SME NEWS OF INTEREST

Technology and Information:
A Key SME Strategic Goal...and Key Member Benefit
In SME Strategic Plan href=2010, Goal 1 focuses on the critical issues of technology and information. Our roadmap plan states that, "SME will be the manufacturing technology information resource for people and companies throughout the manufacturing supply chain."

Are you using your SME membership to stay on top of what's new and what's next in technologies that impact your organization? In addition to great chapter events close to home, you can also find helpful information through the SME Technical Community Network. The communities and their niche-specific tech groups are an outstanding resource that connects you with other individuals in manufacturing who are solving problems like yours every day. You can learn and share from them via online forums, at SME events, webinars and teleconferences, and at the communities' Web pages. It's free to add communities to your SME membership, and you can go online 24/7 to update your membership record to add or change communities and tech groups anytime you'd like.

Your membership also grants you complete access to download the Society's nearly 17,000 technical papers, and to read Manufacturing Engineering magazine, online tech quarterlies and journals. You can also watch a full-length video at ME-TV for free on the SME Web site each month, view sample clips of other videos, read sample chapters of SME books, and enlist the research assistance of the SME Librarian. Get started at www.sme.org.

Get Involved with SME's New Industrial Laser Community
The Industrial Laser Community (ILC) is the newest addition to our Society's Technical Community Network. The ILC offers members extensive resources, while promoting laser technology in North America by educating the market and advancing the laser technology base. Within the ILC are tech groups currently focusing on:

• Laser Cutting
• Laser Welding
• Laser Marking
• Laser Surface Treatment
• Laser Drilling

Chapter News, Best Practices are Highlighted on SME Web Site
It's helpful and fun to read about what other SME chapters are doing to increase member involvement, and positively impact member retention and attract new members. There's a special page on the SME Web site devoted to sharing news and best practices from the SME chapters. If you're interested in contributing content from our chapter, send a message to editor@sme.org. Short articles with photos are needed.

Bright Minds Mentor Program Inspires Tomorrow's Rapid Professionals
One of the much-anticipated activities at the RAPID 2007 Conference & Exposition is the Bright Minds Mentor Program, which takes place at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel in Detroit, Mich. on May 2. Now in its fourth year, Bright Minds enlightens high school students about the many ways that rapid technologies and additive manufacturing can be used in their future careers. The program is supported by members of SME's Rapid Technologies & Additive Manufacturing (RTAM) Community, with support from corporate sponsor General Motors Corporation.

The goal of the Bright Minds Mentor Program is to create interest, excitement and an appreciation for product development methods, technologies and applications among high school students. This year, fifty students will be paired with industry professional mentors who will guide them through the conference and exhibition hall at RAPID 2007. There will also be an opportunity for the students to attend portions of the conference and tradeshow in pairs, and then report back to fellow students and teachers what they've learned.

With the help of these industry volunteer mentors, Bright Minds students will gain hands-on knowledge of manufacturing concepts, by seeing leading-edge tools, technologies and applications all come together in front of their eyes. In particular, they will learn about rapid technologies and additive manufacturinghow and why is it used. They'll see tangible examples of how this technology is used to develop products and other unique applications, and what's on the horizon for rapid.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? If you're looking for an inspiring read, go to the SME Web site for a first-hand account, written by Thomas Ballard, who is now a freshman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Ballard was an enthusiastic Bright Minds high school senior last spring, who was assigned to a mentor from The Boeing Company. His involvement with Bright Minds led to an interview, summer internship with an SME member's company, and now to his university studies...all pointing him in the direction of a career in rapid manufacturing. Read his story...

"Thermal & Abrasive Waterjet Cutting Processes" is FREE SME Streaming Video in May"
METV is Manufacturing Engineering magazine's new Web streaming video channel. Each month, you can view an award-winning video in its entirety at your desktop for FREE. In May, watch "Thermal & Abrasive Waterjet Cutting Processes." Part of the Fundamental Manufacturing Processes video series, this 23-minute program examines the three most commonly used thermal cutting processes: oxy-fuel, plasma, and laser, all of which use heat for cutting. Also examined is the abrasive waterjet cutting process which uses no heat, but cuts by abrasive erosion. Log onto www.sme.org/metv and let others know about it, too.