ASME Announces Launch of Idea Lab, Celebrates Award Winners at Fifth Annual Impact.Engineered Event

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)’s Engineering for Change (E4C) hosted its fifth annual Impact.Engineered, a celebration of the sustainable development ecosystem that convenes leading engineers, philanthropists, scholars, and social entrepreneurs who are working to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and improve the quality of life globally. Event highlights included the launch of the Idea Lab incubator, extending the reach of the ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW) hardware accelerator platform, and the announcement of the winners of the 2021 Impact.Engineered Awards.

With the addition of the Idea Lab incubator, ASME moves “upstream” to aid budding social entrepreneurs in developing and implementing their social impact hardware concepts from the pre-prototype stage and filling the pipeline for future ISHOW participants. The prestigious ISHOW international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation has enabled over 180 startups from more than 30 countries to solve critical quality-of-life challenges for underserved communities worldwide. The 2021 ISHOW cohort exhibited their innovations in the event’s virtual Tech Gallery.

Keith Roe, former president of ASME and current chair of the philanthropy committee, made the Idea Lab announcement and, with his wife Elizabeth “Brownie” Roe, donated $100,000 to help launch the program. They invite others to join them in investing in Idea Lab, “so life changing innovations don’t get stalled on the drawing board.” Applications will open in April 2022 and interested individuals and teams, as well as potential partners and mentors, can learn more at https://thisishardware.org/ideas.

Kara Miller, The Boston Globe columnist and former host of public radio’s “Innovation Hub,” emceed the Impact.Engineered virtual awards ceremony featuring the “best of the best” in five categories. This year’s winners are:

For the Ecosystem Builder award:

Bahaa Eddine Sarroukh, healthcare innovation lead at the Philips Foundation and senior advisor on innovation and technology to the UN Development Programme in Kenya – With the Philips Foundation, he explores health technologies such as telehealth, point-of-care diagnostics, and dedicated solutions for low-resource settings, with the aim to build the evidence and insights that can help create a platform from which healthcare solutions can scale to larger impact in a sustainable way. Sarroukh serves on the ASME Engineering Global Development Committee, ISHOW Steering Committee and has been an ISHOW judge since the program’s inception in 2015.  He has lent his expertise to social ventures in the Climate Innovation Center network and connects his UN Habitat colleagues to the E4C Fellowship program to advance their sustainability goals.

Dr. Beatrice Murage, senior manager of global sustainability for Philips, presented the award to Sarroukh.

For the Woman Champion:
Powering Impact award:

Carol Dahl, former executive director of The Lemelson Foundation – whose mission is to use the power of invention to improve lives. Under her leadership, the Foundation focused on enabling the next generation of inventors and invention-based enterprises to develop products and businesses that underpin the economy and solve big problems in the U.S. as well as for the poorest populations in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, the Foundation’s Oregon regional initiative strengthened the invention ecosystem in the state by providing K-12 invention education programs and resources for emerging entrepreneurs.

Carlotta M. Arthur, director of The Henry Luce Foundation’s Clare Booth Luce Program for Women in STEM, presented the award to Dahl.

For the Academic Ally award:

The Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering – an acknowledgment of the important role that partnerships play in the future of engineering and the next generation of leaders and the visionary academic institutions like Penn State that are pushing the boundaries of pedagogy and research. Through its continued partnership with ASME and E4C programs and a shared mission to train the future workforce together, the Penn State College of Engineering has demonstrated a commitment to social innovation with meaningful programs and faculty that is encouraged and supported. The latest Impact Project between E4C and Penn State assesses the barriers preventing effective application of housing solutions for improving flooding resilience for housing within the context of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Kendra Sharp, head of the National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering, presented the award to Justin Schwartz, the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering at Penn State, and Esther Adhiambo Obonyo, associate professor of engineering and director of the Global Building Network.

For the Impact Driver award:

The Autodesk Foundation – supporting the innovators and entrepreneurs tackling the world’s most pressing challenges through design and engineering. The Autodesk Foundation’s investment in the E4C fellowship helped double the cohort from 25 to 50 fellows. Recent projects include designing homes in Rwanda to mitigate poor ventilation, cataloging water tower designs for relief sites around the world, and designing greenhouse airflow for converting organic waste into insect-based protein for animal feed.

John Wain, senior shelter cluster coordination officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), presented the award to Joe Speicher, executive director of The Autodesk Foundation.

For the Change Maker award (nominated and selected by online vote of event participants):

Curabit – a startup company leveraging technology to change the way mental health is addressed in India, providing exposure therapy via virtual reality to those affected by mental health disorders under the supervision of mental health professionals. Their innovative use of virtual reality allows for the customization and personalization of each treatment plan, provides complete control to the therapist, and allows for interactivity with the simulation. Its cost-effective VR-based therapy can be more stimulatory than traditional therapeutic techniques and provides biomonitoring through the data generated.

Neil Yeoh, CEO and founder of OnePointFive (opf.degree), presented the award to Rishabh Nanawati and Aman Sariya, co-founders of Curabit.

The awards ceremony capped off a two-hour program that included a variety of presentations examining progress toward and opportunities for achieving the UN SDGs and “acknowledging that global challenges from climate change to COVID-19 and economic downturn require technical solutions, workforce development, resilient infrastructure, and public, private and nonprofit involvement to drive implementation,” says Iana Aranda, director of engineering global development for ASME, who hosted Impact.Engineered.

Keynote speaker Austin Alexander, vice president of sustainability and social impact for Xylem Inc., delivered remarks about the connection between water scarcity and affordability, water system resilience to climate change, and the role of engineers in Xylem’s efforts to solve global water challenges.

The Impact.Engineered 2021 program also included a session on “Engineering Global Development: Field Insights” in which E4C fellows and partners shared their experiences and lessons learned, followed by remarks from Kathleen Knight, executive director of Siegel Family Endowment, which recently pledged $100,000 to fund a cohort of five cross-sector engineering fellows in 2022 and conduct a longitudinal impact evaluation of the program.

Impact.Engineered is made possible by sponsors and partners including The ASME Foundation, The Resolution Project, Siemens Stiftung, and Wingu.  

For more information, visit www.impact-engineered.org.

ASM, ASTM International Announce Educational Collaboration

ASM International announced a collaboration with global standards organization ASTM International. The objective of this course collaboration is to establish a joint hosting of educational courses between the two organizations.

The initiative is an opportunity for each organization to work together to integrate, publish, market, and collaborate on educational products to improve the value of each organization's content to their respective memberships and customers.

These educational products will include a variety of digital short courses, e-learning courses, and live, in-person courses that help to meet the needs of the materials science community at large, including topics such as: additive manufacturing, corrosion, metallographic techniques, materials characterization, and welding.

“I'm excited to be working with ASTM International to help bring each organization's area of expertise together for the betterment of our memberships and customers through both co-development of coursework as well mutual exchange of online courses to each other’s communities,” said Ryan Milosh, chief sales and marketing officer.

“I'm elated to work with ASM International. This partnership will provide our customers with a more in-depth learning experience within the Metals space,” said Tye Beard, director of live training & on demand solutions.

For more information, visit www.asminternational.org.

Renishaw Announces Expanded CMM Software Offering with New Verisurf Agreement in North America

Renishaw has entered into an agreement with Verisurf Software Inc., allowing companies in North America to access Verisurf coordinate measuring machine (CMM) software from Renishaw. With an emphasis on the popular Verisurf CMM Programming and Inspection Suite, this agreement enables companies to benefit from Renishaw’s advanced inspection technologies, including the REVO® 5 axis measuring system and the Equator™ flexible gaging system, and the support networks of both organizations.

“We have been converting Renishaw Equator gaging systems into CMM Master shopfloor CMMs, and supporting the PH10 and SP25 solutions for years, so adding value to the PH20 and REVO 5-axis systems was a natural progression.  We recognize the continuing advancement of this technology and plan to support other REVO sensors,” said Ernie Husted, president and CEO of Verisurf Software Inc.

“At Renishaw, we appreciate the continued support of our product line by Verisurf.  Fast and easy CMM programming along with the value-added 5-axis Spiral, Edge, and Pocket scan types add to our customer promise of 5-axis efficiency and overall performance,” said Denis Zayia, president of Renishaw, USA.

For more information, visit www.verisurf.com or www.renishaw.com/cmm.

Q3 Robot Orders Put 2021 on Track for Biggest Year Yet  

Strong robot sales in the third quarter of 2021 bring the total number of orders so far for 2021 to nearly 29,000 units valued at $1.48 billion, the best numbers ever recorded for the North American robotics market. According to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), these numbers show increases of 37% in units sold (up from 21,072) and 35% in value (up from $1.09 billion) over the same period in 2020 and surpass the previous highest record from 2017 by 5.8% and 0.5%.

In Q3 alone, North American companies ordered 9,928 robots valued at $513 million, up 32% and 35% respectively over the third quarter of 2020. This marks the third highest quarter ever in units ordered and fifth highest in value.

“With labor shortages throughout manufacturing, logistics and virtually every industry, companies of all sizes are increasingly turning to robotics and automation to stay productive and competitive,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “As our latest statistics indicate, sales are on track to make 2021 the biggest year ever for robotics orders in North America.  We see many current users expanding their applications of robotics and automation throughout their facilities while first time robotics users are emerging in a wide range of industries such as automotive, agriculture, construction, electronics, food processing, life sciences, metalworking, warehousing and more.”

In the first nine months of 2021, automotive-related orders increased 20% year over year to 12,544 units ordered. Non-automotive orders outpaced this growth, expanding 53% to 16,355 units ordered, marking only the second time non-automotive orders have surpassed automotive-related orders in the first nine months of a year (2020).

In Q3 2021 specifically, nearly two-thirds of sales (6,302) came from non-automotive industries, further demonstrating the trend of robotics growing into areas outside of automotive OEM and tier suppliers. Unit sales from non-automotive industries in Q3 saw the following increases over the same quarter in 2020:

• Metals: 183%
• Food and Consumer Goods: 40%
• Semi and Electronics/Photonics: 26%
• Plastics and Rubber: 10%
• All Other Industries: 97%

Manufacturer and A3 member 3M has experienced the trends firsthand. "3M is seeing an upswing in providing automated solutions and processes for our customers, but as a manufacturer ourselves, we are also increasingly investing in automation,” said Carl Doeksen, global robotics/automation director, 3M’s Abrasive Systems Division. “The pandemic put a spotlight on the benefits that automated processes bring—from the ability to ramp-up and scale-up production quickly and efficiently, to helping improve the lives of our employees, our customers, and their families.”

For more information, visit https://www.automate.org/.

Hexagon Industrializes High Quality Additive Manufacturing with Open Ecosystem Strategy

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has revealed its plans to build a flexible and open additive manufacturing (AM) ecosystem to help overcome complexities in 3D printing processes and support customers in effectively building their product development and manufacturing workflows.

With several new additions to the ecosystem announced this week alone – Sciaky, Meltio, CADS Additive, AMcubator and Additive Center – and many more under way, Hexagon’s suite of AM partners and products is becoming one of the most comprehensive on the market. Plans to continue building an open ecosystem from concept to customer with the shared purpose of high quality were revealed at 3D printing industry event Formnext 2021, where the challenges of industrializing AM have been at the forefront of discussions.

Paolo Guglielmini, president of Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division, said: “Far from Industry 4.0 creating a 'connected' end-to-end supply chain, today many 3D printers and protocols are creating 'walled kingdoms' of hardware that are incompatible with certain CAE tools, and vendors are introducing machines with proprietary connectivity, standards and protocols designed not to work with machinery from rivals.

“Just as large manufacturers drove the provision of open factory automation, it’s important we vendors now break down barriers to new manufacturing technologies that offer more flexibility and efficiency. Instead, open data standards should be seen as a growth enabler.”

Hexagon’s AM ecosystem offers customers a broad spectrum of solutions as a result of working closely with material suppliers (e.g., Solvay, COVESTRO), printer and machine-tool companies (e.g., Stratasys, Markforged, Renishaw, Additive Industries, Sciaky, GEFERTEC, Meltio), software and platform providers (e.g., Authentise, CADS Additive, Elise), and service bureaus. Through open collaboration, it is helping manufacturers to build confidence in performance, quality, and repeatability, while allowing customers to integrate new AM technologies with their existing solutions, tools and workflows. Solutions that leverage Hexagon and ecosystem partners are used by every part of the supply chain, from part producers to global OEMs, with the common aim of producing high quality parts to global industrial standards.

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has a consultative approach, developing long-term relationships with the biggest players in global manufacturing, as well as disruptive new players. With a community of more than 500,000 users, its product development and manufacturing technologies are used throughout the supply chain. Hexagon also invests 10% of net sales in R&D and holds thousands of active patents. In additive manufacturing, the company collaborates with leading research institutes and projects, including the EU MANUELA project, Lift, RMIT University, Purdue University, Materials Innovation Guild (MIG) at the University of Louisville, and more. It is also an active contributor to the development of emerging standards, including ASTM International groups, the 3MF Consortium in November 2021 to contribute to the development of effective interoperability between additive manufacturing software tools.

Mathieu Pérennou, director of strategy and global business development for additive manufacturing at  Hexagon, said: “Through continued openness, our ecosystem benefits both sides of the exchange. Our partners can benefit from Hexagon’s technologies and expertise while getting the opportunity to collaborate and solve problems for our extensive global manufacturing customer base, while our customers benefit from that deeper collaboration and ability to build workflows based on truly best-of-breed solutions that are fully tailored to their individual goals.

“We want to continue to expand that ecosystem to industrialize AM and realize its benefits for high performance components, meeting the same quality expectations that our customers have for traditional methods, and we need to make it possible at higher volumes than AM with consistent results at every global plant.”

Jeff Hemenway, vice president, business segments for Stratasys, commented: “We fully agree that an ecosystem-based approach is required to enable manufacturers to understand the full potential of AM, as demonstrated through our recently launched GrabCad AM platform and our new open approach to material development. Our partnership with Hexagon allows customers to accelerate the design and simulated testing of parts and material performance for printing. And, as the committed global leader in advancing polymer-based Additive Manufacturing - together with Hexagon, and across industries, we are propelling our customers’ ability to realize the value of AM in production.”  

Alex Redwood, head of design AM, Additive Industries, commented: “We are often printing complex parts of varying size and shapes and we need to get them right first time. Our unconstrained base plate technology is particularly important to simulate accurately when it comes to the behaviour of large components during build. We have found that Hexagon’s Simufact Additive build simulation captures this behaviour incredibly well with short simulation times. We look forward to pushing the limits of industrial AM design and exploring other synergies through the projects we are currently undertaking.”

Daniel Stadlmayr, technical director, CADS Additive, commented: “Our collaboration with Hexagon is a win for all the industry, helping our customers to achieve the best possible results with accurate build simulation, optimal use of materials and a shared passion for innovation to help our customers solve their most challenging design challenges for metal AM.”

For more information, visit https://iamready.hexagonmi.com.

Rittal Adds Southeast Warehouse to Shorten Delivery Times, Expand Service Capabilities, Improve Customer Service

Rittal North America added a U.S. Southeast warehouse to get closer to their customers and shorten delivery times, expand service capabilities, and improve customer service. They are collaborating with international transport and logistics provider Gebrüder Weiss in Conyers, GA, to expand Rittal’s U.S. footprint for more responsive enclosure delivery to integrators, OEMs, machine builders, panel builders, and data centers in the Southeast.

Improving delivery times for panel building and IT infrastructure is key to compete in manufacturing and IT today. So, establishing a strategically located warehouse in the Southeast enables Rittal to better serve its customers with faster delivery times. By optimizing operational processes and adding a new warehouse location with Gebrüder Weiss near Atlanta, GA, Rittal enhances its offering to customers in the Southeast.

This logistics footprint expansion offers:

• Quality engineered products
• Faster delivery
• Improved customer productivity

Rittal’s ribbon cutting at the Gebrüder Weiss warehouse in Conyers, GA, showcases its U.S. footprint expansion in the Southeast.

“Providing more responsive delivery in the Southeast gives integrators, OEMs, machine builders, panel builders and data centers a real competitive advantage with time to market,” states Mike Freund, CEO at Rittal. “Rittal is pleased to announce our collaboration with Gebrüder Weiss to shorten delivery times in the Southeast.”

The announcement of a U.S. Southeast warehouse, in addition to Rittal’s recently announced U.S. Midwest warehouse, further demonstrates Rittal’s customer-centric commitment to shorten delivery times, expand service capabilities, and improve customer service.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Rittal to develop a custom approach to meet their supply chain and logistics goals. We have worked successfully with Rittal in Europe for many years, and we are delighted to help them serve their clients from our warehouses in both the Midwest and now in the Southeast. We look forward to helping them expedite orders and expand throughout the Southeast,” said Mark McCullough, CEO of Gebrüder Weiss USA.

For more information, visit https://www.rittal.com.

NIST Requests Information to Help Guide Emerging Technologies

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking input from the public by January 31, 2022, about the public and private sector marketplace trends, supply chain risks, and the legislative, policy and future investment needs of eight emerging technology areas. The topic areas are: artificial intelligence, internet of things in manufacturing, quantum computing, blockchain technology, new and advanced materials, unmanned delivery services, internet of things and 3D printing.  

NIST has published a Request for Information in the Federal Register to collect input that will help identify, understand, refine and guide the development of the current and future state of technology in the eight emerging technology areas named above. The information will inform the “Study to Advance a More Productive Tech Economy” that was called for in the American Competitiveness of a More Productive Emerging Tech Economy (COMPETE) Act signed into law in 2020.    

Comments will be collected at https://www.regulations.gov/. Full details on responding can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/22/2021-25428/study-to-advance-a-more-productive-tech-economy.

TÜV Rheinland of North America Opens New Testing Services Laboratory in Ohio

TÜV Rheinland has announced the opening of its newest testing services laboratory in West Unity, Ohio.

Specializing in nondestructive and destructive testing services for industry sectors including automotive, aviation/aerospace and infrastructure, TÜV Rheinland of North America’s (TRNA), northwest Ohio facility is well-equipped to provide a full range of testing requirements, including a custom-built, fully automated magnetic particle system which provides efficiency and accuracy not achievable with off the shelf systems. Production hardness testing and additional nondestructive testing capabilities round out the testing services offered in the new facility.

“Situated along the critical I-80/90 corridor, this new facility is conveniently located close to several manufacturing hub cities and further expands the range of capabilities and geographic reach already available through our other existing laboratories in North America,” said Mike Forbes, operations anager at TÜV Rheinland of North America. He adds, “It is designed to provide the same high quality testing services and level of service that TÜV Rheinland’s customers have come to know and expect from our exceptional team of professionals.”