Aluminum Spaceframe for New Ferrari

Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products, Cleveland, Ohio, announces that it has been selected by Ferrari S.p.A. to supply the all-aluminum spaceframe for the upcoming Ferrari California sports car. The strength and lightweight advantages of aluminum allow Ferrari to maximize performance, strength, and structural rigidity. Learn more.

Sabic Innovative Plastics and Sabic PP Automotive introduce high-performance thermoplastic composites for automotive applications, including structures and underhood parts. The composites include materials from LNP Thermocomp and LNP Verton specialty compounds for demanding interior and underhood applications. Learn more.
www.azdel.com

Renault and French electric utility EDF have formed a partnership to establish electric cars as a viable and attractive transport solution for consumers. The Renault Nissan Alliance and EDF aim to provide consumers access to zero emission mobility from 2011. EDF, owner of the world's biggest fleet of electric vehicles, has considerable expertise in electric power storage technologies and recharging infrastructures. Learn more.

Corus Automotive has published The Pocket Book of Steel, which provides background on how steel is processed and the technologies that are essential for modern car making. Learn more.

Delphi Corp. offers aluminum automotive cable, a cost-effective alternative that enables a 48% mass reduction from traditional copper cores. Aluminum cable also provides superior pinch and abrasion resistance. Learn more.

Republic Engineered Products, North America’s largest producer of special bar quality (SBQ) steel, says it will invest approximately $20 million in a precision sizing mill and related equipment for its Lackawanna steel rolling facility, located in Blasdell, N.Y. Learn more.

An omnivorous engine that would be able to run on any blend of conventional gasoline, ethanol, or butanol has reportedly been built at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill. The omnivorous engine would use a suite of sensors to calibrate itself so that it burns available fuel as efficiently as possible. E-mail Thomas Wallner. Learn more.

Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist

This book explains the metallurgy of steel and its heat treatment for non-metallurgists. It starts from simple concepts—beginning at the level of high-school chemistry classes—and building to more complex concepts involved in heat treatment of most all types of steel as well as cast iron. It was inspired by the author when working with practicing bladesmiths for more than 15 years. Most chapters in the book contain a summary at the end. These summaries provide a short review of the contents of each chapter. This book is THE practical primer on steel metallurgy for those who heat, forge, or machine steel.

To view the Table of Contents and read a sample chapter, visit, click here.

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ASM publishes breaking industry news articles to our web site every day! Below are the top news items of the week; view the full-text articles and more headline news online.

LRM Industries Launches New Sheetless Thermoforming Production
PRNewswire
LRM Industries launches a technology in which thermoforming molds are coated directly with a profiled extruded sheet, and then molten polymer is coated directly onto the mold. This allows the production of deep-draw products with minimum thinning.

Mini-Mill Gerdau Ameristeel Acquires Metro Recycling
PRNewswire-FirstCall
Gerdau Ameristeel, a leading mini-mill steel producer, has acquired Metro Recycling, a scrap processor headquartered in Guelph, Ontario. Metro Recycling is a premier central Ontario recycler with three locations, two in Guelph and the other in Mississauga.

Aortic Bioprosthesis Valve Approved by FDA
PRNewswire-FirstCall
ATS Medical Inc., manufacturer and marketer of cardiac surgery products and services, has received FDA approval for the ATS 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis. It is based on a proprietary valve design that reproduces the functional characteristics of the native aortic valve.

Contract for High Precision Optical Mirrors Goes to MRC Optics
PRNewswire-FirstCall
Photonic Products Group Inc. announces that its MRC Optics subsidiary has been awarded a contract for precision optical components from Lockheed Martin. The components are high precision aluminum, beryllium, and beryllium alloy optical mirrors for Lot 5 production requirements on the Arrowhead electro-optical system.


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The Complete Current Issue of AM&P is Now Available Online!
Click on the cover or table of contents to see the digital edition.

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How to Protect Against Solar Wind

This flare is erupting from the chromosphere (orange), which lies above the Sun's visible surface. Flares are dense clouds of plasma in the Sun's outer layer, the corona. Upon erupting, the flares become part of the solar wind. Space craft visiting the Moon or Mars could maintain some protection against solar wind by taking along their very own portable mini-magnetosphere, similar to the one that protects Earth. Experiments with apparatus originally built to work on fusion confirm that a small hole in the solar wind is all that would be needed to keep the astronauts safe on journeys to the Moon and planets. A magnetic bubble several hundred meters across would be enough to protect a spacecraft. Image courtesy of Detlev Van Ravensway/Science Photo Library.
Learn more.

Volunteerism Makes Everything at ASM Possible
by Roger Fabian, President of ASM International

Imagine an ASM with a volunteer infrastructure that is quick to act, eager to accomplish, and empowered to engineer success for the Society. With volunteers like that, we could achieve almost anything.

But we must understand the challenges: Many of our Chapters and committees are suffering from leader recycling. And, many of our newly created committees are in need of new volunteers to drive new products and services, particularly in areas of emerging technologies.

Here are a few of the data points that have come from our most recent member surveys. As of August, out of our 37,700 members, about 1800 are unique volunteers – that’s 4.8 percent of our membership. But if you look closely at those 1800 volunteers, you’ll see that nearly half are pulling double or even triple duty on more than one committee!

I’m all in favor of recycling, but our challenge is clear. We don’t want to use up the energy and commitment of our best people at the chapter and committee levels – we need to work to replenish our volunteers.

One of our priorities for the next year is to build on the foundation for Volunteerism that was constructed last year under President Dianne Chong’s leadership. We know that about 60 percent of ASM members identify themselves as not very involved, and that most of them cite lack of time or lack of interest. What can we do to make ASM the society they WANT to volunteer for? We’ll be talking about some of the ideas and programs we’re developing to make volunteering easier and more rewarding.

ASM is seeking nominations for the 2009 Class of Fellows.

The honor of Fellow of the society was established to provide recognition to members for distinguished contributions in the field of materials science and engineering, and to develop a broadly based forum for technical and professional leaders to serve as advisors to the society.

Criteria for the Fellow award are:

• outstanding accomplishments in materials science or engineering
• broad and productive achievement in production, manufacturing, management, design, development, research or education
• five years current, continuous membership

Deadline for nominations for the Class of 2009 is November 30, 2008.

Complete information, including the rules, interpretive comments, and user-friendly nomination form, are available on the ASM website or by contacting Carole Chesla, Awards Program, ASM International, Materials Park, OH 44073-0002; tel: 440/338-5151, ext. 5330

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Reliability and Consistency in Thermal Spray:
Vital for Industry Production
December 2-3, 2008
Montreal, Quebec

Building on a very successful Sensors and Controls conference offered in 2004, The Thermal Spray Society will host a symposium on “Improving Reliability and Consistency in Thermal Spray” on December 2-3, 2008. This conference will explore emerging technologies, practices, training and certification processes and discuss ways that these factors will impact the thermal spray industry by providing improved reliability and consistency of thermal spray coatings.
Learn more.

2009 IBSC Conference
April 26-29, 2009
Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort®
Orlando, Florida
Recognized by industry professionals as the world’s premier event for the brazing and soldering community.

When you attend IBSC 2009, you’ll join hundreds of other professionals, scientists and engineers from around the globe involved in the research, development and application of brazing and soldering. The three-day conference will provide one of the most comprehensive technical programs available to the brazing and soldering community, as well as valuable networking, pre-conference educational programs and exhibits where attendees can find out more about the latest trends, products, processes and techniques available in the brazing and soldering industry.
Learn more.

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Metallurgy Department Manager/Failure Analyst
Louisville, Kentucky

The primary duties and responsibilities of this position include: Managing multiple investigations; Directing and performing materials testing; Creating accurate and professional technical reports for clients.

This critical position interfaces with clients and provides consultation on a wide variety of materials and processing topics including failure modes, alloy selection, heat treatment, mechanical testing, welding, corrosion, and nonmetallic engineering materials.
Learn more.

Visit the ASM Career Center.

ASM-Indian Institute of Metals Seeks 2009 Visiting Lecturers

Qualified lecturers:
• Are ASM members who visit India
• Have experience with delivering technical presentations of interest to government, industrial or academic organizations
• Can lecture on current technological conditions in India
• Will be available between April 1 and December 31, 2009
• Have definite travel plans to and from India using own funds

Award carries with it an $800 honorarium to be used for travel expenses within India during their visit and a certificate of recognition to be presented at the ASM Leadership Awards Luncheon scheduled for October 2009 in Pittsburgh, PA during MS&T’09.

Deadline for application is February 1, 2009. For more information, contact Carole Chesla at 440/338-5151 ext. 5330

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