Higher demand for our turbines

Nordex posted a net profit of 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million) in the first half of 2013, comparing favorably with a loss of 23 million euros in the same period last year, company figures released Thursday showed.

The first profit in two years came on 57 percent higher sales of the German wind turbine manufacturer, reaching 661 million euros in the six months.

In addition, the company's restructuring drive of the past months was bearing fruit, said Nordex Chief Executive Jürgen Zeschky.

“Higher demand for our turbines, as well as improving productivity are showing that our strategy is working,” he said in the company's earnings report.

Nordex, as well as its main rivals Vestas and Repower, have been suffering from overcapacity and falling product margins in the market for wind power turbines.

The German firm, which is based in Hamburg, has drastically cut costs and closed plants in China and the United States to counter the downturn especially in the European markets.

Nordex appears to have turned the corner, claiming it had secured new orders to the tune of 839 million euros between January and June - up 61 percent from the same period a year ago.

Nordex CEO Zeschky said revenues for the full year could surge to 1.4 billion euros, which would be about 100 million euros more than had originally been envisaged.

As a result Nordex shares rose about 12 percent in the German stock market on Thursday, adding to gains of about 130 percent since the beginning of this year.

The Energy Department released two new reports showcasing record growth across the U.S. wind market – increasing America’s share of clean, renewable energy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs nationwide. According to these reports, the United States continues to be one of the world’s largest and fastest growing wind markets. In 2012, wind energy became the number one source of new U.S. electricity generation capacity for the first time – representing 43 percent of all new electric additions and accounting for $25 billion in U.S. investment.

In the first four years of the Obama Administration, American electricity generation from wind and solar power more than doubled. President Obama’s Climate Action Plan makes clear that the growth of clean, renewable wind energy remains a critical part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy that reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, diversifies our energy economy and brings innovative technologies on line. The Obama Administration has committed to another doubling of the renewable electricity generation from energy resources like wind power by 2020.

“The tremendous growth in the U.S. wind industry over the past few years underscores the importance of consistent policy that ensures America remains a leader in clean energy innovation,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “As the fastest growing source of power in the United States, wind is paving the way to a cleaner, more sustainable future that protects our air and water and provides affordable, clean renewable energy to more and more Americans.”

The tremendous growth in the overall U.S. wind industry has led directly to more American jobs throughout a number of sectors and at factories and power plants across the country. According to industry estimates, the wind sector employs over 80,000 American workers, including workers at manufacturing facilities up and down the supply chain, as well as engineers and construction workers who build wind installations.

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Local inventor kick starts new project

A local inventor is taking the next step in the process of making his idea a reality. He has taken his idea to Kickstarter, a website designed to help inventors and entrepreneurs raise capital for their projects.

David Burrell is an Eagle Scout and Greenwood native. A conversation with a friend about how people generally lack the knowledge to tie a variety of knots sparked an idea. So Burrell went out to his CNC machine, which he built himself, and cut out a prototype of what eventually became known as the Loop Alien rapid cord attachment.

The Loop Alien is a small, lightweight cord attachment and tensioning device. It allows the user to connect and adjust rope or cord to just about anything, quickly and easily. The original version was much larger and heavier. The current version is 1.25 inches by 0.9 inches and weighs just 2.6 grams. A discussion with friends about how extreme campers count every gram they carry led to the current design.

With a design in hand, Burrell needed a name. He went to his family and asked their opinion. His children said it looked like an alien and his wife said the name needed to have the word loop in it. So he named the device the Loop Alien. The devices are currently being made from high-grade aluminum, but Burrell has visions of making both stainless steel and titanium versions.

Burrell put his project on Kickstarter, a website designed to bring creators and backers together. A person with an idea, like Burrell, puts their project on Kickstarter with the details of the project and the goal for the amount of capital. Kickstarter gives the project an allotted amount of time to achieve that goal. If the goal is achieved, Kickstarter gets 5 percent of the money raised and Amazon Payments receives 5 percent.

Burrell has established tiers for his backers, with various rewards for different levels of support. The levels begin at $5, though any amount over $1 can be pledged, and backers receive a larger number of the Loop Aliens the more support they provide. The highest tier is $45 and above. As of Saturday at midnight, Burrell had nearly 300 supporters pledging almost $9,000 for the project. The target is $13,300. Burrell says he will begin making stainless steel Loop Aliens when he reaches $15,000.

Burrell says that a manufacturing company will rough cut the Loop Aliens for him and he will do all of the finish work himself, which will include removing the tabs from the cutting process and finishing the devices.

The ML20 Markless sensor from Sick Inc. detects the cutting position for label applications without the use of print marks or place markers, enabling more flexibility in package designs and minimizing material waste.

Suitable for web film control in bottling and roll-fed labeling machines, the system combines accurate positioning with high-speed web detection. It provides sensing speeds up to 7 m/s and an accuracy of up to 0.6 mm.

The IP 65-rated sensor improves processes when multiple film changes are required by OEMs and end users. Programming is accomplished through Sopas software, the sensor onboard control panel or a “teach in” process.

Sick also manufactures safety systems, machine vision and automatic identification products for factory and logistics automation.