Dow, AICHE Roll Out Safety Program For Chemical Engineers

MIDLAND — A new emphasis on chemical and process safety
by The Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) will now be part of
the curriculum for undergraduate chemical engineering
students in the United States, thanks to collaboration with the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Dow and AIChE have developed a program to better prepare
chemical engineering graduates for the workforce. The global
Undergraduate Process Safety Learning Initiative will
concentrate on upgrading curriculum materials, increasing
faculty competence in process safety, and conducting
process safety “boot camps” for undergraduates at
universities.

WMU Part Of Team That ‘Tunes’ Abundant Elements For Semiconductors

KALAMAZOO — In a world concerned about the dwindling supply and skyrocketing prices of rare elements used to make semiconductors, an international team of scientists and engineers has demonstrated that a new material made from more abundant elements can be “tuned” to take their place for solar cell applications.

The findings of the team’s work, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.K. Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, are featured in a paper appearing in the latest edition of the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

TriMas Net Income Falls After Spinoff

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — TriMas Corp. (Nasdaq: TRS)
Thursday announced net income of $11.7 milion or 26 cents a
share in the third quarter, down from $22.2 million or 49 cents
a share a year earlier.

The reduction in net income was the result of $11.1 million in
net income from discontinued operations — TriMas’ spun-off
Cequent businesses.

Revenue was $222.2 million, down from $222.3 million a year
earlier.

New Simulation Software From Altair

TROY — The Troy engineering technology developer Altair
has announced the availability of SimLab 14.0, the newest
version of Altair’s leading software for simplified modeling
solutions for complex analysis problems.

SimLab is a process oriented, feature-based finite element
modeling software that allows the user to quickly and
accurately set up simulations for engineering problems of the
most complex assemblies.

Arotech Power Systems Division Gets $10.7M In Work

ANN ARBOR — Arotech Corp. (Nasdaq ARTX) announced
that its Power System Division, which includes UEC
Electronics, has been awarded $10.7 million in orders since
August.

Delivery of the products and services associated with these
contracts and work orders is anticipated to begin in 2015 and
to run through calendar year 2016 and beyond.

Gravity Software, Microsoft Dynamics Offer Price Cut For Nonprofits

UPDATED to correct pricing to $15 per user per month, not $150.

SOUTHFIELD — Gravity Software LLC has announced
special pricing of its Gravity 2015 software for qualifying
nonprofit organizations.

Gravity’ accounting software is built in the cloud on the
Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.

AT&T Adds Faster Network In Northern Michigan

DETROIT — AT&T Inc. Wednesday announced an upgrade to a cell tower in its 4G LTE network in Elk Rapids to give area residents and businesses faster, more reliable wireless service in the area of S. Bay Shore Drive and U.S. Highway 31.

AT&T launched its 4G LTE network in nearby Charlevoix in May 2014.

AT&T also announced that it had upgraded a cell tower in its 4G LTE network in Mackinac County to give area residents and businesses along the Hiawatha Trail faster, more reliable wireless service.

Three Firms Get State Aid To Add 168 Jobs

LANSING — The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced three companies were approved for incentives by the Michigan Strategic Fund to support their expansions in Michigan.

The projects are expected to generate more than $20 million in investments and create 168 new jobs.

Check The Lastest Tech News On New Podcast

SOUTHFIELD — There’s a new podcast covering technology and engineering news in Michigan.

The M2 TechCast is webcast live Mondays at 3 p.m. at http://www.podcastdetroit.com. It’s recorded at Podcast Detroit’s studios in Ferndale.

And it’s available by Wednesday on the M2 TechCast page on the audio content website Soundcloud.com.

Hosting the podcast are Matt Roush, director of communications and public relations at The Engineering Society of Detroit, and Mike Brennan, longtime Michigan tech journalist and publisher of Michigan Technology News, http://www.mitechnews.com.

Comerica Michigan Index Shows Fifth Month of Growth

DALLAS — Comerica Bank’s Michigan Economic Activity Index grew in August, increasing 0.3 percentage points to reach a level of 127.4.

The index consists of eight variables — nonfarm payrolls, exports, hotel occupancy rates, continuing claims for unemployment insurance, housing starts, sales tax revenues, home prices, and auto production. All data are seasonally adjusted and indexed to a base year of 2008. Also, the values are converted to a constant-dollar basis and are expressed in terms of three-month moving averages.

“U.S. auto sales reached a 17.8 million unit rate in August, and then surged to an 18.2 million unit rate in September,” Comerica chief economist Robert Dye said. “Labor relations within the auto industry remain favorable. The United Auto Workers ratified their new contract with Chrysler on October 22. The UAW has reached a preliminary agreement with GM. GM workers are expected to vote on the agreement soon. The UAW’s talks with Ford will begin after the GM agreement is ratified. A negative for the Michigan economy is the strong dollar, which makes U.S. exports more expensive and increases competition with foreign imports in U.S. markets.”

August’s reading is 53 points, or 72 percent, above the index cyclical low of 74, reached at the bottom of the last recession.

The index averaged 117.6 points for all of 2014, three and one-half points above the index average for 2013. July’s index reading was 127.2.

For more information or historical data, visit http://www.comerica.com/economics.

Comerica Bank, with 214 banking centers in Michigan, is a subsidiary of Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.