IEN Radio

The Racer is optimized for a cruise speed of more than 400 km/h (250 mph), which is impressive when you consider that a civilian helicopter's cruising speed typically ranges from 110 to 160 mph—military choppers can average around 200 mph. However, the Racer wants speed but with cost-efficiency and mission performance. For example, Airbus says the Racer's unique engine and aerodynamic optimization could realize a fuel con...

The company is also working on the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane, a demonstrator aircraft that combines the performance of a rocket with the quick turnaround of an aircraft. While Mk-II is a tech demonstrator, it will also be used as a suborbital vehicle for climate and scientific payloads. In the long term, Mk-II will inform the design of Dawn's Mk-III, the company's orbital vehicle for launching satellites.

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According to the DOJ release, 52-year-old Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators operated an international smuggling network that fraudulently procured dual-use, military-grade OLED micro-displays. This network supplied Russian entities with the microelectronics, which can be used in weapons systems, including night vision goggles, thermal optics and rifle scopes. 

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A tugboat and barge, operating together as an articulated tug and barge (ATB), last year ran aground near Marmot Bay off the coast of Alaska. More specifically, the ATB hit a submerged rock while approaching the entrance to a cove, causing about $1.4 million in damages to the barge. The tugboat was fine, none of the six crewmembers aboard were hurt, and there was no pollution as a result of the accident. But there’s still a massive...

Last January, the Qualifier 105, a small passenger boat, was stored at the Northern Enterprises Boat Yard in Homer, Alaska. The vessel was ashore and on blocks for the winter, but when it was in the water, it was used for everything from marine survey and oceanographic research to environmental clean-up. 

Welders were aboard the 100-foot-long vessel performing some aluminum hot work, cleaning up the area around a fuel tank that was ...

A Department of Labor investigation revealed that flooring and surfaces manufacturer Ecore International Inc. had committed over a dozen health and safety violations at its plant in Mexia, Texas. 

The department told IEN that the investigation was triggered by a complaint that mentioned, "hazards associated with fire, electrical, egress and powered industrial vehicles."

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Canada is officially looking for defense manufacturing partners to help it significantly expand its submarine fleet as the country looks to secure future shipping routes.

Canada’s Department of National Defence said it’s in the market for up to 12 submarines, an order that would potentially quadruple the country’s current fleet of four. The ministry said that the current fleet of submersibles is getting outdated and costly to mainta...

A 2021 report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that multiple power plants were being repurposed for mining. But not for coal, gold or iron. Instead, these facilities were gearing up for mining Bitcoin. 

The article mentioned idled and struggling coal plants in New York and Montana that were scaling up to mine for cryptocurrency. After all, fossil fuel plants have been shutting down as renewable energy rises in popularity, and Bit...

Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed work on the four RS-25 engines that will help power NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the Artemis IV mission. Artemis IV is the ambitious plan that will see astronauts live and work in Gateway, the first lunar space station in history. The mission will help prep future human missions to Mars and will include multiple launches and spacecraft dockings in lunar orbit, including the d...

Last month, Mitsubishi Electric set a new Guinness World Record. The young team outfitted a robot with high-speed, high-precision factory automation equipment and control technology, and made it the fastest robot ever to solve a puzzle cube, more commonly referred to as a Rubik's cube. If you want to see it, don't blink.

The video of the achievement was recorded on May 7, 2024, and the precision is notable because, as many...

A new study out of the University of Wisconsin has uncovered the truly alarming consequences of a recent rail disaster - an incident with toxic implications well beyond what researchers were expecting.

In 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the Ohio town of East Palestine. Across the nation, transfixed observers watched in horror as officials deemed the best course of action to be intentionally burnin...

Warroad, Minnesota, is about as north as you can go in the continental United States. The city of about 2,000 people is nicknamed Hockeytown USA due to its ability to consistently produce Olympians. But, in addition to supplying the U.S. national teams with talent, the small town has also been providing doors and windows for over 100 years. 

The windows and doors come from Marvin and its manufacturing buildings that occupy 2.2 milli...

Welcome to another episode of Gen Z in Manufacturing, a podcast where I interview young people about their journeys in manufacturing, how they intend to influence the industry and what they are looking for from an employer.

Thank you to our sponsor QAD Redzone. Empower your frontline while growing your bottom line. QAD Redzone is the #1 Connected Workforce Solution for plants of all sizes. It's time for manufacturers to start e...

A German and Canadian national residing in China named Klaus Pflugbeil has pleaded guilty to stealing a U.S. electric vehicle company’s trade secrets and using them to build a China-based business. The Department of Justice release did not disclose the name of the American EV maker, but a New York Times article that reported Pflugbeil’s arrest in March named the mystery company as Tesla.

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Ford has bet on electric vehicles to help drive future growth and like a lot of other automakers, it’s zeroed in on price point as one of the catalysts for driving consumer adoption.

The automaker has seen some limited success so far with its F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E. But those vehicles’ most basic packages start at about $40,000 and $50,000 respectively. Ford has seemingly understood for a while that a lower entry point w...

NASA just scared the heck out of a lot of International Space Station (ISS) followers when it accidentally aired an emergency medical drill during a livestream.

According to CNBC, the livestream on Wednesday evening was abruptly interrupted by a speaker announcing that an astronaut on board the ISS was suffering extreme compression sickness and may need to be placed inside a spacesuit filled with pure oxygen. The voice reportedly ad...