Materials/Fastening Spotlight

Top Stories

Ford Flexes Engineering Muscle

Ford put a lot of engineering muscle into its 2009 Flex crossover, witnessed by eight technical innovations that were awarded finalist status in the 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division Innovation awards.  more >>

Industry Innovation Overcomes Manufacturing Design Obstacles

The North American Die Casting Assn. is working to keep jobs and production in the U.S.  more >>

Lear Stops Whiplash with Dynamic Head Restraint

An all-mechanical system developed by Avdel is used to meet new federal and European whiplash requirements in Cadillac STS seats now being manufactured by Tier I Lear Corp.  more >>

New Steels Make Play for Hybrid, Fuel Cell Vehicles

New steels coupled with new designs significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Future Steel Vehicle Program, a GM-led effort focused on hybrids and fuel cell vehicles.  more >>

In-Mold Assembly Eliminates Secondary Operations

Highly capable tools rotate and perform assembly operations, eliminating time-consuming secondary steps. In an assembly variation, metal composites are formed in two steps.  more >>

Materials/Fastening Webcasts

Injection Molding Works for Medical Design

Join Design News' Engineer of the Year finalist David Danitz as he discusses his use of plastics and metal injection molding in his new laparoscopic surgical tool.

Plastic Prototyping Strategies That Work

What's the best way to prototype injection-molded plastic parts? The answer to that question will influence not only how quickly you can put parts into production but also how well they will actually perform in the finished product.