Researchers at Texas A&M have developed a method to imprint a magnetic tag within metal parts for easier authentication (Courtesy Texas A&M)

Researchers from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, have developed a method of imprinting a hidden magnetic tag—encoded with authentication information—within manufactured hardware via metal AM. The process is expected to replace physical tags, like QR or barcodes, with imprinted tags to reduce counterfeiting.

America Makes, Youngstown, Ohio, has announced funding totaling $1.75 million for two recent project calls, the 2022 Rapid Innovation Call, or RIC, and the Steel Wire-Arc Additive Heat Treatment, or SWAAHT, project. The winning proposals address the evolving challenges of the domestic supply chain and offer progressive solutions, the organization said.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have just released the 2023 Fuel Economy Guide. The Guide provides detailed fuel economy estimates for model year 2023 light-duty vehicles, along with estimated annual fuel costs and other information for prospective car buyers.

MPIF recently held its biennial Powder Metallurgy Sintering Seminar in State College, PA where over 60 attendees were provided the latest in the sintering theory and practices of PM products and sintering furnaces. Presentations included advanced topics including metallographic analysis, safe operation of furnaces and atmospheres, sintering of conventional PM, MIM and metal AM materials.  Other important topics included furnace maintenance, troubleshooting, CQI-9 reviews, and furnace belt specifications.   

New MIT heat treatment for extreme conditions. (Courtesy Dominic David Peachey)

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a metal additive manufactured heat treatment to make the materials stronger and more resilient in extreme thermal environments.