Management

The Commerce Department on Friday provided its first statistical snapshot of the American economy in the first quarter, the gross domestic product estimate. The economy barely grew, expanding at an annual rate of only 0.7 percent. The growth was a sharp decline from the 2.1 percent annual rate recorded in the final quarter of last year. It was the weakest quarterly showing in three years. Consumption, the component reflecting individual spending, rose by only 0.3 percent, well below the 3.5 percent rate in the previous quarter.

For years, cyber insurance was purchased mostly by consumer-facing businesses such as retailers and financial-service providers. But as factories are getting more tech-savvy and digitally integrated with other parts of the company, manufacturers are starting to realize that keeping those networks safe is essential, according to this Wall Street Journal report.

Detroit, Mich., is a haven for CAD designers according to a top 10 ranking of cities to live in for the profession.

Since 2005, igus has been a major supplier sponsor of a variety of student robotics and engineering competitions. Now, as a part of its YES (Young Engineers Support) Program, the company is celebrating National Robotics Week with their continued support of thousands of student engineers around the world.

Penn State industrial engineering researchers are part of a collaborative team that has received $1.2 million in funding to develop an advanced framework that will allow engineers to share and process engineering data as well as formally represent design and manufacturing-related knowledge throughout the product design lifecycle. The 18-month project is funded by the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII). The project is titled "Lower Life Cycle Costs, Improve Design and Performance Robustness through the Digital Thread."

Marposs, Auburn Hills, Mich., in March appointed Philipp Janssen as product manager for its forming and stamping monitoring solutions, which were acquired through the Brankamp GmbH acquisition in 2012. Janssen will be responsible for the development of product strategies for Marposs’ process monitoring solutions for cold forming and metal forming operations.