As recession fades, the behavior of selecting simpler, money-saving components could linger. This Machine Design article finds engineers who formerly specified rolling-element bearings for complex parts taking a step back. They're finding apps where plain and sleeve bearings can carry the load while dampening vibration better, saving weight and space.

Electrical current flow in large motors can damage bearings. With growing use of frequency converters, the potential for fluting or welding bead damage increases. Ceramic elements offer a solution, but an alternative is available. A surface coating that insulates the bearings, acting like a resistor and capacitor connected in parallel.

Fused deposition modeling is making strides in final parts production. Aided by broader material choices, additive fabrication technologies help manufacturers, including BMW and Oreck, to bypass machining in making complicated or intricate assembly tools, jigs, and fixtures. Oreck alone makes more than 300 parts by FDM.

Loads on helicopter rotor components increase 8x when pilots maneuver aggressively. The Navy's challenge: devise a wireless remote, battery-less device to monitor mechanical stress test on pitch links. This video describes a sensor that transmits data via embedded strain gauge chip and a piezoelectric device.

A decade ago, Harvard researchers created a silicon that could absorb light from a wider spectrum. But it could not be produced reliably. Now, they've modified it, creating pink silicon, a smoother wafer that's easier to make. It resurrects the promise of cheaper, more sensitive light detectors and potential in solar cells.

To create thinner, more complex electronic devices, components are asked to do more. Glue is apt to be an electrically conductive adhesive — a polymer containing silver, nickel, or copper — to both fix components in place, and supply a current path. Conductive glues are used in solar photovoltaic modules and portable medical electronics.

Engineers know that coupling rotating shafts is harder than it seems. You can initiate a selection if you know output requirements and parameters like diameter, torque, and speed to be transmitted. But knowing more configuration options and best uses for high-precision, flexible, and sliding couplings might improve your results.

After practicing hundreds of years, one might think maple tree sap tapping technology would be perfected. But University of Vermont researchers applied a mechanical check valve design to the age-old art. And voila! — this video shows a new spout offering an anti-backflow valve that delivers up to 50% greater sap recovery.

When hiring new personnel, hiring managers always try to find out as much about the individual as possible. Trying to draw out more than rehearsed answers, hiring managers devise some provocative questions for job candidates. In this link, you can hear how to prepare for the dreaded weakness question, and turn it into a positive presentation. Or, if the big day is coming, check out the full list of 10 tips if you are an engineer in the process of interviewing a prospective employer.

Two professors from the University of Vermont believe that the content of songs and blogs result in a measure of our nation's happiness. They applied several different strategies from past surveys: participants didn't know they were participating, and size (more than 230,000 songs). Their report, "Measuring the Happiness of Large-Scale Written Expression: Songs, Blogs, and Presidents" attempts to uncover trends about our happiest and lowest times. Is everybody happy?

The New Conservatives

Economic recovery has begun, but consumer spending isn't leading the way. Confidence may not reach pre-Recession levels for a decade-plus. Will new conservatism hold manufacturing back? What does that mean for job creation?