By the Numbers

Staff -- Control Engineering, 3/1/2006

12,000 standards are available in the 70+ volume Annual Book of ASTM Standards, in print and CD-ROM; volumes also can be purchased individually or as a section. Volume 14.03 is "Temperature Measurement," 714 pages, available in July 2006. www.ihs.com

$3.7 billion in aggregate auto-industry spending on purchase incentives in December 2005 was estimated to decrease to $2.6 billion in January. Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors spent 71% of the January total; Japanese manufacturers 19%; European manufacturers 7%; and Korean manufacturers 4%. www.edmunds.com

12 engineering references are available through one interface, Engineering Village 2. Sources include Compendex, Inspec, NTIS, and Scirus. www.engineeringvillage2.org

40 countries have more than 100 active projects involving Engineers Without Borders (EWB), committed to designing and implementing engineering projects in developing communities, including renewable energy, clean water, and sustainable enterprise development. EWB-USA project participants are asked to promote high engineering standards. www.ewb-usa.org

2 ways, hardcopy or electronic, are how standards can be ordered from Fluid Controls Institute (FCI) as of January. FCI is a non-profit trade association of manufacturers of fluid control and conditioning equipment. "Coming soon" is Tech Sheet #CVR 401 "Insulation Systems Used as External Treatment for Control Valve and Regulator Noise." www.fluidcontrolsinstitute.org

5 brands of micro PLCs are shown in "Head to Head" product comparisons in the Jan./Feb. 2006 issue of IAN Inside Products. Product comparisons are shown in each issue. www.controleng.com/ian

>180 tutorial webcasts are available from IEC (not the standards body). This organization is a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities for industry professionals, academics, and students. A recent new entry is about a radio network controller. www.iec.org

$24,000 is what the Volusia County (FL) School District receives from Pittcon (The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy) for the Pittcon 2006 Science Education Award, presented this month. The award will be used to purchase equipment for hands-on environmental studies training for teachers from 48 elementary and 14 middle schools in the district. The annual honor is for the best science education submittal by an educational institution, business, or school district in the Pittcon host city region. www.pittcon.org

33rd consecutive month indicating a business environment favoring industry growth was January 2006, according to NEMA's Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions. The January index was 55.2 points. www.nema.org

$10.33 million is the 2006 fiscal year budget for the Engineering & Technology Industry Council (ETIC), a partnership between Oregon's public universities and private sector. ETIC helps measure effectiveness of investments made from the Oregon Engineering Education Investment Fund to "make post-secondary engineering and technology education a strategic resource" to help the state's economy and residents. www.oregonetic.org