Central One

02/16/2021

Congratulations to our 2021 STEM Scholarship winners. Please continue to apply for 2022.

07/20/2015

Whats next with CAE...

NAFEMS keynotes look into what is next in the world of CAE.

07/13/2015

Learn about plastic degradation: http://www.engineering.com/AdvancedManufacturing/ArticleID/10238/Largest-Data-Source-on-Degradation-of-Plastics-and-Elastomers-Now-Online.aspx

New Chemical Resistance Database catalogues more than 1,100 materials and 5,000 exposure media.

06/15/2015

PET prices have been steadily rising since March, following a steep decline in February:

A 4-cent-per-pound price hike hit North American PET bottle resin prices in May, marking the second straight month that prices for that material have increased. Demand for PET bottle resin has improved with warm weather — which drives beverage demand — as its feedstock costs have

05/27/2015

More cities are turning to light, strong, fire resistant, maintenance-free fiber-reinforced polymer bridges for their walking trails

After a brush fire scorched a wooden bridge that’s part of the Sandia Mountains trail system in New Mexico, state officials looked for a low-upkeep, fast fix that wouldn’t become ready tinder in the recreation area near Albuquerque. The Piedra Lisa Bridge carries hikers, bicyclists, dog

05/20/2015

The DuPont Awards are in, and the Diamond Award winner is a 100% recyclable salsa container.

From catheters to cheese to cement, plastic packaging is in the spotlight. But it’s a new hybrid container from IPL Inc., which combines the advantages of flexible and rigid packaging that’s taking home top honors in this year’s DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. The hybridMedi-CRREO child resi…

05/14/2015

Donald Thompson is wants to repurpose plastic water bottles into roofing material in Costa Rica

When Donald Thomson holds a bottle of Agua Costa Rica in his hands, he sees much more than a bottle of water. The home builder, music school founder and businessman sees the potential to take what some consider to be an environmental liability — the plastic bottle — and turn it into anInspiration hi…

05/05/2015

Lawmakers are discussing a federal ban on plastic microbeads:

WASHINGTON — It's not often that Democrats, Republicans, environmentalists and industry associations agree — especially on matters involving plastics — but when it comes to the matter of microbeads, there is consensus: they're on the way out. At a U.S. House Committee hearing May

04/24/2015

A Michigan injection molder is in hot water after their safety violations culminated in the death of one of their workers last year:

Michigan-based injection molder Grand Rapids Plastics Inc. faces $558,000 of fines following inspections from state regulators investigating the June 2014 death of worked killed in a machine he was cleaning.The company did not enforce the use of lockout/tagout safety procedures on the horizontal

04/14/2015

São Paulo, Brazil has just instituted a ban on petroleum-based plastic bags

Latin America’s second most populous city, with 11.9 million people, generates 12,500 tons of residential waste daily, but recycles just 3 percent of it, according to local figures. Officials want to increase the recycling rate to 10 percent by 2016.Municipal garbage collection is available

03/31/2015

A panel at NPE last week talked about how to encourage communication between engineers and designers. How do you handle this in your business?

ORLANDO, FLA. — The role of the industrial designer in manufacturing is a familiar one to many, but the relationship between designer and engineer is often fraught with misunderstandings that can throw a project off course.An Industrial Designers Society of America conference session at NPE

03/20/2015

The Fox 40 whistle, the whistle used in all major sports including March Madness, is an injection molded miracle for referees. Check out The New York Times' article about its inception here.

The tournament has a familiar refrain created by a specific model of whistle, the Fox 40, and this year it is being used to automatically stop the game clock.