The monthly roundup from Editor-in-Chief Susan Sutton.
I always
said I would never get a puppy. I shook my head self-righteously when others
would tell me of their puppies’ misadventures. “Not me,” I thought. “No way.”
They might be cute, but the little guys require way too much time and energy
for proper training, socialization and so on. Plenty of older dogs need good
homes, and odds are they won’t chew everything they can get their teeth on.
I’m still not entirely sure how it happened. I’d decided that I wanted to get
my daughter a dog for Christmas, so I was searching Petfinder.com. I saw an
adorable coonhound mix puppy, and that’s when events get fuzzy in my mind. I
e-mailed the rescue organization that had taken in the pup’s mom for more
information. I spoke with a number of people there to get a more detailed
understanding of him and his background. I picked him up the Friday before
Christmas. I have nothing to say in my defense, except that I’d clearly
suffered some sort of mental breakdown.
The puppy’s major strong point is the cuteness factor. He is irresistible, and
it is truly difficult to stay angry with him-even in the face of messes, chewed
books and general frustrations. Even when he’s getting into trouble, he carries
on with such wild enthusiasm that it’s impossible not to laugh. There’s no way
to predict what he’ll do from one second to the next and, while sometimes
aggravating, he’s incredibly entertaining.
A puppy’s unpredictable nature is in direct contrast to the measured control we
seek in industry. An enormous amount of time and money is spent making sure
that processes and products consistently meet stringent requirements. For
example, many different methods exist for powder characterization. A new
automated solution has been developed for sieve size analysis that can quickly
and accurately provide sieve results in real time (see “Automating Sieve Size
Analysis”).
Material purity is vital to the success of many ceramic products, and X-ray
fluorescent analysis (XRF) is a quick and relatively simple quality control
method. The preparation of a homogenous and properly sized sample is crucial,
however, and factors such as milling and other sample preparation methods must
be considered to ensure consistent success (see “Quality Control”).
This issue also includes our second annual
R&D Lab Equipment and Instrumentation Directory. The quick-reference
chart lists suppliers* of products ranging from balances and blenders to
surface area analyzers and viscometers, and display advertisers in this issue
are marked in blue within the chart. In addition, contact information is listed
for each supplier so you can quickly and easily request additional information
on equipment to help ensure the success of your projects and products.
Only time will tell whether I can mold our wild, rambunctious young pup into a
dependable, well-mannered dog. Luckily, a plethora of reliable tools is
available to ensure that our manufacturing processes consistently produce high-quality
end products.
*Supplier listings
indicate paid advertising.
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