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[DesignSmith]

Economy:  Did you know? — The good news, says Fred Kocher, president of the New Hampshire High Technology Council, is that the tech sector of the economy, while comprising just 7 percent of New Hampshire’s workforce, is producing one-third of the state’s gross domestic product. The bad news is that sector is getting old fast.  The survey was from NH Business Review®
Another interesting article and general overview of the high tech and manufacturing jobs and
wages in NH and nationwide in NH Business Review:
http://www.nh.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/BUSINESSREVIEW30/70424022
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Did you know?International Space Station — Canadarm2 —Canada contributed an essential component of the International Space Station, the Mobile Servicing System. This robotic system plays a key role in space station assembly and maintenance: moving equipment and supplies around the station, supporting astronauts working in space, and servicing instruments and other payloads attached to the space station. This arm is capable of handling large payloads and assisting with docking the space shuttle. The Space Station Remote Manipulator System is self-relocatable with a Latching End Effector, so it can be attached to complementary ports spread throughout the station's exterior surfaces. The Canadarm is 17.6 meters (57.7 feet) long when fully extended and has seven motorized joints.

[DesignSmith]

Parachutes had been imagined and sketched by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519).  Credit for the invention of the first practical parachute frequently goes to Sebastien Lenormand who demonstrated the parachute principle in 1783.  Jean Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman was probably the first person to actually use a parachute for an emergency.  In 1793, Blanchard claims to have escaped from an exploded hot air balloon with a parachute. However, this was a non witnessed event.  Blanchard, it should be noted, did develop the first foldable parachute made from silk.  Up until that point all parachutes were made with rigid frames.                        Did you know that?
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NH Economics − Making money or not

On an annual basis, the latest snapshot in trade numbers shows that exporting companies posted gains in foreign demand for goods made in the Granite State. In November 2007(NH Business in Review latest info), consumers and businesses from abroad bought $26.5 million, or 11.5 percent, more goods made in New Hampshire than in November 2006.

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[DesignSmith]

Welding is the joining of materials and goes back to the Bronze Age, no not quite the dinosaur’s era but a long time ago none the less.  Back then two or more pieces of metal were heated and then hammered together. This is called Forge welding.  The weld contains only the base materials without any fillers materials unless accidentally got caught in the process. Forge welding between dissimilar materials is often stronger than the individual metals.

Today welding is done with the creation of an electric arc between two items, an electrode and a base material.  The arc is generated via a power supply, an Inverter or transformer style, creating the arc between the electrode and base material and causes both to melt at the “welding point”. Power supplies can be either direct (DC) or alternating (AC) current. The welding region is sometimes protected by some type of inert or semi-inert gas known as a shielding gas. The process of arc welding is widely used because of its low capital outlay and operating costs.  Laser, friction and other types welding are also available.
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Flux-cored arc welding (FCAW), commonly called MIG (Metal Inert Gas), is a semi-automatic or automatic arc welding process. FCAW requires a continuously-fed welding wire that is the consumable. The wire is spooled out similar to thread off its spool on a sewing machine.  The wire contains a flux inside it and uses a constant voltage power source to create the arc. The process is widely used in industries because of its high welding speed and portability.  A gas may or may not be used to surround the weld wire.