Maruka USA territory now includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Methods Machine Tools Inc. has reached an agreement expanding the territory of Maruka USA to include North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Maruka and Methods have been working together since 2013, and throughout the last two years, Maruka has reduced conflicting product lines throughout its territories to focus on manufacturing solutions using Methods Machine Tools products and automated solutions. As a result of this change, Maruka has grown substantially year over year as it becomes more strategically aligned with Methods Machine Tools.

“We are very pleased with their investments in resources to sell and service our products over the years, including building up their skill sets, and this has translated to tremendous success. Their management team is very focused on their customers and providing the best service, while growing new accounts at a record pace,” Methods CEO Mark Wright said.

Maruka USA has been doing business for more than 53 years with deep roots in the machine tool industry. Maruka’s machine tool division specializes in the sale and service of CNC machine tools and automated solutions such as Nakamura-Tome, Fanuc, Yasda, Kiwa, OKK, and Methods Machine Tool products.

Maruka’s CEO, Gary Lowery states, “We are very excited for the opportunity to continue strengthening our relationship with Methods Machine Tools.”

Maruka USA is not new to the Minneapolis region, as Maruka owns Industrial Tool Inc. (ITI), led by President & CEO Pat Hjelm. ITI, established in 1974, is a well-known local Minneapolis-based company that specializes in fixture building, custom machines, automation, and full turn-key capabilities for machine tending and associated processes. Maruka, combined with ITI, brings extensive experience and engineering strength to support customers.

Green electricity and renewable energy certificates allow Seco to reach its 2030 emission targets nine years ahead of schedule.

A combination of green electricity and renewable energy certificates in the U.S. and India have enabled Seco Tools to reach its 2030 emission targets a full nine years ahead of schedule, with the added benefit of cost savings for the business.

The Seco focus on making all aspects of its business more sustainable led to a comprehensive review of the company’s energy requirements, and when the time came to renew contracts with suppliers for the site in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, green energy was to the fore. Studies have shown that Reynoldsville is responsible for around 10% of the global electricity requirement for Seco and 19% of its climate impact from electricity, so changes made there would have a profound effect on the company’s global footprint. “We purchased renewable energy certificates (RECs), which allow us to offset our CO2 footprint,” says Eric Sirianni, Generic Sourcing at Seco in Reynoldsville.

“The process started for us in 2019, and previously we were only concerned with getting electricity at the cheapest price we could get it – when we turn on the light switch, the power is going to come on no matter who we buy the electricity from. There wasn’t really a template, we were just asked to look at green energy the next time we were hedging electricity. Green energy costs more, but we have a CO2 goal and from there it just took off. We were able to hedge our electricity while layering in 100% green credits, and still lower the price – once people saw that, people took notice,” Sirianni adds.

RECs allow companies to invest in energy from renewable sources even though those sources may be located elsewhere. The next step will be for Seco sites elsewhere to investigate solutions such as on-site electricity generation through solar panels and geothermal heating. “Everyone is committed to work towards these emissions targets and promoting the use of green energy, and apart from the RECs, we have also installed solar panels to power our strip lights and so on, which is approximately 4% of our production,” says Nagesh Shekhadar, general manager for Indirect Purchasing in Pune, India.

“Each of our locations can tell us the breakdown of the kind of power they use each month, and it varies depending on where you’re located,” Sirianni says. “From a company perspective, it’s the right thing to do. The first reaction is always ‘why should we spend the money?’ It’s tough to adjust that mindset, but once they come around, who is going to say no to helping the environment?”

Partners from industry and academia will help build liquid hydrogen composite tanks for civil aviation.

Toray Advanced Composites, together with partners from industry and academia, has been awarded funding from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy’s Research and Development for Mobility scheme for the development of a long-life, fully composite liquid hydrogen tank for civil aviation.

Hydrogen has been identified by the European Commission (EC) as a key priority to achieve the European Green Deal for a sustainable economy. By converting the construction of the hydrogen tank from existing metallic solutions to composites, the liquid hydrogen (LH2) composite tank will achieve weight savings that enable the advancement of liquid hydrogen as a sustainable fuel source for civil aviation. This will lower the carbon footprint of air travel and increase and extend the flight range of aircraft fleet by reducing construction weight and cost.

The cross-sector research undertaken as part of this program aims to result in a lightweight composite tank that can withstand the incredibly low temperature of liquid hydrogen, -253°C. The project will focus on both composite tank construction, digital design strategies, and production technologies.

The consortium comprises of 13 partners across academia and industry: Aircraft Development and Systems Engineering (ADSE), Airborne, Bold Findings, Cryoworld, GKN Aerospace’s Fokker business, IT’S Engineering, KVE, NLR, PhotonFirst Technologies, Somni Solutions, TANIQ, and Technical University Delft together with SAM|XL.

Toray Advanced Composites Managing Director Frank Meurs said, “We are delighted to have been granted this funding. By joining together the best of Dutch industries and institutes in a unique consortium, we will contribute to the acceleration of hydrogen technology into aerospace as a sustainable fuel source for the future. This project underlines the commitment across the supply chain to drive forward sustainable propulsion technologies and is conducted in full alignment with the major aircraft and engine manufacturers.”

PGS1 hybrid-electric aero power and propulsion system delivers more than a megawatt of power.

Rolls-Royce’s hybrid-electric aero power and propulsion system has delivered more than a megawatt of power just weeks after going on test for the first time.

Power Generation System 1 (PGS1) reached the milestone at the newly renovated Testbed 108 in Bristol, UK. Testing is continuing with the aim of reaching up to 2.5MW.

PGS1 is a demonstrator aimed at proving technology for future hybrid-electric regional aircraft opportunities, and in addition the generator could be used within a more-electric system for larger aircraft or within future ground applications.

Adam Newman, chief project engineer, Aviation Futures, Rolls-Royce, said: “We’ve made a tremendous start to testing – reaching a megawatt is a great achievement. Now we want to go further and see what we can ultimately achieve.

“Our generator is about the size of a beer keg, yet it has already produced enough electricity to continuously power around 1,000 homes – that’s really taking technology to new levels. When future hybrid-electric aircraft opportunities emerge in the megawatt and above class we want to be as prepared as we can be to offer a ready-made solution.”

As well as the generator, the PGS1 system incorporates an AE2100 engine, specialist controls, and a thermal management system.

Both Testbed 108 and PGS1 have been supported by the UK Aerospace Technology Institute’s MegaFlight project, while the electrical generator, motor, and power electronics design, make and testing, which has taken place in Trondheim, Norway, has been supported by the EU Clean Sky 2 program.

Innovation center will develop composite aerostructures of the future.

Daher’s new 1,600m2 (17,222ft2) Shap'In TechCenter will bring together the company’s full spectrum of aerostructures and composites expertise in a single facility to be located on Daher’s existing site at Saint-Aignan-de-Grandlieu in the Jules Verne industrial innovation cluster near Nantes, France. Its operational startup is planned in October 2022.

This $8.47-million project is supported by $904,000 in funding from the French Aerospace Industry Modernization Fund, and will respond to technical, economic, and environmental challenges faced by the industry – while also training young talent. Shap'in will employ 160 people, half of whom will work on research and development projects.

Advanced composites in general – and thermoplastics in particular – enable the production of components that are simultaneously lighter and stronger than the materials previously used, and at a lower cost. Another major advantage is that they can be recycled/repurposed as part of a circular economy. The resulting performance gains are therefore significant and help limit aviation’s environmental impact.

The Shap'In TechCenter’s key purpose is to drive Daher’s consolidation of its leadership in aerostructure technologies, which is key to the aerospace industry’s success in meeting the twin challenges of competitiveness and reduced environmental impact.

To ensure the 100% alignment of innovation and manufacturing, Shap'In is located adjacent to Daher’s specialized production plant for thermoplastic aerospace components – which is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the aerospace industry.

The combination of innovation center and production plant brings together a unique set of skills and resources that will accelerate innovation in aerostructures and the methods and processes used to manufacture them. Shap'In will capitalize on the technological advances made by Daher in the design and production of aircraft wings, tails, and engines by enabling designs to be put into production faster and with greater agility, thereby shortening the lead time to product maturity.

At the cornerstone unveiling ceremony, Daher CEO Didier Kayat said: “We are extremely proud to see this project come to fruition; a process that has accelerated significantly in recent months thanks to the support we have received from the France Relance national recovery plan. Together with Log'In, our future logistics acceleration platform at Toulouse; and Fly'In, the Tarbes innovation center dedicated to the forward development of our aircraft product range; Shap'In further underlines our determination to embrace the future and will showcase how our technological expertise feeds into a cutting-edge French industry. It also will considerably extend our ability to develop disruptive technologies and their production processes. We are putting the needed resources in place for Daher to remain at the forefront of our industry, while also ensuring our status as a key player in tomorrow’s low-carbon aviation sector.”

Shap'In has been developed around three key axes: