Competitiveness, innovation: Manufacturers look at what's hot, now, green

Dearborn, MI – Manufacturers seek to remain ahead of the curve. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has announced an initiative called Innovations That Could Change The Way You Manufacture, covering emerging technologies that have a positive impact on manufacturing and related innovation. What's going to help move you past surviving into thriving?
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First: Wireless HART products

Austin, TX – Emerson Process Management says it is the first process automation supplier to begin taking orders for WirelessHART-enabled products, based on the recently approved open standard, which specifies use of open wireless communications for process measurement and control applications. Emerson estimates demand for wireless technology will exceed $1 billion by 2012. These products are available....
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Higher PoE: First 30 W power over Ethernet device controller

Folsom, CA – First Powered Device (PD) Controller implementing the 2-Event Physical Layer Classification of IEEE 802.3at standard (Draft 2.0); upcoming PoE standard raises available PD input power to 30 W from 13 W in the existing 802.3af standard, says Akros Silicon.
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In 21 minutes: Find out if you're doing enough about cyber security

Chicago — On a recent trip here, Stephen Northcutt, president of the SANS Institute educational division, talked to Control Engineering about current cyber security concerns, recommendations for new security managers, and why your laptop computer may not be as well protected as you might think. Simple means of protection are provided, along with questions to ask to see if your plant networks are ....
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PoE: Industrial 5-port Power-over-Ethernet switch

Cincinnati, OH – A compact, rugged 5-port unmanaged Ethernet switch with Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) technology connects and powers Ethernet devices over one cable. PoE, a technology to transmit power plus data to remote Ethernet devices over standard twisted-pair Cat5e cables, is known as IEEE 802.3af internationally, and specifies a supply of 48 V dc at up to 15.4 W per port. What can this do for you?
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In print: Sources of engineering inspiration

Cover feature for the January issue (Closing the Skills Gap) struck an emotional chord. Readers responded with stories about how they became interested in engineering. Themes include dad, science fiction, and cars. Excerpts from some messages appear below. Add your views.
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Online: Lean, pressure tutorial, wireless kit

• Lean manufacturing, robotics, rapid prototyping
• Tutorial: Differential pressure sensors
• Wireless instrumentation developer's kit