AMETEK CALIBRATOR ACCURATE DESPITE POWER INSTABILITY
The JOFRA® CTC 1200A dry-block calibrator from AMETEK Test & Calibration Instruments ensures accurate, high-temperature calibrations despite power supply instability because it’s equipped with MVI (Mains power Variance Immunity)—a proprietary circuitry design developed by AMETEK to continuously monitor supply voltages and ensure a constant and stable energy flow to the dry block’s heating elements. In addition, the CTC 1200A contains a well that is designed with an internal sensor placed in specially drilled inserts and a non-linear heating element. Together with its MVI circuitry, the CTC 1200A’s design ensures high accuracy and stability when calibrating different sizes of sensors without the use of an external reference sensor.
For more information, call (518) 689-0222, fax (518) 689-0225 or visit www.ametektcia.com.

CERADYNE OPENS NEW PLANT FOR SOLAR ENERGY COMPONENTS
Ceradyne, Inc. recently announced the opening ceremonies for its newly built 98,000-square-foot factory in Tianjin, China, which will produce high-purity ceramic crucibles for the forming of large polysilicon ingots for use in the manufacture of photovoltaic silicon solar cells. The facility, located on Ceradyne’s five-acre plot in Tianjin’s Tanggu National Marine High Tech Development Zone, will supply the exact components to its Chinese photovoltaic solar cell customer base as it is currently producing in Atlanta, Ga., where the technology was developed. The Ceradyne Tianjin facility will be run by Ceradyne Chinese executives and engineers who have been trained by U.S.-based Ceradyne Thermo Materials’ management for some time. “This is a very exciting event for Ceradyne and particularly for Ceradyne Thermo Materials,” said Bruce Lockhart, the Ceradyne vice president responsible for the company’s solar energy efforts. “The new Tianjin plant replicates the Atlanta plant, but it is much larger to meet our Chinese customer requirements.”
Visit www.ceradyne.com for additional details.

DOE SEEKS APPLICATIONS FOR HOUSING RESEARCH
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman recently announced that the DOE is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will make available up to $40 million to fund research applications to fundamentally change the way American homes consume energy. Awards made under this FOA would support research, development and deployment of technologies that will, on average, reduce new home energy use by 30-90%. The results of this effort will help advance President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to change the way we power our cars, homes and businesses. Increased energy efficiency and diversification of clean energy sources is critical to securing our energy future. Using a systems engineering approach, this research seeks to provide new energy-efficient products to the market, incorporate innovations into home design, cut construction time, limit waste and improve builder productivity.
The FOA is part of the DOE’s Building America Project. Visit www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/building_america/ for more information.

TWO NEW CMP SLURRIES AVAILABLE FROM FERRO
Ferro Corp.’s Electronic Material Systems business has advanced its chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) technology with two slurries that enable high-yield processing of 65 and 45 nanometer node electronic devices. CMP is a required process for manufacturing advanced integrated circuits. Ferro’s new CMP slurries precisely plane silicon wafers to a uniform surface, enabling the stacking of multifunctional layers that support smaller, faster and more energy-efficient microprocessors; memory chips with greater storage capacity; and lighter devices for mobile applications. “Our customers have demanded increased performance to meet the needs of the new device generations, and our R&D team responded aggressively,” said Barry Russell, vice president, Ferro Electronic Material Systems. “Building on our more than 30 years of expertise in ceria particle engineering, and by working closely with our customers, we have made the technology breakthroughs that were required.”
Additional information is available at www.ferro.com .

MOHR CONTRACTED TO SELL CARPENTER’S SURPLUS EQUIPMENT
Carpenter Advanced Ceramics has contracted with Mohr Corp. to sell machinery and equipment that is surplus to the ongoing and expanding technical ceramic manufacturing operations at its Auburn, Calif., facility. Mohr is providing assistance in the valuation of the surplus assets, listing and cataloging, and presenting assets to prospective buyers. Included in the sale is general ceramic process machinery that is no longer required due to expansion to larger-scale machinery or changes in processes to meet the growing manufacturing requirements at the facility.
For more information, call (810) 225-9494, fax (810) 225-4634 or e-mail sales@mohrcorp.com.

PARAGON INDUSTRIES FOUNDER FRANCES DARBY PASSES AWAY
Frances Darby, founder of Paragon Industries, died during the night of June 17, 2007. She founded Paragon Industries in 1948 and produced one of the first electric kilns in America. “The outstanding thing about Mrs. Darby was her sense of integrity and respect for the truth,” said John R. Hohenshelt, who bought the company in 1985. “Everybody who knew her has Frances Darby stories. Most of those stories illustrate the one personality trait that stands out, which was her relentless dedication to the truth. She didn’t undertake obligations lightly. If she owed you a dollar, she’d spend $100 chasing you to the end of the earth to repay you.” Karen Smith spent four years working for Mrs. Darby. “She had a positive outlook that inspired women,” said Smith. “She made women feel that they could accomplish anything. When I worked for her, it was uncommon for a woman to own a business, and it inspired me that she ran this place and ran it well. People who worked for her really respected her.” Services were held June 23 in Richardson, Texas.
For more information, contact Paragon at (800) 876-4328 or (972) 288-7557, e-mail info@paragonweb.com, or visit www.paragonweb.com.

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Insaco is a precision machining company that provides finished pieces to customers' specifications from ultra hard materials, including oxide ceramics, nitrides, carbides and quartz, and especially industrial sapphire. NEW capability allows the company to machine within a 102” x 31” x 70” envelope and still hold tight tolerances. Visit www.insaco.com.

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