Review: Dodge Demon is a 840-horsepower slice of muscle-car heaven

Demon? I think not.

Dodge’s 840-horsepower modern muscle car is a slice of heaven, delivered unto our drag strips because a higher power — the executives on the 15th floor of Fiat Chrysler’s headquarters tower — want us to be happy. And fast. Really, really fast.

I just spent a steamy afternoon in auto racing’s Promised Land: Indianapolis. I have seen the second coming of the pavement ripping, tire-shredding, straight-lining American muscle car and I believe.

The Dodge Demon’s technology lets novices master the finer points of drag racing — a much more nuanced form of motor sport than non-believers accept — and leads them to a paradise of sub 10-second quarter miles, 2.3-second zero-to-60 mile per hour sprints and 1.8G acceleration, highest of any production car.

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Exclusive: U.S. toughens stance on foreign deals in blow to China's buying spree

A secretive U.S. government panel has objected to at least nine acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign buyers so far this year, people familiar with the matter said, a historically high number that bodes poorly for China's overseas buying spree.

The objections indicate that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews acquisitions by foreign entities for potential national security risks, is becoming more risk-averse under U.S. President Donald Trump.

Chinese companies and investors eyeing U.S. assets could face more roadblocks as a result, at a time when the Chinese government is also restricting the flow of capital out of China following a bonanza of Chinese overseas deals.

There have been 87 announced acquisitions of U.S. companies by Chinese firms so far in 2017, the highest on record and up from 77 deals in the corresponding period in 2016.

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II-VI Inc buys Kaiam’s 6” fab in UK for $80m

Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA has acquired Kaiam Laser Ltd, a 6-inch wafer fabrication plant in Newton Aycliffe, UK, for $80m in cash reserves. The acquisition is expected to be breakeven at the EBITDA level within 12 months.

The 300,000ft2 facility has a 100,000ft2 cleanroom designed for high-volume manufacturing of compound semiconductor devices based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon carbide (SiC) and indium phosphide (InP) materials.

“This facility hosts one of the best cleanrooms in the entire compound semiconductor industry and augments our capabilities at a time when industry capacity is rapidly becoming fully subscribed,” notes II-VI’s president & CEO Dr Chuck Mattera. “Given the demand we anticipate, this acquisition will allow us faster time to market than building a proprietary green-field site,” he adds. “It adds to our in-house capacity for VCSELs [vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers], and is also as part of a broader strategic move to provide a versatile 6” wafer fab for GaAs-, SiC- and InP-based devices. This acquisition will significantly expand our capacity and is expected to enable us over time to penetrate high-growth markets driven by, for example, 3D sensing, 5G wireless, the electrification of the car, and data-center communications,” he adds.

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AIM Photonics selects University of Arizona for industrial demo of integrated photonic cryogenic datalink for focal plane arrays

The Rochester, NY-based consortium AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics) - an industry-driven public-private partnership advancing the USA’s photonics manufacturing capabilities - has announced the winner of a proposal call for a new Defense Department Government Directed Project for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) data links for cryogenic focal plane arrays (FPAs).

The $1,200,000 US Department of Defense (DoD) project, along with an additional $400,000 in matching funds from a team led by the University of Arizona (UA), will support a consortium that includes Sandia National Labs, Raytheon (RTN) and other aerospace firms engaged in FPA technology.

The project will encompass the design, fabrication and test of cryogenic PIC-based datalinks for FPA readout and has the potential to strongly advance imaging capabilities for national defense applications. Capitalizing on the national reach and capabilities of this consortium, the PICs will be manufactured in the AIM Photonics silicon photonics fabrication facility at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, NY, and could also lead to fabrication opportunities at AIM Photonics’ Test, Assembly, and Packaging (TAP) facility, which is being built in in Rochester, NY.

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New device can heal with a single touch, and even repair brain injuries

A new device developed at The Ohio State University can start healing organs in a "fraction of a second," researchers say.  

The technology, known as Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), has the potential to save the lives of car crash victims and even deployed soldiers injured on site. It's a dime-sized silicone chip that "injects genetic code into skin cells, turning those skin cells into other types of cells required for treating diseased conditions," according to a release.

In lab tests, one touch of TNT completely repaired injured legs of mice over three weeks by turning skin cells into vascular cells.

And, it not only works on skin cells, it can restore any type of tissue, Chandan Sen, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies, said. For example, the technology restored brain function in a mouse who suffered a stroke by growing brain cells on its skin

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With Immelt out, Flannery era begins

The John Flannery era at General Electric Co. is under way.
For the past 17 years, GE has been led by Jeff Immelt, who reshaped the company into the industrial powerhouse it has become today, focused on high-tech manufacturing in the energy, transportation and health care sector. Immelt's last day as CEO was July 31. Flannery, one of his top lieutenants, took over Aug. 1.

The GE transformation under Immelt has been a good one for the Capital Region. Although Immelt sold off commodity businesses like plastics and silicones that had local plants, he invested heavily in GE's Schenectady County operations, home to GE Power and the GE Global Research Center.

GE employs roughly 7,000 people locally making it one of the most important – and indispensable – companies to the region and the state.

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14 Expansion Plans in China’s LED Industry 1H17 Part II

On May 22, San'an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd announced its wholly owned daughter company, Sanan Optoelectronics Hong Kong Company Limited would set up a subsidiary in the USA with its own funding of USD 10 million. This US-based firm would mostly focus on research, development, manufacture, and distribution of visible light communication (VLC) technology.

Meanwhile, another subsidiary Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. would also spend USD 20 million setting up a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong. This new firm in Hong Kong would center on filter development & research, manufacture and distribution. After the Hong Kong firm is established, it will soon set up another subsidiary with a funding of JYP 90 million and this company will focus on the R&D of compound semiconductors.

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