Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

Newton, MA--Engineering companies back the yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows of technology by supporting the Design News Engineering Awards program, now in its twelfth year.

"There is a high level of pride throughout the Torrington Company regarding our participation in this outstanding and prestigious program," says Milanne Miles, marketing communications manager. "We have a unique opportunity to honor some of the country's most-talented engineers, people who have made significant contributions to our nation's advances in science and technology." She adds that "even more gratifying, Torrington is able to provide valuable financial assistance to the Engineering Education Foundation (EEF) to help promote excellence in a critically important field, one that will help maintain America's global leadership into the 21st century."

Backing the awards for its ninth consecutive year, NTN Bearing Corp. (Des Plaines, IL) has increased its grant from $15,000 to $20,000. This gift for the Design News Special Achievement Award winner is donated to the college of his/her choice. Editors select this honoree based on outstanding lifetime achievements in the engineering field. The 1998 recipient, William "Red" Whittaker, is a leading designer in the world of field robotics.

"Recognizing and publicizing the contributions of our pacesetting engineers is vital if the engineering profession is to compete effectively for the attention of young people choosing a career," says George Hammond, president of NTN Bearing Corp. "Supporting this award program helps everyone to see the design engineer as a role model for future generations."

The Engineering Quality Award, received this year by Horst Maack for his centerless grinder design, is being supported for the tenth year by Schneeberger Inc. (Bedford, MA), a producer of precision bearings. Its $20,000 grant, a $5,000 increase from last year, is presented to the school of the 1999 winner's choice.

"It's truly a pleasure for Schneeberger to play a significant role in the engineering awards program. We welcome the opportunity to do our part to promote the engineering discipline," says George Jaffe, executive VP at Schneeberger Inc. "As we move towards the millennium, the pressure to remain technologically competitive will increase. I congratulate Design News on the success of this program that not only effectively publicizes the importance of the engineering profession, but also provides much-needed funds for our engineering institutions."

The MacNeal-Schwendler Corp. will support three $5,000 technology prizes for the Grand Prize winners of the Excellence in Design contest, now in its nineteenth year. Last year's recipients include Thomas Zimmerman, designer of Personal Area Network (PAN) devices which use capacitive coupling to allow humans and machines to exchange digital information through touch; Geoffrey Ball's Floating Mass Transducer technology for the hearing impaired, which bypasses the eardrum, simulating the middle ear instead; and M. Steven Rodgers, senior technical staff member at Sandia National Laboratories, for his work on the 24-bit Stronglink--a micro electromechanical system for safeguarding next-generation weapons.

"The predominant role of engineering in the design process has been rapidly changing in the past several years. Engineering is more and more being used to predict performance rather than only validate or fix a design late in the process," says Tom Curry, president and CEO at The MacNeal-Schwendler Corp. "The Excellence in Design Award winners have realized the value of engineering in new product designs. We are proud to be a part of this Design News program."

Design News will present four second-place winners in the 1999 Excellence in Design competition with an Acoustic Wave stereo system manufactured by Bose Corp. Finally, Edmund Scientific Co. (New York, NY) has donated four Astroscan telescope packages to be given to the third-place winners in the design contest.

Most awards will be presented at the Design News Engineering Awards Banquet on March 16, 1999, at the Ritz-Carlton. This event is held in conjunction with the National Design Engineering Show at National Manufacturing Week.

"Design News is proud to recognize the engineering innovations that contribute to the advancement of technology in such fields as automotive, aerospace, medical, and consumer markets," says Design News Publisher Larry Maloney. "The strong support of our sponsor companies helps insure that tomorrow's engineers will meet the challenge."