Gear Technology regularly covers machine tools, often referred to as “mother machines” due to their role in producing other machines, which serve as the cornerstone of industrial civilization by cutting or shaping metal. Think of all the gears in the machine tools that not only cut and polish gears but are indispensable for manufacturing a wide range of goods, with nearly every product being created either directly using machine tools or through machines manufactured using these tools.
National STEM Day, celebrated on November 8th this year, provided a platform for Gear Technology to engage in a conversation with four remarkable women shaping the manufacturing industry: Ruthie Johnston, CEO and Owner of Croix Gear; Robin Olson, Senior Manager, Applications Engineering—Engineered Gear, Regal Rexnord; Michelle Maddox, Sales and Business Development Manager, B&R Machine and Gear Corp.; and Claudia Hambleton, Office Manager and Corporate Treasurer, German Machine Tools of America (GMTA). Each of these women, driven by a shared passion for fostering the next generation of female leaders, revealed their unique journeys and perspectives in this male-dominated field.
The roots of heat-treating run deep within ASM (American Society for Materials) International, as its society was founded in Detroit in 1913 as The Steel Treaters Club. The heat-treating constituency of ASM created the Heat Treating Society (HTS) to provide focused leadership, communications, and service development to its network of worldwide membership of captive and commercial heat treaters, equipment manufacturers, researchers, governments, and technicians. To discuss Heat Treat 2023, the 32nd annual HTS Conference and Exhibition, Gear Technology took a moment to catch up with conference chair Andrew Banka, vice president of Airflow Sciences Corporation. Heat Treat 2023 is colocated with IMAT and Motion + Power Technology Expo in Detroit, October 17–19.
AGMA’s Motion + Power Technology (MPT) Expo is a biennial trade show—running this year from October 17–19 at Huntington Place in Detroit—designed to serve the gear and power transmission industry, representing the full spectrum of professionals involved in the life of a gear, gearbox, or other power transmission device—from design to manufacturing, testing, heat treating, and more. You will find equipment and materials suppliers to make gears; gear and gear drive manufacturers; and every imaginable industry-adjacent supplier from software to tooling, lubrication to bearings, and much more.
While I was attending the 10th International VDI Conference on Gears 2023—held in Garching, Munich at the Gear Research Center (FZG) of the Technical University of Munich from September 13th to 15th, 2023—Delrin, a product family of DuPont, introduced a new high molecular weight nucleated resin specially formulated for use in applications requiring high creep resistance and fatigue durability.
I had the good fortune to sit down and speak with Guillaume Doy, Global Marketing Leader from Delrin, to hear more about their acetal homopolymer for high-load mechanical applications.
On August 23, 2023, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission made a successful landing on the southern part of the moon near the crater Manzinus. We were able to catch up with Mushtaq
Jamal, vice president of engineering and business development at Bevel Gears India Pvt Ltd (BGI), to discuss BGI's role in this monumental achievement for India.
Heat Treat 2023 is the Heat Treating Society’s 32nd conference and expo for heat treating professionals featuring three days of face-to-face networking opportunities with approximately 200 heat treat exhibitors/companies. All the top heat-treating companies will offer the latest research and industry insights during more than 100 technical programs. This year’s show includes a VIP-guided industry tour, as well as student/emerging professionals initiatives, including free college student registration, Fluxtrol Student Research Competition, and the ASM Heat Treating Society Strong Bar Student Competition. Heat Treat 2023 is colocated with Motion + Power Technology Expo 2023 with access to additional exhibitors. The event takes place October 17–19, 2023 at Huntington Place in Detroit.
The Forging Industry Association’s (FIA) Forge Fair, North America’s largest event dedicated exclusively to the forging industry, returned to the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio, May 23–25, 2023. More than 2,000 forging professionals from across the globe attended Forge Fair to learn about new products, make purchasing decisions, and network with each other. This specialized-industry event offered suppliers and forgers a platform to connect with more qualified potential customers. From material selection to the shipment of finished parts, Forge Fair showcased innovations in heating, tooling, equipment, testing, automation, conservation of resources, process and plant improvements, and technology for all types of forging operations.
Gear Technology readers know diesel—because of the fuel’s properties, such as viscosity, lubricity, and combustion characteristics—can influence the design considerations for gears within the diesel engine. What our readers might not know is on September 30, 1913, The New York Times led with a headline that Rudolf Diesel—multimillionaire inventor of the diesel engine and international superstar in the scientific community—had disappeared from the passenger steamship, Dresden, crossing from Belgium to England and was presumed dead.