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Firms are hiring again. Here’s how to compete.

Lloyd Princeton Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

With the news that the global and U.S. economies were showing signs of slowing down, A&D firms as a precaution dialed back their hiring plans in the latter part of 2019. In recent weeks, with reports of sustained solid job growth, resiliency in the stock market, and high levels of consumer spending, firms are feeling more optimistic about their prospects for 2020. Once again, hiring plans are back on the table. Recently, in my firm, we've experienced a surge in calls from firms wanting to initiate recruitment searches.

The latest in mid-engine sports cars: Would you choose foreign or domestic?

David Newton Transportation Technology & Automotive

Like wine and cheese, we are often asked if we prefer foreign or domestic when it comes to our automobile preferences. I have normally favored products made here in America to support the national economy, yet 21 of the 28 cars I’ve owned in my lifetime originate from outside our borders. And today I find myself with a challenging quandary. To fully appreciate my dilemma, you’d need to know a little more about my automotive upbringing. I was raised in the sixties on muscle cars — Ford, Chevy, AMC and Mopar —with big V8 engines, steamroller tires, Holley four-barrel carburetors and Hurst shifters.

Infographic: STEM is on the rise. How can schools help?

Brian Wallace Education

Over the last decade, the U.S. has created nearly 2 million new STEM jobs — but students’ math and science scores continue to lag behind other nations, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). STEM includes many ever-evolving and expanding fields, and success requires the ability to continue to learn and adapt to new situations. Raising a STEM workforce starts long before college. So, where do schools begin?

Infographic: It’s 2020, is your business AI-ready?

Brian Wallace Science & Technology

One in three business leaders believe AI will have the greatest impact on their business in the next year, but few are acting on this knowledge. So, how can your enterprise get ahead of the competition with artificial intelligence? Find out more with this infographic.

Proposed federal budget boosts nuclear production, ignores social costs

Michelle R. Matisons Civil & Government

The proposed Fiscal Year 2021 federal nuclear defense budget, unveiled on Feb. 10, includes new weapons manufacturing. This anticipates more growth while plans still ignore total costs, a concern for those immediately impacted in nuclear weapons laboratory towns like Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Trump administration’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget is $19.8 billion: a 20% increase from last year. But higher numbers than those should be expected as total operational, capital, and social costs loom outside current projected expenditures.

Advocating for the aftermarket at HDAW 2020

Bianca Gibson Manufacturing

The recent Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week, held for the first time at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas, gathered aftermarket professionals nationwide for an impactful event. With a captivating keynote delivered by "Shark Tank's" Daymond John, multiple informational sessions and a lively showroom, attendees were given plenty of avenues for education and inspiration. For those eager for industry insight, the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association hosted "Chasing the Aftermarket" on Jan. 26. The meeting was a TED Talk-style presentation, delivered by four aftermarket thought leaders.

Hydrogen hopes burn brightly in the UK

Andrew Gaved Facilities & Grounds

The U.K. is currently exploring the prospect of one of the most radical transformations to its heating infrastructure for half a century. As the country grapples with a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a variety of trials are underway to investigate whether it is possible to replace the national natural gas "grid" with one that runs on hydrogen. The goal is ultimately to run 100% hydrogen in place of the current methane network, but to start with a 20% blend with natural gas. The 2018 provisional U.K. greenhouse gas statistics show gas combustion in all forms (heating and power) accounted for 50% of the country's carbon emissions.

4 ways fully connected plants benefit your workforce

Tipton Loo Manufacturing

Nearly 50 years ago, a few caffeine-dependent students in Carnegie Mellon's computer science department built a light sensor and software to sense the availability of cold soft drinks in a Coke vending machine and connected it to the ARPANET, where they could see the status remotely, giving birth to the "internet of things." But few could have predicted how widespread the technology would become. It's only a matter of time before the internet of things transforms the industrial sector as well.

Boeing, transportation sector face dangerous manufacturing ‘double…

Michelle R. Matisons Manufacturing

The verdict is in on dismissed Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg's culpability in the mishandling that led to deadly 737 Max jet crashes in October 2018 and March 2019. Recently released emails combine with Muilenburg's departure to keep Boeing in the headlines. Muilenburg testified before Congress last October, and his departure sees him walking away with anywhere between $62 million and $80 million in compensation. This is controversial, considering Boeing crash victims are, by comparison, receiving a meager $50 million from the company.

In a first, UK scientists estimate the economic impact of herbicidal resistance

Scott E. Rupp Food & Beverage

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London have recently done something significant, if not innovative. These researchers are part of an effort that, for the first time, has placed a number on the damage caused by herbicidal resistance of a major agricultural weed. An estimated 4 million tons of pesticide are applied to crops worldwide each year, the report noted. As of 2019, 253 known herbicide-resistant weeds exist, and estimates of the costs of resistance to agricultural xenobiotics are severely lacking.

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