Notable & Newsworthy

January 2015

Electrically-driven 50-Watt water-pump controller

Electronic controller from TT electronics helps cool Audi vehicles

TT Electronics has revealed its role in helping Volkswagen-Audi Group (VAG) boost the fuel economy and reduce the emissions of its latest-generation Audi A3, A4, A6 and similar-sized models. Engineers at the company’s Salzburg technical centre created an electrically driven 50-Watt water-pump controller (EWPU) th

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Date:

01/29/2015

The global video surveillance industry can grow by more than 10 percent in 2015

Video surveillance growth to exceed 10% in 2015

The global video surveillance industry can defy conventional market logic, resist product commoditization and still grow by more than 10 percent in 2015, according to a new white paper from IHS. The global market for video surveillance equipment was worth an estimated $15.0 billion by the end of 2014, up from $1

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Date:

01/16/2015

RadioShack gets ready to file for bankruptcy

(Reuters) – Electronics retailer RadioShack is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection by next month, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. Texas-based Radioshack is in talks with a private-equity firm that could buy its assets out of bankruptcy, the Journal reported,

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Date:

01/15/2015

A novel rapid charging technique leads to enhanced conductivity and capacity

Faster charging technique boosts battery's capacity

In the quest to develop higher-capacity, longer-lasting batteries, the focus is typically on materials or fabrication techniques. While developing a new way to study and observe battery performance in realtime, a team of researchers from the University of Maryland also discovered that by altering how their battery wa

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Date:

01/15/2015

NREL research holds promise for cheaper biofuels

Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed an enzyme that could change the economics of biofuel conversion by converting biomass to sugars up to 14 times faster and much cheaper than competing catalysts in enzyme cocktails today. This enzyme is called Cel

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Date:

01/14/2015

Pictured above is the Shelby Cobra, a vehicle 3-D printed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Using advanced composites and 3-D printing both cut the car's weight in half and improved performance and safety

Obama Administration to lauch Manufacturing Innovation Institute

Three times as strong and twice as light as the lightest commonly used metals, advanced composites have the potential to revolutionize advanced manufacturing, transforming clean energy products from wind turbines to next-generation passenger vehicles that are made right here in America. These versatile composites ar

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Date:

01/14/2015

Trends

IHS identifies technologies transforming the world

The Internet of Everything, cloud computing/big data and 3-D printing are the three technologies most likely to transform the world during the next five years, according to IHS Technology. “We know that technology has the capability to change the world: from the Gutenberg printing press to the steam engine to

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Date:

01/12/2015

A wave energy testing platform

Wave energy integration costs should compare favorably to other energy sources

A new analysis suggests that large-scale wave energy systems developed in the Pacific Northwest should be comparatively steady, dependable and able to be integrated into the overall energy grid at lower costs than some other forms of alternative energy, including wind power. The findings, published in the jo

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Date:

01/07/2015

Solutions for Hope Program Proves that Conflict-Free Doesn't Have to Mean Congo-Free

AVX, a leading manufacturer of passive components and interconnect solutions and a co-founder of the Solutions for Hope program — an integrated civil and supply chain initiative to source conflict-free tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — has proven that conflict-free doesn’t have to me

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Date:

01/07/2015

Ideal Power wins critical European patent for power conversion tech

Ideal Power, a developer of a disruptive power conversion technology, announced that the European Patent Office awarded the company a patent (EP2025051 B1) for its core power conversion technology, Power Packet Switching Architecture (PPSA). This patent, along with previously granted U.S. and Chinese patents, pr

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Date:

01/06/2015

Boogie Board Play n’ Trace Paperless Doodle Pad

Kent Displays unveils their latest Boogie Board LCD eWriters at CES 2015

Kent Displays announced the unveiling of two new Boogie Board LCD eWriter models – the Boogie Board Play n’ Trace Paperless Doodle Pad and the new Boogie Board Jot 8.5 Paperless Memo Pad – at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. A new Boogie Board brand identity and a ne

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Date:

01/06/2015

ITIF announces 2014 Luddite Awards

Technological innovation is the wellspring of social and economic progress. Despite this, a growing array of interests—some economic, some ideological—now stand resolutely in opposition to innovation. These “neo-Luddites” have worked to convince the public and policymakers that technological innovation is

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Date:

01/06/2015