The federal goverment has set its sights on portable radiation detection equipment. The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate is working in conjunction with four national laboratories—Pacific Northwest, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore—in a program to test the reliability of more than 100 radiation detectors on the market. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is coordinating the tests and evaluations.

Helmholtz coils expose a radiation detector to magnetic fields in three directions, part of a program to check radiation detection devices.

The department plans to compile the results in a comparison report that indicates the ability of the instruments to meet specifications of four standards, according to Bert Coursey, standards program director at the Science and Technology Directorate. In February, Homeland Security adopted the standards, developed by the American National Standards Institute and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which cover four classes of radiation detectors that policemen, firefighters, hazmat teams, and other emergency responders might use.

The standards, ANSI N42.32, 33, 34, and 35, cover portable radiation pagers, hand-held radiation dose meters, isotope identifiers, and radiation portable monitors. Tests were developed last year, along with the standards.

Test results will be published to provide manufacturers with information to improve the performance of their radiation detectors as well as to assist purchasers. The national laboratories were scheduled to complete the tests by last month and report the results to NIST, which will compile the results and report them to DHS by December.

Coursey said that an accreditation program may eventually be set up to qualify testing laboratories and certification organizations to carry out tests of radiological detection equipment in the future. DHS plans to issue a final report to the emergency responder community by the beginning of 2005. The report will be expanded as new equipment is developed and tests results are added.

With leases ending on its Think City electric cars, Ford Motor Co. was planning to scrap the returning fleet of about 350 vehicles. Pressure by the environmental group Greenpeace and others convinced the company it should consider other options.

The cars, here in the United States under a waiver from the Department of Transportation, were integral elements in sponsored programs, such as the New York Power Authority's Clean Commute. Participants in that program leased the electric cars for $199 monthly. Along with that, they were guaranteed front row parking at rail stations and access to the chargers there. (The program was described in Mechanical Engineering's January 2002 cover story.)

When the programs ended recently, the DOT waiver ended, too, so Ford no longer had approval to renew any leases or even sell the cars. USA Today reported last month that more than a third of the vehicles have already been crushed.

Ford issued a statement at the end of August saying that it was meeting with the Norwegian Transport Minister to evaluate whether the cars could be used in Norway, where they were manufactured. An answer was expected within several weeks.

Ford's interest in the electric vehicles waned soon after California diluted its zero-emission-vehicle requirements in 2003. A short time later, Ford sold Think to a Swiss buyer.

Reliability is a top concern of companies that use microelectromechanical systems, and manufacturers that produce them say their customers often demand to see a demonstration of the reliability of the products. That demand has made accelerated testing of micro devices a key issue. It prompted the Pittsburgh-based MEMS Industry Group, an association of designers, manufacturers, and integrators, to make accelerated testing a central theme at its annual meeting in September. The group plans to pool the available industry knowledge on failure modes and compile the information into a database that companies can use to create or improve accelerated tests of devices.

"There's a perception out there that, because MEMS devices are small and have moving parts, they are delicate, so users are asking for a demonstration of reliability," said Ellen McDevitt, the group's managing director. The group's focus on accelerated testing follows a July 2003 survey of 91 companies, which were asked about their views on reliability issues. Most MEMS developers expect their devices to have lifetimes of at least 10 years.

Respondents said the top two failure modes for actuators are stiction and wear of moving parts; sensors are more prone to electrical or package-induced failure, according to survey results. Some failure modes are more difficult to accelerate than others. Accelerated tests on failure modes, such as electrical shorts, temperature-related failure, and wear, are more easily accomplished; modes related to such things as clogging, surface modification, and micro welds are difficult to accelerate.

Cleopatra Cabuz is the director of the sensors laboratory at Honeywell's automation and controls business in Minneapolis, as well as the executive director of the MEMS Industry Group. Cabuz said the group plans to issue a report on accelerated life testing as well as a database of mechanisms, or underlying causes, for MEMS failures. It would also address whether there is a need for a third-party organization to conduct accelerated tests.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has released a report that identifies research and technical support projects critical to the country's water supply. The EPA's Water Security Research and Technical Action Plan looks at the areas of physical and cyber security; contaminant identification, monitoring, and analysis; treatment, decontamination, and disposal; contingency planning; infrastructure interdependencies; and risk assessment and communication.

The 56-page publication was developed in collaboration with stakeholders in the water, public health, and emergency response communities and peer-reviewed by the
National Research Council. The report summarizes key questions, needs, and research projects for protecting both drinking water and wastewater systems.

The action plan addresses drinking water supply, water treatment, finished water storage, and drinking water distribution system infrastructure. It also addresses wastewater treatment and collection infrastructure, which includes sanitary and storm sewers, wastewater treatment, and treated wastewater discharges.

In the area of drinking water system protection and security, identifying the most likely threats; advanced online detectors and sensor technologies; and the development and testing of protocols for the analysis of unknowns in the water supply were among the overarching needs cited by the stakeholders who helped compile the plan. They also said that the water industry needs to develop a suite of countermeasures to prevent or mitigate the effects of physical or cyber attacks on water infrastructure. In this regard, they said they'd like to see improved design of SCADA and other computer systems.

Rockwell Automation has opened a radio-frequency identification test lab in Milwaukee to help manufacturers integrate RFID into their distribution operations.

ChevronTexaco Energy Technology Co. in San Ramon, Calif., has entered an agreement with SulphCo. of Sparks, Nev., to develop an ultrasound technique to upgrade sour crude oil at low pressure and low temperatures.

Honeywell International will use its facilities in Allentown, Pa.; Kingman, Ariz.; and Subic Bay, Philippines, to provide wheel and brake repair, and overhaul services to a fleet of 10 Boeing 747 and five DC-9 aircraft operated by Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville, Ore.

Johnson Controls of Plymouth, Mich., plans to open a manufacturing plant early next year in Montgomery, Ala., to supply automotive center floor consoles and interior trim components to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, when the automaker's first U.S. manufacturing plant begins production.

The Timken Co. has reached a contract agreement with Local 1645 and the United Auto Workers. The new contract, which expires in September 2007, will cover all production and skilled trade employees at the company's facilities in Torrington, Conn.

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