting a trough some time around 2012 due to slowing production rates according to an article in Aviation Today. Even though producers and distributors are still reporting strong market demand as we go to press. But to dispel a well circulated myth, the drop in demand will not be because metals will be widely displaced by composites. In fact, overall metal demand for aerospace is set to increase during the next decade once the current trough is past.

The fall in aircraft production volumes has been widely predicted with mention frequently made of both canceled and delayed orders at the principal aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus. But another popular misconception outside the industry at least is that military is a large percentage of total aircraft numbers. The reality is that although military aircraft production is anticipated to be more stable, out of 4446 aircraft produced in 2008 only 446 were fixed wing military, just 10%, according to a presentation by AeroStrategyto an AMM conference last month. Military spend is set to be more stable and build programs are unlikely to be significantly affected by the general aviation downturn in spite of tight government budgets.

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The Arizona Republic

With a multibillion-dollar economic impact, the aerospace industry is the southeast Valley’s payroll leader, one of the region’s largest employers and a workplace for some of Arizona’s top research talent.

Collectively, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe are home to more than 200 private firms, a state university, community college and an Air Force lab, all of which are engaged in a range of aerospace manufacturing and research, from helicopter assembly to space technology.

In March, a group of influential business, government and academic leaders warned that Arizona’s $3.8 billion annual aerospace payroll could dwindle unless determined efforts are made to expand the industry by supplying the science and engineering talent it demands.

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“Greener Aviation” Technologies and Alternative Fuels Head the List

RESTON, Va., June 1 — The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has released its first annual list of top emerging aerospace technologies.

Developed by AIAA’s Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC), the list comprises the following:

1. “Greener Aviation” Technologies – including emission reduction and noise reduction technologies as used in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Continuous Low Emissions, Energy and Noise (CLEEN) program, and the European Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE) program and “Clean Sky” Joint Technology Initiative.
2. Alternative Fuels – including biofuels, as promoted by the FAA’s Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), and the recent FAA grant to the X Prize Foundation to spur development of renewable aviation fuels and technologies.
3. High Speed Flight Technologies – such as supersonic and hypersonic aerodynamics, sonic boom reduction technology, and thermal management aids.
4. Efficient Propulsion Technologies – including open rotors and geared turbofans, such as those used in the European DREAM (valiDation Radical Engine Architecture systeMs) program.
5. Active Flow Technologies – such as plasma actuators.
6. Advanced Materials – such as nanotechnology and composites.
7. Active Structures – such as shape memory alloys, morphing, and flapping.
8. Health Management – such as monitoring, prognostics, and self-healing.
9. Remote Sensing Technologies – including unmanned aerial vehicles and satellites such as those used in NASA’s Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) program.
10. Advanced Space Propulsion Technologies – including plasma-based propulsion such as the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, and solar sail technologies.

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