Items filtered by date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

It may seem like a simple concept in the Web 2.0 era: connect every 3D printer on the planet through a single network. However, this idea has broad implications for the way that we produce our goods and, as the idea of distributed manufacturing starts to evolve, these implications will be felt more and more.

In a future in which almost all of our goods are produced locally and on demand, we may look back at Dutch-American start-up 3D Hubs as a pioneer in the space. In fact, to this author's knowledge, the firm is one of the few that has successfully implemented and maintained a distributed manufacturing model where anyone can upload a 3D model and have it printed by the closest 3D printer available.

To learn more about 3D Hubs' vast network of over 34,000 3D printers, ENGINEERING.com spoke with 3D Hubs Cofounder and CEO Bram de Zwart, who was able to discuss the past, present and future of his exciting start-up.

What Is Distributed Manufacturing?

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Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges today announced the start of the Block Offer 2017 process for awarding oil and gas exploration permits.

Consultation with iwi begins now and will begin with local authorities from October 17 in the areas being proposed for onshore and offshore exploration.

“This is an important first step in the Block Offer process. Feedback from iwi and local authorities ensures that any areas of sensitivity are identified and carefully considered before the tender round is finalised,” Mr Bridges says.

Schedule 4 areas (including national parks and marine reserves) and World Heritage sites are excluded from the Block Offer process.

Consultation will take place on four proposed offshore areas, one proposed offshore/onshore area, and two proposed onshore areas, covering a total area of around 508,691 square kilometres.

“Since the Government adopted the annual Block Offer approach in 2012 we have attracted multiple experienced and capable operators to explore New Zealand’s potential.

“I acknowledge the challenging low oil-price environment that industry is currently facing but we know commodity prices are cyclical. The Government remains committed to providing a stable and predictable regime.”

The consultation period for Block Offer 2017 runs until 18 November 2016. The final tender area will be announced in March next year.

Further information is available at http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/investors/permits/block-offers/block-offer-2017.

Primary Industries Ministers Nathan Guy and Jo Goodhew have welcomed $3.1 million in new funding for 13 climate change research projects in the agriculture and forestry sectors.

The grants were announced today by the Ministry for Primary Industries through the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change (SLMACC) research programme.

“This funding plays an important part in helping our primary industries prepare for the future challenges of climate change,” says Mr Guy.

“$935,000 is being invested in three projects to analyse soil carbon on hill country farms and under irrigation systems.

“These projects and others like greenhouse gas mitigation research will help build our knowledge around the impacts of climate change on the sector and how we can adapt and mitigate these effects.”

Associate Minister for Primary Industries Jo Goodhew has welcomed a $250,000 grant for a review of climate change research in New Zealand focusing on forests by the New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd.

“Forestry is one of New Zealand’s largest and cheapest forms of carbon storage and will play an important role in adapting to climate change. We need to keep building our knowledge in this area if we are to ensure our forests continue to thrive in a changing climate,” says Mrs Goodhew.

More information on the successful projects is available at: http://mpi.govt.nz/news-and-resources/media-releases/3-1-million-towards-climate-change-research-projects/

Customs is investing in a world-class patrol vessel to reinforce and enhance the protection of New Zealand’s maritime border, says Customs Minister Nicky Wagner.

“Customs has always had a strong maritime role that spans across its 176-year history. While the early days of chasing tobacco smugglers are long gone, maintaining its capabilities to respond to threats is as crucial as ever.

“I’m delighted to announce this new vessel, which will be locally-designed, purpose-built, and equipped with state-of-the-art electronics. It will boost Customs’ capabilities to identify risk and carry out enforcement work beyond our territorial waters.”

“The decision comes after 15 months of consultation and contribution by partner agencies and maritime experts to confirm the best vessel to safeguard the future.

“The new vessel will be based in Auckland, and operate with a crew of four Customs officers with specialist maritime expertise. Delivery is expected in 2017-2018,” Ms Wagner says.

Customs’ new Hawk V will replace Hawk IV, which has been in service for 18 years. It will be similar in size and shape to New Zealand Police’s vessel Deodar III, and similar in design to vessels operated by New Zealand Coast Guard and Royal Victorian Police, which have proved extremely successful.

With the continual growth in the use of wood fuel for heating the Bioenergy Association is increasing its support for wood fuelled heat plant operators and maintenance staff, helping plant owners improve the performance of their plant and encourage others to move from coal to wood fuel.

“The amount of wood fuel replacing coal is growing each year and we want to ensure heat plant operating and maintenance staff are well supported,” says the Association’s Executive Officer Brian Cox.

The Bioenergy Association is holding a forum for heat plant owners, operators and maintenance staff in Christchurch on 27 September.

“The forum will allow heat plant owners and operators to share experiences and learn from each other about how to optimise wood fuelled heat plant operation,” says Mr Cox. More information about the forum is available at http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/event/heat-plant-operator-forum

He says the Bioenergy Association is increasing its focus on efficient use of wood energy facilities through its continuing professional development programme and other member events so those contemplating moving from coal to wood fuel are comfortable with its use because wood fuel performs quite differently to coal.

“The Forum will be held in Christchurch because in the last few years the hospital, schools and horticulturalists in the region have been installing a number of wood fuelled heat plant and there is a growing need to support them.”

The Bioenergy Association is also developing more training courses and regularly holds webinars so members can keep up to date with the latest best practice in the fast growing wood fuel sector.

About the New Zealand Bioenergy AssociationBioenergy has the potential to add revenue of $6 billion per year to the country’s economy.

The Bioenergy Association helps its members to develop and grow their bioenergy businesses, raises awareness of the benefits of bioenergy and provides the latest information about the bioenergy sector, both in New Zealand and internationally.

Its Vision is for 25 percent of New Zealand’s consumer energy supply to be from bioenergy by 2040.

The Port of Melbourne has been sold to a consortium including Queensland Infrastructure Corporation, Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada’s Borealis for $9.7 billion, a price the Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas called a “pleasant surprise”.

The ABC reports that state legislation enabling the 50-year lease to the Lonsdale consortium passed parliament in March. A price of $6 billion was initially predicted.

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Perth based Transbeam Industries, welding and fabrication experts, and Bruce Rock Engineering (BRW), heavy road equipment manufacturers, recently completed a merger of their West Australian operations.  For BRW one of the highlights of the merger  and in which they saw considerable value was their access to Transfield's new plasma profile cutting machine that Transfield had purchased from Kinetic Engineering in Auckland, New Zealand which in consultation with a German company had modified to integrate the machine with stud welding.

Pictured a 60 metre BRW manufactured long road train

If you're considering buying a new PC then one of the biggest questions is whether to invest in a Windows or OS X machine? In this feature we take a look at the advantages and drawbacks of both.

It’s a battle that has raged across time and space. Two sides with sworn armies of loyalists, locked eternally in a struggle for dominance. We’ve seen it played out so many times: Android vs iOS, Xbox vs PlayStation, Canon vs Nikon, FIFA vs Pro Evo, ZX Spectrum vs Commodore 64, but today we look not upon those minor conflicts. Instead our eyes turn to the thunderous colossuses of Mac vs PC.  Which is the better platform? Is there even a true winner? Some of these questions cannot be answered, but in this feature we will put the two platforms to the test so you can see which one is the best for you.

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Qantas will launch daily direct flights between Melbourne and Tokyo’s Narita Airport from 16th December 2016,* responding to growing demand and marking the next step in its Asian growth strategy.

The new route will be operated by an upgraded, two-class A330-300 with 297 seats – the aircraft widely seen as best in class for the business market.

It adds to Qantas’ popular Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda) and Brisbane -Tokyo (Narita) services, launched in 2015, and will connect travellers with the broader Qantas Group network – including Jetstar’s extensive domestic network within Japan and the Group’s services across the Tasman.

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United States is looking at a Restoration

“He was the heart, she was the head” confided a former Reagan-era cabinet member in a private conversation about the Clinton presidency. Yet otherwise Americans to any foreigner insist that Hillary Clinton will be new to the job. That she is running in fact as a first timer instead of running for re-election,.

Americans refuse to accept they are facing a Restoration.

The topic is taboo in the United States media all the way from the ultra-liberal East and West coast newspapers and television networks through to their right-leaning counterparts in the hinterland.

There are though several reasons for this code of utter silence writes our European correspondent:-  *Americans are secretly ashamed at the re-appearance of exactly the same kind of monarchical political dynasties that their constitution was specifically designed to eliminate. They were reminded of this trend at the outset of this presidential series when Jeb Bush enlisted with a view to following in his own footsteps to the Oval Office those of his brother, and before that, those of his father.  * Americans in fact cannot bring themselves to admit that a female, even in the role of a wife, was at least half the brain power in the Oval Office.*That even if the late Nancy Reagan was such a contender her influence was the accepted US apple pie role---that of supporting her husband in his work.

Hillary claims that there is a glass ceiling in regard to the Oval Office and given that for most of its existence half the United States population has been female the data supports her. It does indicate a mental block so reinforced that Americans cannot bring themselves even to think about the female politicians who have already led such nations as Britain, India, and Israel just to quote some examples.

Here is a pointer meanwhile to Hillary's participation in the last Clinton era..

In the run up to the first Clinton era Bill was against the North American Free Trade Agreement. Once installed as president, he actively and successfully sponsored NAFTA.

In the run up now to a second Clinton era Hillary has set herself against the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Few doubt that if successful in her current campaign to restore a Clinton White House she will find good reasons to be positive about the deal once again.

A natural trade liberaliser, Mrs Clinton’s hand is surer when applied to politics in which practical considerations take precedence over ideology.

Her touch is less sure when applied to the abstract. An example remains the United States role in the democracy export business.

This became evident when as president Obama’s secretary of state she oversaw the US-sponsored Arab Spring. This turned out to be an example of the United States’ ability to turn a bad situation into something much worse.

Aside from NAFTA Mrs Clinton’s hand can be identified in a number of social shifts notably in the human rights category that were such a hallmark of the last Clinton era.

The reluctance of Americans to talk about their two-term Clinton co-presidency is however less of a mystery when viewed from a European stand point.

Europe has a history of executive queens. England’s Elizabeth 1 comes to mind. The United States does not.

The United States was founded by stern pilgrims with very definite views about the place of women in their society, and especially so in their government.

The influence of these wrathful religious founders is evident to this day to a European visiting the United States.

Yet it is not so clear cut for the Americans themselves steeped as they are in this un-bending puritan tradition. They still like to think that Bill, a man’s man if ever there was one, was the only decider. That Hillary somehow and for eight long years kept her own opinions, should she have had any, to herself.

From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk - Monday 19 September 2016