Recent Headlines:

Defense:

McCain, Reed Target $29 Billion Littoral Ship for More Changes – Newsmax

The Senate’s two top defense policy lawmakers want the U.S. Navy to make additional major changes to the service’s troubled $29 billion Littoral Combat Ship program or risk losing their support for future purchases.

Energy:

NREL to Lead New Consortium to Improve Reliability and Performance of Solar Modules – NREL

The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will form a new consortium intended to accelerate the development of module materials for photovoltaics (PV) and lower the cost of electricity generated by solar power.

Solar for Mines Means Price Stability and Reliable Supply – Renewable Energy World

Solar power will soon be the new standard for powering mining operations, says CEO of Lightsource Renewable Energy, Nick Boyle, adding that solar can lower the energy costs as well as provide stable power for mines.

Battery Tech: The Real Start of Reliable Renewable Energy – CISCO

Energy harnessed from the sun, wind, or water is a lot cleaner than it is reliable. When it comes to tapping these energy sources, somedays are better than others.

Mass Transit:

20% of D.C. Metro Trains Running Late Amid Push for More Reliable Service – The Washington Times

Nearly 20 percent of Metro trains have arrived late this year, missing the transit agency’s goal of providing more reliable subway service, according to a quarterly report released Tuesday.

Rolling Stock:

Trenitalia’s Dynamic Maintenance Results in Massive Increases in Reliability And Savings – ARC

Trenitalia is Italy’s state-owned, public railway company with a 5.5 B Euro turnover. The company has gone through major technical and cultural changes during the past ten years. In 2006 the company had around 50.000 employees and lost around 1B Euro per year. Today the company has 32.000 employees, operates more trains than in the past and has earnings of 500M Euro per year.

Space/Aviation:

SpaceX Didn’t Lose Just a Falcon 9 Rocket in Cape Canaveral Explosion – The Wire

The Falcon 9 has seven other missions this year, excluding the ones for AMOS 6 and NASA, and at least three of which have time-bound expectations riding on them.

Medical/Health:

Risk Management & Medical Devices: 4 Common Problems to Avoid – The FDA Group

Risk management has become a central focus for regulators over the past few years, a point underscored by this year’s draft revision to ISO 13485.

Commentary Explores Systemic Challenges of Medical Device Interoperability – 24×7 Magazine

An article about the long-standing challenge of medical device interoperability concludes that this goal will not be realized until “basic systems engineering and risk management principles and practices” are fully embraced by all stakeholders in the healthcare community, with a full appreciation for the varied and often conflicting interests at play among manufacturers, regulators, and healthcare facilities.

How Reliable is the Glycemic Index? – MNT

Individual response to glycemic index values vary so much that it may not be useful in indicating blood sugar response, says research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Industrial:

Delivering Industrial Reliability in Scientific Lasers – NASA Tech Briefs

Scientific laser users have long relied on state-of-the-art performance (e.g., higher peak power, shorter pulse duration, wider wavelength tuning) to achieve groundbreaking results. Unfortunately, this high performance has often been emphasized at the expense of ease-of-use and reliability.

Report, Framework to Balance Safety and Reliability Needs of Industrial Operations – SC Magazine

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) published a framework technical report to help organizations balance the safety and reliability needs of industrial operations.

NAIT Working with Industry to Create Nanotechnology to Reduce Oil and Gas Spill Risk – JWN Energy

A one-time federal grant is helping the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and its industry partners to develop nanotechnology that could strengthen critical pipelines, reduce the risk of oil and gas spills and save industry billions of dollars.

Electronics:

Process Improves Analogue Circuit Performance & Reliability – Electronic Specifier

Vishay Intertechnology has announced that it is upgrading several analogue switch products to boost device performance and longevity. Replacing ageing silicon technology with an advanced process that improves a range of device parameters while ensuring a useful lifetime well into the future, the move signals Vishay’s continuing support for its analogue switch and multiplexer product lines, which the company pioneered in the 1960s.

Up-Screened Ferrite Beads Meet High-Reliability Applications – Electronics 360

The HRB-US Series of high-reliability ferrite beads from AEM, Inc., meet the stringent requirements of the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) specification 03024. AEM is reportedly the only ferrite chip manufacturer whose parts are approved by the Defense Logistics Agency to the DSCC 03024 specification.

Commercial:

AT&T and Qualcomm Want to Connect Commercial Drones to Cell Networks – Digital Trends

Depending on who you ask, commercial drone operations are either a necessary component of the supercool future we’re all going to live in, or the first sign of Skynet’s global takeover and our impending doom. But for commercial drone applications, like Amazon’s airborne delivery service, to pan out at all, they will need a system of communication that allows them to travel farther, safer. AT&T and Qualcomm are currently looking into allowing drones to connect to cell towers to achieve this goal, according to a report in Wired.

Software:

A Investigative Study of Software Reliability Models – JETIR

In this paper we have investigated the most popular reliability models and presented the pitfalls of each model but not before discussing their operating principle as well as robustness. Our paper serves as a readymade guide to software quality assurance engineers to refer which model they want to consider while practicing the reliability activity during the maintenance phase so as to refine the models and apply them again into their needs.

Sensors:

Effect of Sensors on the Reliability and Control Performance of Power Circuits in the Web of Things (WoT) – MDPI

This paper presents research on sensors and their effects on the reliability and response characteristics of power circuits in WoT devices. The presented research can be used in various power circuit applications, such as energy harvesting interfaces, photovoltaic systems, and battery management systems for the WoT devices.

Selective and Reliable Electrochemical Sensor Based on Polythionine/AuNPs Composites for Epinephrine Detection in Serum – International Journal of Electrochemical Science

This work used a highly selective electrochemical sensor based on polythionine/AuNPs composites (PTh/AuNPs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) to detect epinephrine (EP).

What’s Best for Measuring Ozone, Electrochemical Sensors or HMOS? – Aeroqual

Electrochemical sensors and heated metal oxide sensors (HMOS) are the two leading technologies for low cost measurement of ozone. Both sensor types have strengths and weaknesses which we will outline here. Then we will discuss which sensor type is suited to some common applications.