Developments

Controlling car pollution at the quantum level

Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc. in Japan have reviewed research that might be leading the way towards a new generation of automotive catalytic converters. Catalytic converters that change the toxic fumes of automobile exhaust to less toxic pollutants only reached the market in the mid-1970s. They are formed of a catalyst – usually in the form of a precious metal such as platinum, palladium, or rhodium – a catalyst support material, and a wash-coat designed to disperse the catalytic materials over a wide surface area. Toyota Central R&D Labs. Inc. in Japan are involved in research to develop catalysts that are controlled at the quantum-level. With this level of control, “we can expect an extreme reduction of precious metal usage in automotive exhaust catalysts and/or fuel cells,” says Dr. Yoshihide Watanabe, chief researcher at the Toyota Central R&D Labs in Japan. He reviewed research on different types of catalytic reactions involving metal clusters whose sizes were atomically controlled. Metal cluster chemistry has been developing rapidly since the mid-20th century. A cluster is a group of atoms or molecules formed by interactions varying in strength from very weak to strong. Some naturally occurring clusters are known to be involved in catalytic reactions. The study of metal clusters is inspiring great interest, partially for the potential use of synthetic clusters in industrial applications, such as catalysts in catalytic converters. He pointed out that not much research has been done in the area of atomically controlled cluster catalysis, with the exception of studies on carbon monoxide oxidation reaction. His research indicates that catalytic activity is strongly affected by the electronic structure of clusters, their geometry on a support material, and the interaction between the cluster and the material. Thus, the catalytic activity of clusters can be enhanced by controlling cluster size and the […]

NGOs allowed to sue polluters in China

Hundreds of campaign groups in China have been granted the unprecedented right to bring legal action over environmental damage. The number of NGOs in China concerned with environmental protection has grown significantly in the past decade. According to Liao Hong, vice-director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are now 569,000 licensed NGOs in China, with about 7,000 registered as groups campaigning on environmental issues. This is a conservative estimate and does not include the plethora of unlicensed NGOs and ad hoc activist groups focusing on environmental issues at both the national and local level. However, it’s long been debated what exactly environmental NGOs can actually do in China. Campaigns are possible, but often restricted; mass gatherings, protests and rallies are virtually always deemed illegal; and perhaps most importantly, the ability of an NGO – whether registered or not, international or domestic – to actually seek prosecution against a Chinese enterprise for breaching environmental regulations has been almost non-existent in China’s arcane and highly politicised legal system. That has changed somewhat in 2015. In December 2014, the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved 700 NGOs as eligible to launch public interest litigation over violations of environmental law. This is the first time any NGOs have been granted the legal status necessary to take violators to court, rather than simply report violations to the authorities. Seven hundred may only be one-tenth of registered NGOs but, looking on the bright side, it is a start. The Beijing-based Friends of Nature and Fujian province-based NGO Green Home tested the new legislation with a lawsuit, lodged on 1 January this year in Fujian’s Nanping Intermediate People’s Court, against four mine operators accused of carrying out illegal mining activities since 2008 in a mountainous area of natural beauty and environmental conservation. The case lasted a couple […]

Why it pays to join the circular economy

We all know that the current linear economic model is not sustainable. Materials are extracted, manufactured into products and then discarded into landfill – it’s a system that wastes valuable resources, causes environmental damage and will make it near impossible to satisfy the demands of the 3 billion new consumers in developing nations, who are expected to join the middle class by 2030. The concept of the circular economy is about decoupling growth from resource consumption – and maximising the positive environmental, economic and social effects. It’s about designing products so that they are easier to reuse or recycle, like Timberland’s Earthkeeper shoes. It’s about making sure that every product ingredient is biodegradable or fully recyclable, like the chemicals company that has replaced fossil-fuel feedstocks in their production methods. It’s about maximising useful product life by repairing or remanufacturing, like Caterpillar’s parts-refurbishing programme. The circular economy is about new business models that have shifted from selling products to selling services, such as the tyre company that offers a per-km tyre-leasing service. It is about eliminating waste from production, and making sure any waste is recovered as a valuable resource, whether it’s heat, slurry, nutrients, organic material, metal, salt – whatever. It’s about engaging your customers throughout the life cycle of the product, instead of the few minutes during which they make a purchase; and, ultimately, it’s about gaining competitive advantage. The scale of the competitive advantage is startling. Against a backdrop of resource prices that have more than doubled over the past 10-12 years, erasing the commodity-price decline of the 20th century, our material-saving potential is expected to reach around $1 trillion per year by 2025. The opportunity presented by the circular economy in Europe and the US pales into insignificance compared with what is at stake in developing nations, […]

Let’s not follow the others

Picture: Doug Green, Publisher, Asia Manufacturing News www.asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com If Peter Thiel, co- founder of PayPal and Palantir has it right the future needs to change. It’s easier to copy a model than to make something new. Doing what we already know how to do keeps on adding more of something familiar. And it is easier to do. Peter Thiel has a book out with Blake Masters, Zero to One. How about we just don’t keep on being a computer manufacturer amongst lots of other computer manufacturers and make something new? Because if we keep on being moderate and doing what we know amongst other similar companies – our competition – then sooner or later we, the competition, may not be around much longer because competition amongst equals brings with it company takeovers. Three computer manufacturers become two. Why not make something brand new instead of copying what others are doing? Can we think of something that hasn’t been made before and not have to bother having competition. Get it? In golf, we talk about our own authentic swing. That may be a swing not based on our golfing buddies, not copying anyone else to drive the ball down the fairway. Because 2014 is rapidly coming to an end I think this is a good subject for all of us to look at for 2015. A great opportunity to dream and plan what might be next for our company that no one else is doing. Imagine that! Get your company geniuses together and ask the question “How can our company make something new and not take the easy way by continuing to do just what we know?” One upon a time someone invented the paper clip. Then someone else made another model, round, not silver, but in colours. It was still […]

Hankook Delcam holds world’s biggest meeting for CAM users

Delcam’s South Korean joint venture, Hankook Delcam, held its 25th User Group Conference at the Hyundai Hotel in Kyeong-Ju on 26th and 27th September. The theme for this year’s meeting was ‘Big Jump Up’, a reference to the large increases in productivity being seen by companies adopting software and services from Hankook Delcam. Over 1,300 attendees set a new record number for the event, reinforcing its position as the world’s largest meeting for CAM users. The meeting was the first major event to be held for Korean users since the acquisition of Delcam by Autodesk in February. The audience was, therefore, especially interested in the presentations from Delcam President, Clive Martell, and Buzz Kross, senior vice president for Design, Lifecycle and Simulation products at Autodesk. Mr. Martell said that the acquisition represented Delcam’s own ‘Big Jump Up’. “Autodesk brings to Delcam increased financial strength, unparalleled expertise in design, and a long history of making technology accessible to broad audiences. Through sharing our technology and expertise, this transaction will transform industries and improve how the world is designed and made,” he commented. The significance of the deal was also emphasised by Mr. Kross. “The acquisition of Delcam is an important step in Autodesk’s continued expansion into manufacturing and fabrication and beyond our roots in design,” he stated. “Together with Delcam, we look forward to accelerating the development of a more comprehensive Digital Prototyping solution and delivering a better manufacturing experience to our customers.” The other presentations during the meeting covered the latest developments across the range of Delcam software for design, modelling for manufacture, machining and inspection. New technology was also described from Hankook Delcam, in particular developments in the Hankook Delcam Automation Solution (HDAS) that enables innovation across the entire manufacturing process. This novel technology is attracting great interest from […]

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics selects Siemens to deploy new PLM software system

South Korea: Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, a consumer electronics manufacturer in Korea, has selected Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) business to deploy a new PLM system based on its Teamcenter software. Siemens was selected for its understanding of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics’ PLM objectives and business vision. The new system is expected to improve the manufacturer’s R&D process, increase product quality, reduce costs and enhance overall productivity throughout product development. “We selected Siemens PLM Software following a thorough review and evaluation,” said Jang-hee Lee, Executive Vice President of the R&D Center, Dongbu Daewoo Electronics. “With this implementation, we are expecting to see an improvement in employees’ productivity and design quality. The deployment of the structured and logical R&D system will give Dongbu Daewoo Electronics new opportunities to enhance our competitiveness in the industry.” Dongbu Daewoo Electronics will use Teamcenter as the foundation of its new PLM platform. The company expects to improve its project-based R&D process management and design quality with a more structured system that makes it easy to access information instantly for informed decision making. Teamcenter will also help the company increase productivity and reduce product development costs by managing all active files, such as 3D and 2D product data and other general documents, more effectively. “We are extremely excited to be a partner of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics,” said Jung Chul, Vice President of Siemens PLM Software, Korea. “As a leading supplier of PLM software to the manufacturing industry, we are confident the completed PLM implementation will help our customer achieve success in their design innovation and business goals.” Teamcenter received high scores in the evaluation conducted by Dongbu Daewoo Electronics for its rapid deployment and excellent performance. It was also evaluated on its superior capabilities for project management, product information integration and technological document management. Teamcenter is the world’s […]

Used cigarette butts offer energy solution

A group of scientists from South Korea have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The researchers have demonstrated the material’s superior performance compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It is hoped the material can be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors—electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy—whilst also offering a solution to the growing environmental problem caused by used-cigarette filters. It is estimated that as many as 5.6 trillion used-cigarettes, or 766?571 metric tons, are deposited into the environment worldwide every year. Co-author of the study Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said: “Our study has shown that used-cigarette filters can be transformed into a high-performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution to meeting the energy demands of society. “Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used-cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year—our method is just one way of achieving this.” Carbon is the most popular material that supercapacitors are composed of, due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term stability. Scientists around the world are currently working towards improving the characteristics of supercapacitors—such as energy density, power density and cycle stability—whilst also trying to reduce production costs. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that the cellulose acetate fibres that cigarette filters are mostly composed of could be transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. As a result of this burning process, the resulting carbon-based material contained a number of tiny pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material. “A high-performing supercapacitor material […]

Used cigarette butts offer energy solution

A group of scientists from South Korea have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The researchers have demonstrated the material’s superior performance compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It is hoped the material can be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors—electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy—whilst also offering a solution to the growing environmental problem caused by used-cigarette filters. It is estimated that as many as 5.6 trillion used-cigarettes, or 766 571 metric tons, are deposited into the environment worldwide every year. Co-author of the study Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said: “Our study has shown that used-cigarette filters can be transformed into a high-performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution to meeting the energy demands of society. “Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used-cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year—our method is just one way of achieving this.” Carbon is the most popular material that supercapacitors are composed of, due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term stability. Scientists around the world are currently working towards improving the characteristics of supercapacitors—such as energy density, power density and cycle stability—whilst also trying to reduce production costs. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that the cellulose acetate fibres that cigarette filters are mostly composed of could be transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. As a result of this burning process, the resulting carbon-based material contained a number of tiny pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material. “A high-performing supercapacitor material […]

Reduce development risk

Offering both tools and services, Maplesoft Engineering Solutions help engineers validate and optimise product designs, produce extremely fast simulation code for hardware-in-the-loop and other types of simulations where execution speed is critical, and develop specialised analysis and design calculation tools. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions also support model development for model predictive control, an advanced technique used to represent the behaviour of complex systems. The Maplesoft Engineering Solutions team has expertise in a variety of engineering fields and extensive experience in model-based design. By leveraging the unique benefits of MapleSim and Maple, advanced engineering design tools from Maplesoft, they help engineers reduce development risk, create better products, and get to market faster. MapleSim and Maple are also available for engineers to use directly in their own development projects. MapleSim is an advanced system-level modelling and simulation tool from Maplesoft that applies modern techniques to dramatically reduce model development time, provide greater insight into system behaviour, and produce fast, high-fidelity simulations. MapleSim is based on Maple, the technical computing software for engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions are used by customers in a variety of domains, such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, ground transportation, space systems, batteries, mining, and manufacturing. Past projects include a robotic arm for drilling in mines, a motion platform for driving simulators, a torsional vibration analysis tool for marine drivelines, batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, and dialysis machines. While projects vary greatly, they frequently involve the following: High performance plant models for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) applications. Generating high-fidelity plant models from many system design tools typically results in code that is not fast enough for real-time, HIL execution, and engineers often perform a trade-off between model fidelity and performance.

electronica India and productronica India from 23-25 September

electronica India and productronica India are India’s number one trade fairs for electronic components and production technology.This year around 300 exhibitors, representing 600 companies, will take part from 23 to 25 September 2014 at BIEC, Bengaluru. After a successful 2013 edition that witnessed 11,589 trade visitors, the 15th edition of India’s leading trade fairs on electronics components and production technology this year will be hosted at BIEC, Bengaluru from 23-25 September, 2014. Electronics manufacturing and components manufacturing are getting a boost in India due to the announced M-SIPS policy. India has approved the setting up of semiconductor wafer plants, commonly known as fab units, by two consortia costing a total of 63,410 rupees crores. India’s demand for electronics products is forecasted to rise nearly 10 times during this decade to reach 400 billion USD by 2020, causing policy makers to worry that electronics imports, with no major local manufacturing, could exceed those of oil(as per report by NDTV.com). These FABs will have a big impact on the development of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing eco-system across the country. This will help set up a critical pillar required to promote Electronics System Design and Manufacturing in India. Indian Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA), electronica India and productronica India will present the maiden edition of Deftronics conference – an industry symposium focused on aerospace and defense electronics. The premier edition of this conference will examine sector-specific issues, emerging trends and outlook for strategic electronics in the aerospace and defense verticals. Besides Deftronics, there will be various other conferences/seminars organised during the three days of the trade fairs. This year, IPC INDIA 2014 exclusive pavilion will be co-located with electronica India and productronica India. IPC INDIA 2014 is India’s leading association that focusses on PCB manufacturing development in India. electronica India and productronica India […]

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Developments