Having spent 11 years covering the appliance market as editor of Appliance Manufacturer (now Appliance Design), I’m familiar with the challenges posed by offshore competition, pricing pressures and environmental regulations. And I think they’re great. Why? Because without these drivers, companies wouldn’t be nearly as motivated to innovate as they are today.

Four-color literature on a new abrasive blasting machine with numerous beneficial features is available from ALMCO, Inc. According to the manufacturer, the Model ATB-7 offers greater cleaning speed and better cycle times than tumble blast units from other sources for effective cleaning of castings and other metal parts.

Automation USA Inc. has expanded its modular system probe portfolio by designing the MI Fe 500 µm, a state-of-the-art pen-shaped probe for precision measurements of thin coatings on both normal and parts of small dimensions like screws, small machine parts, rings, braces, nails, beams or studs.

The latest fast-response electric infrared boost oven system from David Weisman, L.L.C., can quickly boost the temperatures of liquid or powder coated on small, medium and large three-dimensional products prior to entering a hot air/convection oven. The system features fast-response electric infrared heaters and controls, as well as a modular design for adding more heated height and/or an air recirculation system.

Enthone, a business of Cookson Electronics, has been assigned U.S. Patent No. 7,316,772 for its ViaForm® Leveler copper damascene electroplating chemistry. The product is exclusively marketed and distributed worldwide by ATMI, Inc., Danbury, CT.

The new Nanovate™-NS coating from Integran Technologies Inc. is designed to protect composite and metal parts from rain erosion, sand erosion and other wear damage. The process achieves very high strength and hardness through reducing the metal grain structure by 1000x, to the nanoscale. According to the supplier, the properties combine to give excellent damage protection for relatively soft materials.

Motoman Inc. is helping to establish the Motoman Robotics Laboratory at the University of Dayton School of Engineering in Ohio. As part of this long-term commitment, Motoman is furnishing $371,000 worth of state-of-the-art robots, including a revolutionary seven-axis, actuator-driven IA20 robot; a 15-axis, actuator-driven and human-like dual-arm DIA10 robot; a four-axis YS450 high-speed SCARA robot; two six-axis HP3 articulated robots and one HP3C six-axis, articulated robot with a compact controller.

Xiom Corp., developer and manufacturer of a portable plastic polymer spray system, has named Orica Powder and Industrial Coatings, a business unit within the Orica group of companies, to be its exclusive distributor in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Rohm and Haas Co. has awarded a $25,000 grant to FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in support of the Philadelphia Regional Robotics Education Program. The funds will assist more than 46 local high-school teams in designing, constructing, and programming a robot that will compete against other teams’ robots in regional and national competitions.

A Wheelabrator® 10-wheel blast machine made its television debut during a recent episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Build it Bigger,” a show that highlights great feats of engineering around the globe. The Wheelabrator machine completes the crucial process of cleaning rusty, dirty M1 Abrams Tanks before they are repainted and returned to combat service.