Sara Black Senior Technical Editor Emeritus
Automated cutting accelerates
Software/hardware advances and peripheral equipment make flatbed cutters essential to automated production scenarios.
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Towerless turbine: Airborne system powers rural locales
Wind energy start-up Altaeros Energies' (Boston, Mass.) Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT) proof-of-concept prototype reportedly can harvest the more consistent winds at higher altitudes because its elevation is not limited by the need for a tower.
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Public transit: Modular composites update Sao Paulo ferries
When the Brazilian state of São Paulo, through its state-controlled company DERSA, funded new composite superstructures for 12 existing car ferries, Barracuda Advanced Composites (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) specified materials and engineered the new design.
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Marine resurgence – with carbon?
The marine market took a big hit during the Recession, but it's been recovering since, and there are signs that carbon fiber might be leading the way.
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Electric-powered aircraft: good for composites suppliers
Electric-powered flight is nascent, but the promise is real, as is the opportunity for composites fabricators and suppliers.
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3D Printing continuous carbon fiber composites?
Additive manufacturing startup MarkForged aims to make it happen and is already marketing systems.
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Don’t call it a blimp!
The builders of this variable-buoyancy craft count on carbon fiber/epoxy trusswork to enable a new era of air transport.
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Demonstration software modeling exercise aids Taiwan’s yachtbuilding community
Ray Tsai, technical director of Simutech Solution Corp. (Taipei, Taiwan) and colleagues develop a demonstration modeling exercise for Taiwanese motoryacht builders.
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Towerless wind turbine
Altaeros' BAT (Buoyant Airborne Turbine) prototype will be tested soon in Alaska. Remote settlements or communities far from the power grid pay dearly for electricity.
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A surge in seaplanes?
The current bright spot in general aviation might be in light-sport aircraft (LSA), and more specifically in seaplanes.
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UAVs may deliver Internet access
Facebook is considering use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to bring Internet access to remote areas. The composites industry could be among the beneficiaries.
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TV tower composite repair: High-rise in Hawaii
Boulder, Colo.-based Aero Solutions LLC performs repairs with composites on a 175-ft/54m tall television broadcasting tower atop a 42-story building in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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