The complete Industry News section from the December 2009 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

The first trade show dedicated specifically to small and community wind took place in Detroit, Michigan November 3–5. Denise Bode, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO, was pleased with the turnout for the event and the increasing potential for this segment of the wind energy market.

The complete technical calendar from the December 2009 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

Honeywell and SAE team up for a unique middle school initiative.

The Bearing Specialists Association explains the role of bearings in ensuring the efficient operation of machinery.

Sunnen grows product portfolio with motion control solution from Siemens.

In an industrial application, equipment uptime is vital for on-time performance and profitability. The rotating members of industrial machines are subject to the highest degree of wear and are more susceptible to failure than non-moving parts. Bearing surfaces are the most critical and often the most expensive portion of the rotary assembly; it is imperative to protect these components. The primary protector of these components is the industrial seal.

Robotics and other advanced automation technology systems are viewed as a looming threat to some in the plant maintenance field. Although there is a constant battle for some workers to remain useful while machines are continuously fulfilling more roles on the plant floor, there are those who in turn have found a better use of their newly freed time.

The complete Product News section from the October 2009 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

In the history of machine tools, spindles have been very good relative to other bearings and structures on the machine. So quality professionals have developed a cache of tools—-ball bars, grid encoders displacement lasers, etc.—-to help them characterize and understand the geometry of the structural loop. But as machine tools have improved in their capability and precision, and the demands of part-geometry and surface finish have become more critical, errors in spindles have become a larger percentage of the total error.