Exlar awards engineering scholarships
During the inaugural year of the Exlar Scholarship Program, Exlar Corp., Chanhassen, Minn., awarded $1,000 scholarships to four distinguished high school graduates planning to pursue engineering degrees. Recipients include Aaron Bartnik and Kristian Potter who will attend the University of Minnesota, Margaret McGonigle who will attend the University of Notre Dame, and Austin Wilder who will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology. Exlar manufactures linear and rotary motion products and also offers an internship program. For more information, visit exlar.com.
SICK names Craig Smith president of Canadian operations
SICK, Minneapolis, a manufacturer of sensors for industrial applications, has named Craig Smith as president of SICK Ltd. in Canada. Smith previously worked for Siemens Water Technologies of Siemens Canada Ltd., as well as Omron, Rockwell Automation, and several other automation companies in Canada. He graduated from McMaster University in Ontario with degrees in electrical engineering and management. For more information, visit sickusa.com.
SPIROL expands disc spring product line
SPIROL International Corp., Danielson, Conn., has expanded its Disc Spring product line to include larger sizes per DIN EN 16983 (formerly DIN 2093) Group 2 (available up to 250 mm in diameter) and a full range of stainless steel discs. Disc springs are conically shaped, washer-type components designed for axial loads. They can be used individually or assembled into stacks to achieve the deflection characteristics required by the application. Disc springs are well suited for critical applications such as safety valves, clutch and brake mechanisms for elevators and heavy equipment, and supports for industrial pipe systems. For more information, visit SPIROL.com.
National Instruments donates design tools to MIT
National Instruments, Austin, is donating design tools to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to expand the use of NI software and hardware in the department of mechanical engineering via 10 mechatronics, robotics, manufacturing, control, and design courses over the next five years. Through the donation, MIT has identified several key research projects: Professor Sangbae Kim is using LabVIEW and NI Single-Board RIO for biomimetic robots; Professor Kamal Youcef-Toumi is using LabVIEW for atomic force microscopy; Professor Harry Asada is using CompactRIO for projects in robotic inspection; and Professor David Trumper is using NI tools in precision motion control and magnetic levitation projects. For more information, visit ni.com/mit.