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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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 Boeing Co.’s largest competitor, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., surpassed Boeing in annual revenue in 2008, according to a Deloitte study on the aerospace industry published earlier this month. EADS and Boeing logos

Though European companies grew faster than U.S. firms, the U.S. firms had higher operating margins, the report said. European companies are having “difficulty in cutting labor costs and rationalizing facilities for the industry in countries where there is higher government intervention and job protection schemes,” wrote Tom Captain, an aerospace and defense consultant at Deloitte LLP.

The study points out that EADS edged out Boeing for the title of world’s largest aerospace and defense firm. But EADS’ title may be short lived after the recession-induced aviation slump and costs related to its A400M military transport project take their toll. (Learn more from WSJ’s Matthew Curtin.)

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