Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

Porsche AG has branched out from the small, sporty beauties that have made the company famous. Now, with the announcement of its Cayenne sport utility vehicle due later in 2002, Porsche may be seeking soccer mom or adventure-seeker appeal. For glimpses of the Cayenne Turbo and Cayenne S, visit www.porschecayenne.com. Once you've registered for the site, you'll have access to the SUV's sketches, history, and specifications on its V8 engine, drivetrain, wheels, performance, and dimensions. The testing section includes information and images of the SUVs traversing through the snow and ice of Sweden, the sand and rocks of Dubai, and the mud and water of Australia.

Have you been wondering what types of polymers are used for automotive interiors, or whether Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomer parts can be solvent welded? Maybe you haven't known what resources are available. Try www.techcenter.omnexus.com to connect with 16,000 Omnexus community members and a number of technical experts in the plastics industry for your unanswered questions. In addition to reviewing archived questions, you may submit your own question to a specific TechCenter expert or ask the general panel of technical experts. Once you've chosen a particular field, such as Polycarbonates, you may then find out your Polycarbonate expert's average response time and the number of questions the expert has answered. Main categories covered include materials, machinery, markets, and advanced technologies.

Space. It's been called the final frontier, an adventure and destination reserved for the elite few. It still is an endeavor accessible by few, but thanks to Dennis Tito's first space tourist mission in 2001, a NASA-filled resume and Ph.D. is no longer a prerequisite…only several million dollars. Space Adventures (www.spaceadventures.com) offers trips to the healthy and wealthy for as little as $5,000 for a zero-gravity flight "ride" in Moscow to as much as $20 million for a trip to the International Space Station. In between this price range, you can still experience being an astronaut through suborbital and "edge of space" trips or astronaut-led tours of space centers and training areas in both the U.S. and Russia.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's site (www.nhtsa.org) offers authoritative information on the latest auto defects and recalls, crash test results for your particular make of car, and vehicle regulations and standards. But go to the Research and Development page of the site for data and testing information on such topics as frontal crash protection, airbag research, and crashworthiness research. The site also contains databases of biomechanics and vehicle crash test results.