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American company Sigma Labs Inc has filed a patent that has positive implications for improved process control in metal additive manufacturing, with America’s jet engine maker GE set to apply the technology in the production of its new LEAP and GE9X engines.

The patent application concerns a claimed unique sensor that “will significantly enhance the ability to improve the quality of additive manufacturing processes especially for critical metal parts like those for aerospace, automotive and defense”, says the release.

– See more at: http://www.machinery.co.uk/machinery-news/additive-manufacturing-sigma-labs-ge-aviation-process-control-patent-leap-ge9x-3d-printing/60555/#sthash.SQ6zXFa0.dpuf

Energy demand will double by 2050, shale gas could ease stress.

EOS develops two new metal powders for AM – Metal Powder Report.

The federal government is offering up to $70 million in funding — it has to be matched — to create a new Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking proposals for an institute that focuses on overcoming the barriers to wider spread use of advanced composites, which are seen as a critical way to support national energy goals and domestic prosperity.

Industry analysts predict the global carbon fiber polymer composite market will grow to $25.2 billion by 2019 and glass fiber reinforcements to reach $16.4 billion by 2016.

Read more at: http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20140326/NEWS/140329914/u-s-proposes-composite-industry-institute

“Live by government protection die by government protection,” might be a good lesson for Elon Musk, the CEO of luxury electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors. After all, the company that found favor with Obama’s Department of Energy and used that favor to raise money from private investors, is now getting shut out of selling direct to consumers in states like New Jersey and Ohio that are protecting their local car dealerships from outside competition.

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/03/26/keeping-tesla-out-of-new-york-amounts-to-more-of-the-same-old-crony-capitalism-and-protectionism/

Report confirms nickel-platinum prospectivity at Haneti play.

Obama administration is last man standing on LNG exports | TheHill.

Cincinnati Incorporated (Harrison, Ohio) and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tenn.) have signed a partnership agreement to develop a new large-scale additive manufacturing system capable of printing polymer components up to 10 times larger than currently producible, and at speeds 200 to 500 times faster than existing additive machines. The cooperative research and development agreement – signed at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Oak Ridge, TN – aims to introduce significant new capabilities to the U.S. machine tool sector, which supplies manufacturing technology to a wide range of industries including automotive, aerospace, appliance and robotics. A prototype of the large-scale additive machine is in development using the chassis and drives of Cincinnati’s gantry-style laser cutting system as the base, with plans to incorporate a high-speed cutting tool, pellet feed mechanism and control software for additional capability.

Read more at: http://www.compositesworld.com/news/ornl-and-cincinnati-inc-sign-an-agreement-on-additive-manufacturing

A big step in the development of next-generation fuel cells and water-alkali electrolyzers has been achieved with the discovery of a new class of bimetallic nanocatalysts that are an order of magnitude higher in activity than the target set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for 2017.

Read more at: http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/02/researchers-discover-highly-promising-new-class-nanocatalyst