Aerospace

President Trump signaled what could become a vigorous return to space exploration by the United States when he reconstituted the National Space Council. Dormant since the end of the George H.W. Bush administration, the council’s chairman, Vice President Mike Pence, and its executive secretary, Dr. Scott Pace, have vowed to build a manned space program to reach the moon and beyond to Mars. As with the two previous boom cycles of aerospace development, in World War II and the Apollo program, one of the main beneficiaries of the aggressive effort will be the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Earlier this week we shared the conclusions of the McKinsey Report, which concluded that it may be possible for U.S. manufacturing to grow by 20 percent and add more than 2 million jobs by 2025. That was the good news. It can only happen, however, if manufacturers embrace Industry 4.0 technology. The Integr8 conference in Detroit showed how to get started.

Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, tested NASA's first 3-D printed rocket engine prototype part made of two different metal alloys through an innovative advanced manufacturing process. NASA has been making and evaluating durable 3-D printed rocket parts made of one metal, but the technique of 3-D printing with more than one metal is more difficult.

Pratt & Whitney’s new 93,000 square-foot facility adds to an already existing GTF fan blade production line in Lansing. The company's AutoAir facility has had a tenfold ramp-up in the past 20 months, and has increased its workforce from just over 200 to almost 700.

Boeing employees and community members this week commemorated the 90,000 square-foot expansion of Boeing Helena to support 777X airplane production. Boeing Helena is set to install new machine tools to fabricate critical titanium parts for the twin-aisle 777X.

UI LABS and ManpowerGroup have released a workforce analysis that identifies 165 data-centric jobs that will define the future of manufacturing in the United States. Descriptions for jobs such as collaborative robotics specialist, manufacturing cybersecurity strategist and enterprise digital ethicist give a window into the advanced skills and knowledge needed to put new technology into practice and remain globally competitive.